How do you like your coffee?
Prepare to give your taste buds a go. Enjoy the speciality tastes that pop through your mouth and give life in the roasting, until you find your preferred flavour and aroma. Look out for where the coffee came from and how it is processed. And recognise the barista’s enormous passion poured into producing one little cup.
So enjoy the passion of coffee!
Expresso, Mocha, Latte, Flat White, Cappuccino, Long Black, Piccolo, Ristretto, Affogato, Macchiato.
1. 22 Grams
PHONE NUMBER 02 9398 2277
ADDRESS 166-168 Belmore Road, Randwick, Sydney.
The philosophy at 22 Grams is that great coffee requires sufficient attention to detail and a willingness to channel an abundance of minute factors coming together to create an awesome experience!
This Seasonal Beans are sourced from far and wide and roasted in-house. The consistent full bodied house blend with pronounced caramel sweetness and clean finish is made using washed, honey, pulp natural and dry processed beans.
The café itself is warm and rustic with exposed walls contrasted by warm lighting. There are irresistible muffins, cakes and pastries baked daily and meals bursting with freshness and flavour. Open 7 days a week and catering for gluten free customers
At 22 grams Roasting and brewing coffee is a daily practice and a chance to chase perfection and create a distant coffee experience then you can enter the world energised!
2. The Reformatory Caffeine Lab
PHONE NUMBER 0422 011 565
ADDRESS Shop 7B, 17-51 Foveaux Street, Surry Hills, Sydney
This interesting mix of café, coffee lovers’ paradise and scientist lab serves cold drip coffee in test tubes! The eye catching graffiti on black walls and metal cages housing bare light bulbs is ultra-cool. There is always something amazing to try.
Owner Simon has been a coffee farmer as have his family for generations, so he is fastidious in sourcing the best beans then roasts them himself. He chooses top beans and offers a huge range of brew styles.
The Reformatory Caffeine Lab offers all imaginable coffee styles, from cold drip to steampunk, AeroPress to syphon and plunger as well as seasonal blends and house blends. The blackboards proudly list many filter offerings and there is always something interesting to try. There is also an incredible choice of pastries, donuts and croissants
If your coffee habits need reforming you will truly appreciate the long journey that ends with coffee in your cup by standing at the bar and indulging. But check the times of opening because some days the café closes at 2pm.
3. Coffee Alchemy
PHONE NUMBER 02 9516 1997
ADDRESS 24 Addison Road, Marrickville, Sydney
Coffee Alchemy certainly puts the ‘speciality’ in speciality coffee. The blends are named after famous alchemists!
Choose from different types of Coffee Alchemy blends, different single estate farms for pour over coffee, cold drip coffee using a variety of apparatus, or several different single estates expressos. These are also available to purchase.
Blends are blended from a taste profile rather than a country-specific profile sourced directly from farmers all over the world and roasted on site
Coffee Alchemy is so dedicated to speciality coffee that it doesn’t sell anything else. No teas, no food, no pastries, just coffee.
At Coffee Alchemy it is all about history, commitment, innovation and Alchemy!
4. Mecca Coffee
PHONE NUMBER 02 9280 420 (Ultimo) or 02 9299 8288 (King Street)
ADDRESS 646 Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney, or 67 King St, Sydney
The Mecca coffee empire sources, roasts and serves its own coffee from coffee around the world as well as supplying cafes up and down the east coast of Australia. As much of its coffee as possible is sourced directly from farmers as a chance to support communities and individual workers. The Mecca team look for coffees that are in season, organic and that are grown and processed in socially and environmentally responsible ways.
Mecca’s signature blend is packed with character from an ever evolving blend that is seasonal in character, but the quality remains constant.
5. Brewton Newtown
PHONE NUMBER 02 9519 2920
ADDRESS 6-8 O’Connell Street, Newtown, Sydney
Housed in a beautiful old warehouse Brewtown Newtown is a one-stop shop, serving a seasonal bistro menu, pastries made in house and speciality coffee roasted in house. They have even got a fashion and homewares retail collection upstairs.
The owners believe coffee is an essential part of everyday living. They buy their range of speciality coffee from African coffees. The house blends are generally from two or three origins from Columbia, Brazil, Ethiopia.
Their breakfast menu features everything from grilled black sausage to sticky date coconut chai morning pudding. Lunch from Elvis burger to fully stuffed toasted sandwiches.
Brewtown also serve a cronut which is a croissant –doughnut pastry and is simply spectacular and well worth a trip. Pairing that with the Xanudu blend from Columbia it is a perfect match.
6. Gumpton
PHONE NUMBER 02 9232 4199
ADDRESS Shop 11, 412-414 George St, Sydney
Gumption is situated in stained glass and ornate tiles of the the Historic Strand Arcade on George street. Serving only coffee you can sit or stand inside or take a table on the glorious Strand arcade and drink the delicious coffee. The owner has developed a craft of producing something wonderful in every cup.
The wall lighting, floor to ceiling leadlight window at the back of the shop and every item is crafted in the same way the coffee is made with passion. The smell of the sweetly brewing coffee beans from the moment you enter the strand means you can follow your senses to find the place.
Smell the sweetly brewing coffee beans from the moment you enter the Strand, you only need to walk onto the ground floor and follow your senses to find this place.
7. John Smith Speciality Coffee
PHONE 0422 855 811
ADDRESS 1 John St, Waterloo
A must try cafe where good coffee and great food are brought together in one place.
A vibrant atmosphere with colourful booths and bar-style seating facing the Windows breathes life into this heritage building. The apparatus to make a large range of coffee types line the walls to make a coffee-lovers heaven.
The public can join in with the baristas in a public cupping sessions in the cafe. This is a great way to gain appreciation and for them to know what origins you would like in your next cup of coffee.
John Smith has a sister company Rebel Roaster. Their house blend tastes of chocolate and a hint of berry. The baristas show off Teri unique talent to bring a variety of flavours to the cup. The beans are sourced from Kenya and Ethiopia.
John Smith Speciality Coffee serve breakfast and lunch all day. Eggs Benedict is served with pulled pork and veggie salad on the side. They also sell cronuts and tests supplied by Little Secrets Bakehouse
As you enter the cafe there is a welcoming atmosphere from the friendly staff. They happily talk to customers through coffee choices and their attentive see creates a happy atmosphere. John Smith Speciality Coffee is s must visit to find Waterloo’s happy stop.
8. Single Origin Roasters Surrey Hills
PHONE 02 9211 0665
ADDRESS 60 Reservoir St, Surrey Hills
Single Origin Roasters coffee can be found in many of the best cafes across Sydney and Australia.
The signature house blend is the Reservoir blend. It is a bright sophisticated coffee, with flavours of ripe stone fruits, vibrant yet structured acidity, a delicate body and a clean finish. It is adjusted seasonally with fresh harvest single origin coffees. It features coffee from Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya. The dedicated baristas also serve a changing menu of single origins.
The brew bar is intimate in size, so even the milk is delivered in 10 litre bags so there is no need to use space with wastage plastic milk bottles.
Open for breakfast and lunch they offer top quality food to match their coffee service. They offer wraps with coffee spiced chicken, coconut cracked wheat, all to try with an optional super hot spice challenge. A favourite is the house cured bacon and egg roll as well as quinoa kedgeree. They are customer focused and give a friendly welcoming vibe at the café giving great coffee, great food and a great service.
9. Edition Coffee Roasters
ADDRESS 265 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst, Sydney.
There is a calm, warm and charming vibe as you walk through the doors of the café. The owners focus their energy on serving flawless single origin coffee here so that the flavour of the origin really shines through. In every dignified cup you can get an enthusiastic explanation of the coffee’s origins. The owners work with integrity, pride, class, style and passion
The café is inviting and quaint with light wood tables a white interior and a slight Japanese design. The menu takes it’s inspiration from Scandinavia. The signature dish is smoked king salmon on rye bread with pickled vegetables radish and roe, called Smorrebrod. There are plenty of other delicate flavours to choose from for a healthy breakfast or a lunch, all having an eye catching presentation.
Green coffee is bought from Lattorre and Dutch Coffee traders. The flavours are floral and acidic allowing the flavour to cut through the milk and shine as black
It is one of four places in the world to sample Elixir coffee, which looks like whisky, feels like tea, is made from coffee but tastes like nothing you have had before!
10. Bean Drinking
PHONE 02 9436 1678
ADDRESS Shop 1, 13 Ernest Place, Crows nest
The artisan coffee message is on display to the public by the expresso bar and micro-roaster sits in the middle of Earnest place.
The space looks over a coffee emporium with clocks showing the time in major coffee regions. There is also coffee sack artwork and drawings of the stages of growth of a coffee plant. There is a Brew bar filled with alternative brewing methods but the top of the list of experiences here is customised hand built Slayer machine which allows the barista to produce the most delicious espresso beverages.
The choice of beans comes from the in house roaster Roastworks Coffee Co in a nearby warehouse. The café uses two blends. Firstly Boots, a lighter roast featuring naturally processed beans from Ethiopia and Brazil, resulting in a floral aroma with upfront taste of sweet berries and cacao flavour. Secondly a traditional blend of fully washed South central coffees
Customers are spoilt for choice with expresso single origins and filter options as well as cold drip-batch brew and hand bottled iced coffee to name a few.
Customers come first but the food is close behind too with seasonal fruit, and traditional café fare.
The owner’s passion is to allow you to explore a multitude of elements including origins, roasts, brews and extractions in Bean Drinking!