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Could coffee be an Australian entrepreneurial success story?

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Re: Could coffee be an Australian entrepreneurial success story?

#11

Post by heresy »

liedra wrote: post #3

I moved to continental Europe over a year ago (from Sydney) and was appalled by the terrible coffee here. Most of it comes from a push-button machine if you're lucky to get an espresso-based coffee at all. Those that are done by hand are not so great either: I've seen the same grounds be used for several coffees in a row, for example. I had to time my order so I got a fresh grind! The only good coffees (i.e. up to my…

I concur. I don't know what it is about Down Under, but the coffee in Australia and New Zealand is superb. That's the first thing I get when I'm back after a trip overseas.

Re: Could coffee be an Australian entrepreneurial success story?

#12

Post by goatforce5 »

anarchitect wrote: post #9

When I moved to London from Adelaide, Australia six years ago there were very few places you could get a reliably good cup of coffee. Over the following years, Flat White opened in Soho and slowly but surely more cafés with a focus on coffee followed. It has to be said that the baristas in most of them are often Australian or Kiwi.

I was once waiting for my coffee in Flat White and got to overhear a conversation between the barista and someone with a backpack who had just come from Heathrow. It went something like:

"Bruno just got a X300 espresso machine for his Fitzroy location, but - get this - he's put a G2 filter on it!"

"A G2?!"

"G2!"

"Wowww. That's mindblowing!"

...

If your barista is geeking out about hardware modifications to their espresso machines, you know the coffee is going to be good.

Every Australian I know who lives overseas misses the cafe culture from there. I spent a couple of years living in West End in Brisbane, and you couldn't move for all the awesome indie coffee joints on Boundary St (having said that, West End was looking a little sketchy last time I was back there).

EDIT: Removed an extraneous word. Turns out I need more coffee.

Re: Could coffee be an Australian entrepreneurial success story?

#13

Post by matrix »

While I'm proud to see the cafe my sister manages get held up as an example to be exported elsewhere, I'm skeptical. The fact is, when scaling up a food or beverage franchise, food quality takes a distant back seat to consistency, supply chain management, leveraging economy of scale, and all kinds of unglamorous factors like that. The truth is, on average, people don't care as much about quality as you might think they do. Starbucks, McDonald's, Chill's, Olive Garden... the examples of mediocre, but consistent winners go on.

Re: Could coffee be an Australian entrepreneurial success story?

#14

Post by liedra »

elblanco wrote: post #7
liedra wrote: post #3

I moved to continental Europe over a year ago (from Sydney) and was appalled by the terrible coffee here. Most of it comes from a push-button machine if you're lucky to get an espresso-based coffee at all. Those that are done by hand are not so great either: I've seen the same grounds be used for several coffees in a row, for example. I had to time my order so I got a fresh grind! The only good coffees (i.e. up to my…

I hope some day you make it to Barcelona, I'm pretty sure I never had a bad cup there, even from random street vendors. I missed the coffee I had there long after I left.

I await this with great anticipation! (I have been there but for a conference without much chance to get outside and experience the city - I am determined to return, however!)

Re: Could coffee be an Australian entrepreneurial success story?

#15

Post by liedra »

goatforce5 wrote: post #12
anarchitect wrote: post #9

When I moved to London from Adelaide, Australia six years ago there were very few places you could get a reliably good cup of coffee. Over the following years, Flat White opened in Soho and slowly but surely more cafés with a focus on coffee followed. It has to be said that the baristas in most of them are often Australian or Kiwi.

I was once waiting for my coffee in Flat White and got to overhear a conversation between the barista and someone with a backpack who had just come from Heathrow. It went something like: "Bruno just got a X300 espresso machine for his Fitzroy location, but - get this - he's put a G2 filter on it!" "A G2?!" "G2!" "Wowww. That's mindblowing!" ... If your barista is geeking out about hardware modifications to their espr…

I'm about to move to London... I'll have to check it out! Also it has a fab name, nowhere else knows what a flat white is, and the cappuccinos they make here in Belgium have fake whipped cream on top! :( :(

Re: Could coffee be an Australian entrepreneurial success story?

#16

Post by liedra »

matrix wrote: post #13

While I'm proud to see the cafe my sister manages get held up as an example to be exported elsewhere, I'm skeptical. The fact is, when scaling up a food or beverage franchise, food quality takes a distant back seat to consistency, supply chain management, leveraging economy of scale, and all kinds of unglamorous factors like that. The truth is, on average, people don't care as much about quality as you might think th…

Who says anything about scaling up a franchise? It sounds like they're talking about a few small cafes rather than a new Starbucks. They're already doing that in Melbourne, so I don't see why it's particularly different.

Re: Could coffee be an Australian entrepreneurial success story?

#17

Post by maw »

bootload wrote: post #2

"... Australians (well, at least inner-city Melburnians) have embraced coffee with abandon in recent years. ..." Try 60 years.

I left Melbourne in 2002, and finally visited again in 2009. The effect of seven years of sustained prosperity was palpable in many ways, but none more so than the number of new cafés. I guess it's the sort of change you don't notice so much when you see something every day.

(I'm subscribed to a Melbourne photo blog, and it nearly brings a tear to the eye at least once a week. Melbourne's easily my favorite city in the world.)

Re: Could coffee be an Australian entrepreneurial success story?

#18

Post by bootload »

weeksie wrote: post #10
bootload wrote: post #2

"... Australians (well, at least inner-city Melburnians) have embraced coffee with abandon in recent years. ..." Try 60 years.

Bingo. The big reason why coffee sucks in the US is that the Italian immigration wave hit before the espresso machine was invented. It hit Oz afterward. And, leading from that, coffee in Oz has been pretty damned good for a long time. I've never been anywhere that takes it as seriously as we do save for a couple pockets in the pacific northwest of the US, and even in those places it's nowhere near the consistent good…

"... The big reason why coffee sucks in the US is that the Italian immigration wave hit before the espresso machine was invented. It hit Oz afterward. ..."

Excellent observation, I'd never thought of it that way.

Re: Could coffee be an Australian entrepreneurial success story?

#19

Post by Specstacular »

bootload wrote: post #18
weeksie wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bingo. The big reason why coffee sucks in the US is that the Italian immigration wave hit before the espresso machine was invented. It hit Oz afterward. And, leading from that, coffee in Oz has been pretty damned good for a long time. I've never been anywhere that takes it as seriously as we do save for a couple pockets in the pacific northwest of the US, and even in those places it's nowhere near the consistent good…

"... The big reason why coffee sucks in the US is that the Italian immigration wave hit before the espresso machine was invented. It hit Oz afterward. ..." Excellent observation, I'd never thought of it that way.

But Italian migrants did continue to go to US right through to the late 60s (indeed most Aussie Italian families I know have a tale of a great uncle/aunt in Canada and a couple more somewhere on East coast of US or in Chicago)... I'm intrigued by the theory though...

Re: Could coffee be an Australian entrepreneurial success story?

#20

Post by Specstacular »

cubicle67 wrote: post #8

For those of you in Australia who like good coffee at home, I have to recommend 5 Senses http://www.fivesensescoffee.com.au/ (good example of how to make a great website without Flash, too) Place your order, and they'll roast your coffee the next morning, ready for you to pick up after lunch. It's some of the best coffee I've ever had, and is all FairTrade too. [I have no affiliation, just a regular customer]

Oh, that does look tasty...
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