Latte art - phone pics.

Today I was coaching a new barista on how to pour latte art (he really had picked up things quite well after only a few months) - I got inspired about entering the the Sydney Latte art Competition (hope its not too late!) being held as part of the Aroma Rocks Festival this weekend (will publish some pics after the event).

I was quite happy with the latte art I created (Sorry about the clarity, they were taken on my phone):






Whilst in Sydney I will also be putting in a stint at the AASCA exhibit of the ICTF trade show. Should be a good chance to catch up again with interstate members of the australian coffee geek community.

Great Food

Recently I have been treated to some quite extraordinary Food. The ones that come to mind (Salivating at the thought)..

Breakfast - A minor breakfast @ A minor Place, 103 Abion St, Brunswick
The beans & eggs were better than I had remembered beans & eggs to be!

Lunch - Veal T-Bone @ Cicciolina, 130 Ackland St, St Kilda
I had to refrain from licking the plate and nibbling on the bone.

Dinner - Roasted gippsland lamb rump (with white polenta, olives, tomatoes and skordalia) @ Radii Restaurant & Bar (Park Hyatt)
A great dinner topped off a great night for the launch - I have been raving for a few days now about the divine sauce that accompanied the Lamb. Also was impressed by the balsamic reduction & olive oil we dipped our bread in (just a simple and common accompanimant, but top ingredients were used and the flavours were magnificent!).

Launch Party

Last night we held a launch party for our products at the Park Hyatt in Melbourne. The night went really well - in the splendour of the Radii Room, much of Melbourne's coffee community came along and it was a chance for Ben and myself to share a little of our passion and the values held by Somage.

The photos of the event (soon to be posted) were taken by Denh of Ikon images, biscuits were supplied by Stefan Roth of Alpen Delicious and the wine by Katherine Brown of Brown Brothers. Ben Angel of Nationwide Networking was our MC. A big thanks to all those that helped including the delightful staff of the Park Hyatt.

Cheers.

Some cafes well worth a visit

With the recent launch of my Organic Tea range "Chamellia" and my 100% natural (& gluten & dairy free!) drinking Chocolate "Kali", I have been on a quest to seek out Melbourne’s coolest & funkiest cafes - this has literally taken me all across Melbourne.

Some of the Cafes I have been to include:

St Ali

One of Melbourne’s Iconic cafes (certainly amongst coffee geeks!) located in Yarra place, South Melbourne. The coffee is roasted on the premises and they use one of only two Synesso Espresso Machines in Victoria. Seriously good coffee and the ambience oozes "Melbourne" - classy with attention to detail, minus the pretentiousness.

Icoco

Another artisan roaster serving up great coffee, run by two passionate and humble Kiwis. Located on Victoria Avenue in Albert Park, it has become a new regular haunt of mine. Always a good positive vibe there.

Piccolo

Piccolo is a new café situated on High Street near the corner of Chapel street in Prahran. Quite a quaint / cosy venue, one that I think will develop and become quite prized by the locals.

casual work..

I thought I would share some pictures of the cafes I currently work at to support me whilst I get my business off the ground (and keep up my barista skill!) - the Maling room in Canterbury (on Sundays)and Rumbles Patisserie at Prahran Market (on Fridays).




Aside from the occasional shift at the cafes, my business allows me to spend a considerable amount of time seeking and visiting new / funky cafes (I'll share these in future blogs). Today I was visiting a new cafe which recently took on my teas and was fortunate to be able to sit in on a training session delivered by a representative of the coffee company supply the venue. I was genuinely intrigued by the different approach to coffee training that ensued - much of the information on coffee extraction methods etc presented was consistent in content with my theories, but relayed in an entirely different way. It was great for generating new thoughts (even when I didn’t entirely agree with the occasional particular, it still caused me to re-evaluate my theories). It kind of reaffirmed for me that you always have something to gain from others by placing yourself in environments where information is shared and if you are open to the prospect of learning something new.

The second thing I gleaned is passion. Maybe stating the obvious, but the things you hear seem to have greater impact when received from people who are passionate about the topic they are discussing. It's as if the words carry more meaning or validity; and you have a greater interest in what they have to say! I like being in the company of people pursuing their passion.