Kojo Brown, Richmond, Vic

Overall Experience: 2 / 5.

Kojo Brown has a fantastic feel about it. It is exactly what you’d think a Melbourne cafe should feel like. The staff were pleasant, and the atmosphere was just right. The coffee on the other hand was quite disappointing. It was bitter, and there was no attempt at Latte Art at all. If you are after a cafe with a great vibe, this could be on your shortlist. If you are after a great coffee experience, try another cafe, there are plenty in Melbourne.

Café Details:		Coffee:
Café Name	Kojo Brown	Taste	2 / 5
Address	294 Bridge Rd	Temperature	3.5 / 5
Suburb	Richmond	Presentation	1.5 / 5
Opening Hours	8am – late	Consistency	? First Visit
Webpage	N/A	Price	$3.00
Owners Name	Unknown	Latte Art	1 / 5
Bean	Grinders	Milk Texture	2.5 / 5
Experience:		Feel:
Time to:		# of seats	75
Be Seated	N/A	# of full seats	15
Get Menu	N/A	- Music	Quiet Appropriate Cafe Music
Take Order	0 Mins	- Cleanliness	4 / 5
Bring Order	2 Mins	Internet Access	No
Clear Table	N/A
Menu Presentation:	N/A	Visit Details:
Menu Choices	N/A	Date	22nd August 2007
Staff:		Time	5.30pm
- Manner	4/5
- Dress	3.5/5

Peaberrys Gourmet Coffee. Visit #2

Overall Experience: 3.5 / 5.

Peaberrys serves great quality coffee and has quite a large range of beans that they roast themselves (at another location). Because their focus is on selling beans, it might not be everyone’s favourite, but if you like quality coffee it is certainly worth a visit. The staff are pleasant and helpful.

Café Details:		Coffee:
Café Name	Peaberrys Gourmet Coffee	Taste	4
Address	4/12 Alma Road	Temperature	3.5 Just cooler than perfect
Suburb	New Lambton	Presentation	3
Opening Hours	8-5 Mon to Fri 9-1 Sat	Consistency	4.5
Webpage	www.peaberryscoffee.com.au	Price	$3.00
Owners Name	?	Latte Art	3
Bean	Peaberrys Gourmet Coffee	Milk Texture	3.5
Experience:		Feel:
Time to:		# of seats	12
Be Seated	-	# of full seats	3
Get Menu	-	- Music	Drowned out by excessive outside rain noise
Take Order	2 Mins	- Cleanliness	4.5
Bring Order	4 Mins	Internet Access	No
Clear Table	-
Menu Presentation:	N/A	Visit Details:
Menu Choices	N/A	Date	7th June 2007
Staff:		Time	1.30pm
- Manner	4
- Dress	3.5

Peaberrys Gourmet Coffee

Overall Experience: 4 / 5.

Peaberrys Coffee Roasters main business is selling beans, serving coffee at the same time. Because the focus is on selling beans, rather than coffee, it is quite different from most other cafes, but well worth a visit (if you can get there when it is open).

Café Details:		Coffee:
Café Name	Peaberrys Gourmet Coffee	Taste	3.5
Address	4/12 Alma Road	Temperature	4.5
Suburb	New Lambton	Presentation	4.5
Opening Hours	8-5 Mon to Fri 9-1 Sat	Consistency	? First Visit
Webpage	http://www.peaberryscoffee.com.au/	Price	$3.00
Owners Name		Latte Art	4
Bean	Peaberrys Gourmet Coffee	Milk Texture	3.5
Experience:		Feel:
Time to:		# of seats	12
Be Seated	-	# of full seats	3
Get Menu	-	- Music	4.5 Appropriate
Take Order	-	- Cleanliness	5
Bring Order	3 Mins	Internet Access	No
Clear Table	5 Mins (after finished)
Menu Presentation:	N/A	Visit Details:
Menu Choices	N/A	Date	30th May 2007
Staff:		Time	3.15pm
- Manner	4 Pleasant and Informative
- Dress	4

Goldberg’s Coffee House

Overall Experience: 2.5 / 5.

Staff were polite, one staff member stood at the door to welcome guests. It was raining this evening, so there was no outdoor seating, and inside was full. Because it was so full, there was a cramped feel, but it was not unpleasant. Though Goldberg’s was not outstanding at either end, I’ll go back to check their consistency.

Café Details:		Coffee:
Café Name	Goldberg’s Coffee House	Taste	2.5
Address	137 Darby Street	Temperature	2 (Too Hot)
Suburb	Newcastle	Presentation	3
Opening Hours	7am till midnight	Consistency	? First Visit
Webpage	?	Price	$3.30
Owners Name	?	Latte Art	3
Bean	?	Milk Texture	3.5
Experience:		Feel:
Time to:		# of seats	~ 50
Be Seated	N/A	# of full seats	~ 50
Get Menu	N/A	- Music	2.5
Take Order	3 minutes	- Cleanliness	3.5
Bring Order	3 minutes	Internet Access	?
Clear Table	N/A
Menu Presentation:	N/A	Visit Details:
Menu Choices	N/A	Date	9th May 2007
Staff:		Time	9.20pm
- Manner	4.5
- Dress	4

Lotus Espresso, The Junction. Visit #2

Overall Experience: 3 / 5. I’ll keep looking.

This was my second visit to Lotus Espresso, and to be honest, I was a little disappointed on the consistency front. The coffee just didn’t taste like the one that I had last week. Consistency is such an important part of a good café. You need to know what you are going to get. I’ve given it a rank of 2, as the coffee was still average (what you’d expect from any café), but just not as good as the last one. Also, I was charged a different price? On the plus side, the feel was just as good at night as when I went in the morning, and the staff were very courteous.
If it were the only café in Newcastle, I’d be quite happy to drink there, but there are more cafés to review (I’ll still go back at least once).

Café Details:		Coffee:
Café Name	Lotus Espresso	Taste	2.5
Address	5/50 Glebe Road	Temperature	4.5
Suburb	The Junction	Presentation	3.5
Opening Hours	7am till late	Consistency	2
Webpage	N/A	Price	$3.50
Owners Name	?	Latte Art	2
Bean	Peaberry’s	Milk Texture	4
Experience:		Feel:
Time to:		# of seats	Approx 60
Be Seated	-	# of full seats	20
Get Menu	-	- Music	None
Take Order	2 mins	- Cleanliness	4
Bring Order	3 mins	Internet Access	No
Clear Table	-
Menu Presentation:		Visit Details:
Menu Choices		Date	4th April 2007
Staff:		Time	7.45pm
- Manner	4
- Dress	4

Lotus Espresso, The Junction

Overall Experience: 4 / 5.

Lotus Espresso has quite good coffee, and I’ve been told that it is consistant, so I’ll be back in the near future to sample it again. The area around the cafe has a great vibe to it. I know that doesn’t affect the taste of the coffee, but it helps the feel of the cafe. I look forward to going back.

Café Details:		Coffee:
Café Name	Lotus Espresso	Taste	4
Address	5/50 Glebe Road	Temperature	4.5
Suburb	The Junction	Presentation	4
Opening Hours	7am till late	Consistency	? First Visit
Webpage	N/A	Price	$3.40
Owners Name	?	Latte Art	2.5
Bean	Peaberry’s	Milk Texture	3.5
Experience:		Feel:
Time to:		# of seats	Approx 60
Be Seated	-	# of full seats	10
Get Menu	-	- Music	None
Take Order	3 minutes	- Cleanliness	4
Bring Order	7 minutes	Internet Access	No?
Clear Table	-
Menu Presentation:	?	Visit Details:
Menu Choices	?	Date	28th March 2007
Staff:		Time	7.30am
- Manner	4
- Dress	3.5

An Espresso Traveller Update

No posts for over a week!

I’m sorking on the presentation of reviews, which is why there is no posting at the moment. I should have a format to present the reviews in by this weekend, and then shall have some content to post.

In the meantime, though, I have been drinking coffee, and have something to say about coffee in Darby St, Newcastle, as well as Bellingen, Coffs Harbour and Sawtell.

Sorry to keep you waiting, but it will be worth it.

Jim Howlin

Best Coffee in Newcastle… So far

Well, I found a fantastic coffee yesterday, but I found it where I wasn’t looking. I didn’t actually even catch the name of the cafe or the beans, here is the explanation…

I wanted a coffee before a lecture yesterday morning, and was recommended to try a coffee cart on the campus. I was sceptical, as I’ve had mixed experiences with coffee carts, but I took a risk on a $2.50 latte. I was quite impressed with the taste and temperature, but here is the problem, they are a coffee cart that only does takeaways, and are within the grounds of the University of Newcastle, so not very accessible. Also, as it is a cart, there is no option of a glass or a seat, which means you can’t get a coffee and relax.

In all though, when I want a coffee at the University, I’ll go back there. You’ll hear about it, as I will get some more details to share, as well as have an ability to judge consistency.

Jim Howlin

Ex-Local Cafes

I have spent all of my coffee appreciating life based in Coffs Harbour, NSW. In this time I have found 4 cafes that I would feel comfortable recommending to friends. Currently there are two cafes that I would recommend in the Coffs Harbour area. My regular café is called Café Split (Allpress), and is in First Ave, Sawtell (about 10 minutes south of Coffs). Joe and Dan down there do a great job, and if I could find a café like that in Newcastle I’d be the happiest coffee lover in town.

Once I finalise my checklist, I plan to go back to Split and see just how they rate according to the list. I hope they do well, as I had planned to use them as a benchmark for other cafes. I suppose I’ll find out soon.

The other cafe is called Morfish (Karmee), at Park Beach Plaza. They are great, I don’t get there enough because it is out of the way for me, but they are recommended if you are on the north side of Coffs. I’m also interested in seeing how they rate on the checklist.

I’d be interested to find out any other experiences at the above cafes.

Jim Howlin

Draft Review Criteria

I have completed a draft of the criteria that I’ll be using to judge the coffee experience of the cafes that I visit. You will notice that there it is a long list, and that is because all of the items mentioned add value to (or detract from) the experience.

I want a list of review criteria, so that I am comparing each cafe on the same items, and not just what I might notice on a particular visit. eg, if the music is too loud, I’ll certainly notice, however if the music was background music like it should be, it may not be noted, if not on the list.

Another idea behind having such a comprehensive review checklist list is that once it is correctly refined, other coffee lovers will be able to take the checklist and review cafes in their area, increasing the scope of this site quite quickly. Along those lines I’ll work out a ratings system for people that post reviews. By having a set review criteria, and a ratings system for people doing reviewing, the quest to review coffee in Australia could be quickly complete.

Review Criteria

Cafe Details:
Cafe Name
Address
Webpage
Phone
Owners name
Business card
Machine type
Grinder type

Coffee:
Taste
Presentation
Consistency
Price
Latte Art?
Milk Texture
Glass / Mug
Spoon adequate
Serviette

Experience:
Time to:
- be seated
- get menu
- take order
- bring order
- clear table
Menu presentation
Menu choices
Staff:
- Manner
- Dress
- Presentation
Feel
# of seats
# of full seats
Music
General cleanliness
Cleanliness of coffee prep area
Internet access

Visit Details:
Date
Time

Jim Howlin