18 September 2007

Where's the good coffee?

| ant
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I was thinking maybe my coffee tastes had changed, gone to the dogs. Every coffee I bought was underwhelming… usually too bitter, some dull, was it me?

well, I had a really superb coffee on Sunday, at the Kingston Bus Depot Markets! It was from a trestle set up at the entrance nearest the glassworks (near the office). They had a bit of cloth stuck up on the wall with The Outpost on it, and it was staffed by two young kids who seemed pretty happy with things. The chap discarded the first draw and started again. It was a flat white, and wow, it was good. Incredibly dense and creamy brown foam-stuff, and a lovely rich coffee, bitter and body balanced perfectly. I’ve no idea what beans they used, but they must have been good, and the young chap even better.

So I figure there must still be good coffee around the place. Where’s the good stuff? And, dob in the bad stuff!

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Sfoglia in Dickson, near Zeferelli. consistent quality, friendly staff. great cakes to have with the coffee too

Try Satis at Watson shops! Terrific new hole in the wall; they use Jasper fairtrade organic.

arent there now 2 coffee posts within a few days of each other ???

Im more a traditional fan of Starbuck’s frap’s or the hazelnut irish coffee from GJeans.

Ah ha, now here’s the thing. I had a coffee at Cream while killing time in civic one saturday. It wasn’t bad, but it was just ordinary. It was a strong one, and the bitter was just killing it.

This coffee I had at a trestle table at Kingston markets was about twice as good (it was that good). And it was in a funny-looking cardboard cup.

I’ve found both Tonic and Cream in Civic to be quite good for strong coffee at fairly reasonable prices. Not a fan of Valentino’s – their regular coffee is weak, if you want a strong one it costs significantly more than their competitors, and then there’s the whole ‘membership’ thing…

+++Valentino is a Lavazza trainer and all his staff can make really good espresso.+++

Val’s actually moved to Sydney, but I think a fair few of his old staff are still there.

I haven’t been there too often yet, but Mosaics in James Court seem pretty good.

And guess what. Sanitarium has being owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Church since day one. Big tax benefits for the church to this day.

The people who did the Gloria Jeans website also made the Hillsong Church website. (http://www.ipinternet.com.au/v3/broadband.asp).
Also, according to Wikipedia and the Hillsong website, Nabi Saleh and Peter Irvine, the owners of Gloria Jeans outside the USA are “prominent, active members of” the church.

I heard the Hillsong thing about gloria jeans, too. Pity, their mango slushy things are brilliant.

Pancake Parlour ownership is also interesting, in a similar way. I am sure Mr Cruise likes to eat there.

Don’t know about that boomcat, though certainly wouldn’t surprise. Both Baker’s Delight and Brumbies bakeries were started by a religious cult to fund the cult during tough times before they were sold off. Not sure if the cult is still involved with the two companies.

I dunno if it’s true, but I heard that one of the major shareholders of Gloria Jeans’ Australian operation is a leader in that happy clappy Hillsong Church – enough to make me avoid the place with a barge pole.

Best coffee is in my office, worst coffee is at Bean In The City

green_frogs_go_pop6:10 pm 18 Sep 07

i agree with darkmilk, jindebah rocks!
well..i’ve only been to the tuggeranong one, but my god they make good coffees..and chai lattes. (and they know me and my mates..go figure :D)

and i hate gloria jeans..its nearly as over-rated as starbucks.

I was actually planning this before I read this post. I have been tasting coffees around Canberra, starting with my regular haunts and expanding to new places I haven’t tried. The results (reviews complete with pics and snobby coffee drinker language will be on RiotACT soon I hope.

there is only one barista in town worth his salt – loui, at his eponymous cafe in the interchange, in the atrium of the DOTARs building. sublime!

that said, for the best of the rest, i’d go with the gods cafe recommendation (gods is in arts theatre at ANU)…

Sarah at tilleys makes an amazing coffee. as does Yve at essen. sometimes the company makes it taste that much better 🙂

We kinda covered this earlier in the year in “So What’s your Favourite… Cafe?”, but hey we all love our coffee so much we could run this story weekly.

Personally, I’m a bit of a coffee whore – I’ll drink anything and everything. One of my favourites was the place at the top of Mt Stromlo (which has now sadly closed down), great for a quick caffine & sugar hit before a downhill run on the mountain bikes.

Silo is a great place, but the coffee’s nothing to recommend in itself.

I used to avoid Valentino’s, there was something about it I didn’t like – it didn’t have the character of Essen or the history of Gus’… but now that I’ve tried the coffee, I never go anywhere else.

Valentino is a Lavazza trainer and all his staff can make really good espresso.

At least go there once and try it for yourself.

Although darkmilk won’t agree with me, my favourite is Gloria Jeans, especially the caramel flavoured latte. Yum!

Woody Mann-Caruso10:49 am 18 Sep 07

Seconding Silo, though you have to wait up to ten minutes for it if there’s a rush. Coffers in the Treasury Building does nice Vittorio. Had a seriously good flat white at – wait for it – the cafe in Freedom at Fyshwick last week.

I too despair at the generally poor standard of coffee in Canberra!

The Gods Cafe at ANU gets my vote for best coffee (food and service is also top notch).

Loui (I think that’s how it’s spelled) in the bus interchange is also good (though I haven’t been there for a while).

While we’re on the subject of coffee, does anyone know if there is a retailer for AeroPress in Canberra?

By far the best I’ve had is Fresh Roast Coffee House (Jindebah coffee) in Mitchell … the name says it all! They’re also at the grower’s markets at EPIC on Saturdays, in the northern shed.

Coffee Guru seems pretty good too, and they’re everywhere. Not as good as fresh roast above but far better than other chains.

The best judge of somewhere you don’t know is your nose – you can smell the difference between good coffee when you walk in or even past the door. Also avoid anywhere with too many syrups/flavours/fancy “coffee”-based drinks on the menu. Yes, starbucks is the worst offender there.

And a bit of a rant: many coffee places (even my beloved silo 🙁 ) use pre-roasted and packed big brand coffees roasted elsewhere, which just isn’t the same. Good coffee is stale after between 3 and 7 days – i.e. often by the time it gets packed, transported, and stored on the counter for a few days until it’s opened. Slightly stale well made good coffee still beats starbucks though!

Look no further than Coffee Bitch

http://www.loadedog.com/?page_id=510

Gungahlin Al9:11 am 18 Sep 07

Bagels in Bunda Street – good coffee and only $2.50 for a large one before 10am, plus discount cards.
And unlike Dobinsons and Trattoria just up the street, they don’t take over the whole damn footpath with their outdoor seating…

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt8:52 am 18 Sep 07

Silo in Kingston do a good coffee, as do Caph’s in Manuka.

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