some photos of my new coffee set up in my new cafe!

some cell phone shots of my new cafe: Foxy Brown Espresso taken today with my new cabinets in place and my whizz bang bfc synchro coffee machine which was installed yesterday!

some cool images of the cafe!

Following photos are of:
new coffee counters in Foxy, followed by the original and still working neon ice cream sign above the store, recent shot of my old cafe - Shanti Bhagwan, and me... looking like a dork!

Foxy Brown Espresso - the best damn brown in town!

Well... it's been a while since a blogged last and probably for good reason! I've been building my new cafe (that's cafe number three for me folks - you can't say that I haven't been around the block a few times! from the ground up!

Actually, that's not quite true - we inherited an 'empty shell' of a space - albeit a beautiful and functional empty shell of a space - a long and narrow room with front and rear courtyard and sidewalk trading - off the beaten track so to speak - as the cafe used to be a milk bar (read corner store or 'dairy' for you naughty New Zealand readers!) - so fortunately we have sidewalk trading as well with approved seating for 25 pax outside and another 30 inside - which is pretty ideal really when you think about it!

There are no other cafes in the immediate vicinity (ok so there are a few only a couple pf 100m away but who's counting!) and the new joint is located opposite the train tracks and half way between a couple of bustling train stations!

I haven't measured the distance exactly but I would say that we're probably no more than 5km from the CBD which is pretty bloody amazing when you think of it!

Its been a big job bumping in from scratch as we've had to put in plumbing and electrical as well, with all cabinets purpose built and the rear courtyard landscaped from scratch, but my new coffee machine - a purpose built BFC Synchro imported specially from Italty and customised to my own specifications - is arriving tomorrow!

Very, very exciting!

Hopefully I'll get some images up in the next day or so to make it a bit more interesting for ya'll!

Cheers,

ACg

dear santa please put this under the tree for me...

budding barista in the making!

Is 2 1/2 too young to get into the coffee game?























I think not!

random coffee shots (from my phone that is!)

Hidden barista cam strikes again at Caffeineatics in Collins Street, Melbourne!

Great coffee too...



Curious about this two group machine which I saw on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, the other day - not too sure about the specs but considering how much coffee I've been making at home recently, I'm starting to wonder if it's worthwhile upgrading to a two group!
(Actually, technically not sure that replacing my E61 lever Bezzera Domus Galatea with the above is strictly an 'up-grade' - at least not in so far as price is concerned!)



Hidden coffee cam - Single Origin



Yummy soy Piccolo from Single Origin in Sydney



Yummy (short) espresso from Single Origin in Sydney


Man did I need this coffee. I think the owners knew we were industry when two of us ordered nine coffees... not sure how but something managed to give us away...

Question? What's the difference between a short espresso and a ristretto?
AnsweR: About a dollar ninety five!



Not strictly coffee related but these are the loos in the cinema complex at the Como building in South Yarra

I thought that they were wort a mention as the building itself is relatively new, but the bathroom manages to capture some gothic charm



Not strictly coffee related but yummy nevertheless... This is a couple of kilos of honey and honey comb which had been growing in the wall in the side of my house


Didn't want to fumigate so I got the bees smoked out and relocated to a commercial hive, and managed to score some honey for my self in the process, which you can in fact add to coffee - see... I knew there was a tie-in there somewhere!



Here's a random shot of BBB taken a couple of weeks ago as I grabbed a coffee on the fly Noticed the other day though that the front window had been smashed in - what a stupid thing to do - and not much fun for the first staff member of the day to discover either, not to mention the unnecessary expense of having to replace the thing either

My joint got broken into a couple of weeks ago so I can sympathise with having to fork out for unnecessary costs for repairs. Still... it gave us an opportunity to beef up security, and now each staff member is issued with a sawn-off upon arrival...



My latest home roast made up of equal parts Ethiopian Limmu & Colombian Peaberry with a hint of Kenyan Fire Estate thrown in for good measure!
The image is a bit fuzzy but the coffee itself is a double ristretto base with only a tiny dollop of steamed milk on top - four days post roast and bloody delicious! I back-blended a small quantity of the Kenyan coffee through it, and it seems to provide added complexity, whilst at the same time drinking very well relatively early! I'm starting to get into the whole 'blend' (as opposed to single origin) thing, and I'm loving the fuller flavours that blending seems to bring out.

From memory I roasted (on my Gene Cafe home roaster) the Ethiopian and the Colombian both at 235C with 100C pre-heat, and 16min / 16.5 min roast times respectively - which surprised me really as I thought that the Limmu would go for longer than the Peaberry, but bang on 16min I saw the first puff of smoke, indicating that I had just reached second crack, so I pulled the roast

Yum. Bloody yum.

alia celebration blend

Well... little Alia Rainbow was born on the 4th of November at 12.20am weighing in at a healthy 4.2kg - we had a home birth without complications, and a short 3 hour labor, and both mother and daughter are well and doing fine

So in Alia's honour I have created "Celebration Blend" which contains 50 / 50 Tanzanian 'Fire Estate' and Costa Rican 'Royal Tarruzu' AA - roasted for 17mins @ 235C on my gene cafe home roaster

And five days post roast the results are in the cup!

Thick and luscious crema which just pours and pours, with cinnamon, cardamom, and strawberry dominating the nose, and Persian Tart on the palate - complete with a lovely buttery texture, and firm, fleshy notes on the mid palate!

I could drink this coffee all day long, in fact, I do!

The caffeine content seems to be pretty gentle, it provides a pleasant buzziing sensation, but does not overwhelm, and high altitude coffee ensures low acidity, which is very gentle on the stomach

And the benefit of home roasting is that I know exactly when the coffee was roasted, so I know that I am consuming it in the 'sweet spot' window of opportunty, which for me is five to ten days post roast

Kind of makes it hard to go out for coffee though, which is probably just as well, as with a new child on board there is less demand to venture outdoors and more reasons to stay at home - makes sense when you think about it

Opps... baby is crying and its daddy's turn to comfort her so better go...