well... its been a monster year - anyone who says cafes arent hard work hasnt worked in a busy one! between work and family its damn exhausting most of the time and its definitely a labour of love as profits are pretty negligible - but then again we're on a continuous growth curve - so if we can maintain the current momentum I'll be happy
last week of trade was our busiest of the year - averaging 80 meals and 200 coffees a day during the week which is both a great joy and a great way to pay the bills before the holiday break!
year highlights are numerous but being shortlisted by the Age to be in the running for top ten cafes (based on points listing in the Melbourne Magazine about a month ago) - gave us the spur and the impetus to really take our coffee to the next level - withy a focus on staff training and increased documentation - but also provided the drive to run with some really lovely coffees - so recently we've had no less than 3 cup of excellences coffees running concurrently, as well as the marvellous el salvador adia battle selection which really takes coffee to a whole new previously unimagined level
not to mention the wonderful coffee crafted by our top roaster - Joshua Bailey (who roasted most of the above mentioned coffees - I di manage to roast some myself!) - I'm particularly proud of the work we've done together on the Sweet Maria's blend - which I'm sure I'm biased but i think its top gear mate!
PNG Sigri, Nicaragua Diamond, Brazil Sao Paulo, and Honduras St Finca Marta - make up the Sweet Maria's blend in its current incarnation - and I would describe the resulting flavour profile as nothing short of 'Burgundian' - which is a wine term that I am very reluctant to apply to coffe for obvious reasons but in this case I think we've created something special that merits this kind of praise and consideration - still ... I'll let you be the judge - certainly coffee sales have been good and are on the up and up so it hopefully bodes well for a good start to the new year
Well... my wife reminds me that we're about to embark on a road trip for a month and I'm supposed to be packing so I suppose I had better be doing that will update a little latter on down the road!
Thanks for a great year peoples!
