André Eiermann’s Observations of Australia (Part II)

We’ve recently been drawn to André Eiermann’s rather wonderful descriptions of his trips to Australian coffee roasteries and coffee shops, and with his very kind permission we’ve reproduced them here.

If you haven’t yet read Part I, go back and read it first then come back to this one!

Be prepared to get wonderfully lost in the sunny back streets of Sydney, and enjoy André’s particular appreciation for the small details.

André Eiermann is a certified Q-Grader and is the 2017 Swiss Barista Champion.

His coffee travels have taken him all around the world, from his original home of Switzerland to his current residence in Australia, where he is the General Manager of Victoria Arduino Australia & New Zealand.

Here are the articles. Grab a coffee, sit back and be transported to the sunny streets of Australia.

Ada’s Affair, Sydney

Ada’s Affair: the barista competition scene is a rather closed circle. But once you are in, you often feel like being part of a family. We have only met virtually during the Australian Barista Championship via Instagram. I guess that is how you meet today, and how the coffee community stayed connected during the last few months.

One day before her birthday, I finally made it to her café in Sydney: Ada’s Affair. It is a small café at the corner of a house, right next to a hospital. It is simple, yet very cosy and definitely with a beautiful ambiance. All guests were spreading positive vibes. Everyone was greeting each other kindly and it felt like a family gathering.

And then Cindy spotted me! I let her finalize the other’s orders before ordering myself. She recommended me two different espressos: the first one was from Guatemala 🇬🇹 and the second one was from Kenya 🇰🇪. Both coffee were fully washed. It is always nice when baristas know my personal preference and serve me coffee from Kenya. In addition I went for the cinnamon bun.

It is always nice when baristas know my personal preference and serve me coffee from Kenya.

I was sitting outside on a white bench and lead agains an electricity pole in the corner. I felt so relaxed and chill, I nearly fell asleep. First, I finished my espresso from Guatemala 🇬🇹. It had a bright citric and malic acidity with notes of apples 🍏 and pears 🍐. I personally love bright coffees ☕️.

The cinnamon bun was bombastic 💣! Just go and try it. Then Cindy served me the Kenyan espresso. We had a good chat about competition, how to run a café and how I got here. How great, when you met for the first time and feel totally welcome and home.

Thank you very much for the heartwarming welcome, and the little present.

And then a quick one: I got a cute little Piccolo for the road. The milk was nicely textured and beautifully poured. Full of happiness and well caffeinated I walked back to my hotel.

Single O Specialty Coffee Beans & Cafes, Sydney

Visiting Single O in Sydney 🇦🇺 was an amazing experience when it comes to pure black single origin coffee.

It doesn’t take long to realize that Australia is a espresso based milk beverage country. According to the Square Coffee Report 2019, 74% of all coffees served in a café were milk beverages (latte: 27%, flat white: 25%, cappuccino: 20%, and piccolo: 2%). That is massive compared to other countries. This is also why the baristas here in Australia are milk texturing robots.

Single O launched an interesting black coffee model to emphasizing on the purest way to enjoy coffee – single origin black coffee: TAP-IN: “We launched black coffee on tap at our Surry Hills café in early 2019. The Freepour™ Taps were created to shake things up at the coffee bar, in the name of single origins. (Which we’ve had a thing for since 2003.) We set about to give pure black filter coffee as much precedence as the espresso machine. The result was a self-pay self-serve, coffee on tap system, front & center, at your fingertips.”

I enjoyed a tasty single origin coffee from Costa Rica – Finca La Manita. While sipping this coffee chilled on ice, I enjoyed reading about their farm trip to Fina La Manita in 2013. It is always great to see when roaster engage in long-term relationships with farmers.

I also liked the colorful chairs to sit outside against the nicely spray-painted wall. And one little extra: they made sure, that I won’t run away with the toilet key. Too big to run! And one more thing: it is also nice to see, that many cafés are using recycled toilet paper. The details make the difference.

And one little extra: they made sure, that I won’t run away with the toilet key. Too big to run! And one more thing: it is also nice to see, that many cafés are using recycled toilet paper. The details make the difference.

A big thank you also to the baristas for their great hospitality and the time to explain the TAP-IN system, that was cool. THANK YOU.

Pablo & Rusty’s Coffee Roasters, Sydney

Pablo and Rusty’s Coffee Roasters are a great example that specialty coffee is much more than just a superior taste experience.

…specialty coffee is much more than just a superior taste experience.

They are committed to making the world a better place: “We source and roast the most delicious beans in the most sustainable way possible. We are a B Corp certified company and invest in tree planting and rebuilding biodiversity hotspots. We run our factory on solar and work closely with farmers, with the goal of eliminating waste in the coffee supply chain. We love coffee and our intent is that with every sip, we are doing good together.”

Last year they shared their first Impact Report: “We know what we measure is what we improve. This report has been put together by our team members from various departments. It gives an insight into who we are and what makes us tick, our current and past efforts to minimise our footprint and our goals for the future.”

I enjoyed a juicy Kenyan filter coffee: Kiriaini (Ndiara Coffee Factory); fully washed; Batian, Ruiru, SL28, and SL34. According to P&R, this coffee is a perfect example of the coffee communities coming together in Kenya for the common purpose of providing them with the best possible quality of coffee.

I also got my Huskee cup. Huskee is a cool looking and durable reusable cup, that is made from coffee husk. And the best: Huskee is now also a Certified B Corporation!

Skittle Lane Coffee, Sydney

Sydney CBD was still sleeping when I entered SKITTLE LANE at 7:30 o’clock in the morning. I loved the minimalistic interior design. From the outside you can spot immediately the massive. long black marble bench for the espresso machines and the grinders and a long wooden booth seating with additional wooden stools, made from one piece. The colors matched perfectly, and the textures of the different surfaces of the wood and the marble underlined the craftmanship of specialty coffee.

I ordered my first PICCOLO, an espresso topped with a bit of steamed milk. The barista did a fantastic job. He textured and poured the milked well and I truly enjoyed the strong coffee flavors cutting through the milk. Their house espresso comes from Colombia – La Falda: Huila; Caturra, Castillo, Colombia, washed.

As you know my drill by now, I also had a filter coffee. Batch brew is commonly available in many cafés throughout Australia, as at Skittle Lane. Therefore, I had another Colombian coffee, this time as a filter roast. It tasted sweet and juicy with a long-lasting lingering finish. I also appreciated the attention to details when it comes to the cup. The surface was smooth, the handle made the cup easy to grab and you could even hold it in both hands: warm and cozy.

Side note: one additional, tiny little detail: the toilet has an interesting system to save water. Once you flush the toilet, you can use the water running into the toilet to wash your hands. That is a cool feature to be more sustainable.

Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters, Sydney

I finally made it to the home of Charlotte, Carlos and Simon: Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters. I had the pleasure to visit their brand-new shop in Sydney CBD. The interior design was stunning; again, very sleek and minimalistic with a beautiful, solid white and black marble bench for the espresso machine and the grinder.

Everything is looking bright, shiny, and luxurious. Today, I went for a double espresso from El Salvador (San Jose) produced by Gloria Mercedes Rodriguez Fontan: Bourbon, washed with flavor notes of toffee, raspberry, and fruit mince tart.

It is always nice to discuss different cultural coffee backgrounds and to see how coffee is consumed around the world.

I enjoyed the chat with the Swedish barista. It is always nice to discuss different cultural coffee backgrounds and to see how coffee is consumed around the world. For example, while Sweden is a filter coffee country, coffee drinkers in Switzerland are more into long blacks (we call it Café Crème) or cappuccinos with chocolate powder. Of course, we also had a big laugh about how often Sweden and Switzerland gets mixed up. But that is fine, both countries are small and beautiful, and full of snow at this very moment.

Thanks a lot for the great hospitality and the tasty espresso.

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