At The Streets of Barangaroo, the bean scene is warming up. In the lead up to International Coffee Day on October 1, Sydney’s finest coffee roasters are spilling the beans on what makes their brews so good.
The Precinct by Toby’s Estate is tamping the grounds on the heads of its sleek, new, low-profile espresso machine from Seattle called a Mavam that has all the hardware built-in under the counter, somewhat akin to the familiar beer tap. The Mavam brings theatrics back to coffee making and allows transparency between barista and consumer. It provides electrical heating elements that are individually programmable so the barista can ensure the temperature is stable from the first shot to the hundredth shot.
At Micro by Coffee Alchemy, Hazel de los Reyes and Clare Lim are taking delivery of their latest single-estate beans from individual farms, co-operatives or mills, known as micro-lots. “We prefer micro-lots where the production is often just a few bags,” says Hazel. “The term micro-lot is literally the crème of the crop. Farmers take a risk, cordon off a plot of trees and harvest them separately. We just came back from Sulawesi where there is a producer, Toarco Estate, experimenting with honey-processing. We have one of the two bags produced in 2016.”
And at Georgie Boy’s Coffee Co, George Christodoulou, is taking special orders. “Aussie bean lovers are a fussy bunch. Gone are the days of ordering a simple cappuccino. Almond, soy, cold drip, filter – you name it, they want it,” he says. “One regular orders, every day, a four-shot, large, flat white with hazelnut syrup and 10 sugars.”
The lucky residents, visitors and workers who walk The Streets of Barangaroo can take their pick of coffee spots to serve them their morning pick-me-up. They can feel the love at Luxe with its takeaway cup stamped with a big red heart, test the Turkish coffee at Anason or visit Campos’s striking, gold fit-out for a superior blend. They can give the ‘sidecar’, a batch brew filter coffee with an espresso on the side, a go at Shortstop or get a caffeine hit without the heat with an affogato from RivaReno.
“There are heaps of coffee choices at The Streets, which fosters competitiveness,” says Marco Assanti from The Precinct. “But mostly it keeps us on our toes and makes us diversify what we are doing. Customers don’t just want a great coffee; they want a memorable experience.”
The proof is in the cup: around 7,900 coffees — made from around 160 kilos of beans — are sold every day at The Streets of Barangaroo. This will become 13,000 cups daily when the international towers are fully occupied. All retailers use compostable coffee cups made from sustainable, rapidly renewable resources. Cups are collected in ‘waste to energy’ bins before they are taken to Chullora where they are sorted, shredded and baled for transport to Malaysia. They are then used as an alternative energy fuel in the manufacture of cement.
Life’s too short for a bad coffee so take the plunge and break away from the daily grind. Get to know your caffeine dealer as your espresso is extracted. Whether you take it long, flat, soy, almond or decaf, there’s a bean for you at The Streets of Barangaroo.
The Streets of Barangaroo’s Coffee Retailers
Bourke Street Bakery
Bourke Street Bakery Barangaroo use Reservoir blend coffee from Single O (formerly Single Origin Roasters). The result is a coffee with vibrant acidity, a structured body and a clean finish.
Micro by Coffee Alchemy
Micro pride themselves on their ability to trace each and every bean back to the plantation, farmer and ‘micro lot’ it was grown on. Micro’s baristas use Sydney’s very respected Coffee Alchemy, which was named “best coffee” in the SMH Good Café Guide four years in a row.
RivaReno Gelato
RivaReno offer a small selection of coffees that perfectly complement their famous gelato. Try an Italian style short espresso at the counter or incorporate your favourite gelato flavour with a shot of espresso coffee in an affogato.
Shortstop Coffee and Donuts
Shortstop Coffee and Donuts source most of their coffees from Market Lane in Melbourne, as well as sourcing locally and internationally. Shortstop love their coffee strong so every cup comes with a double shot of coffee as standard.
Luxe Café
Luxe Café make coffee for the people, not baristas. Their coffee is made from a special Luxe blend from Acme Coffee Roasters Company and using exclusively Synesso machines. The result is a velvety coffee with notes of chocolate, port and caramel. Every coffee from Luxe comes in takeaway cups bearing the big red heart that we’ve come to associate with the café.
Anason
Anason’s Turkish coffee is made with the best Yemeni beans and roasted locally. Sit and enjoy a coffee on the waterfront or grab one to go from Anason’s traditional simit cart.
Georgie Boy’s Coffee Co.
Georgie Boy’s Coffee Co. offer their own signature blend of smooth, full-bodied coffee with punch and a caramel toffee finish. This is a product of months of experimentation, to get the coffee profile that matched the brand.
Iron Grill
Iron Grill offer a range of coffees, such as the Carmelo blend from Allpress. This blend creates a lively and full bodied coffee with distinct caramel flavours. Greek coffee is also on offer, created with a traditional copper machine bought specifically from Greece and coffee imported from Cyprus. For those warmer days Iron Grill serve Greek-style frappés and blended gelato coffees.
Pasta Pantry
Pasta Pantry’s coffees are made by their expert baristas using the Cremaroma blend of the award winning Aroma Coffee. With a medium body, this blend is extremely versatile and is designed to perform across the full espresso menu.
Pattison’s Patisserie
It’s a little known fact that Pattison’s Patisserie source and hand-roast their own beans right here in Sydney. The patisserie’s boutique roasting unit, Pattison’s Coffee Roasters, personally source green beans from current crops in South and Central America, East Africa and Indonesia.
Toby’s Estate
The eminent coffee brand in Australia, Toby Smith has been serving a loyal following since 2011 and has now hit Barangaroo. You’re able to pick up your daily brew made with Toby’s signature Woolloomooloo blend or an exotic single origin blend. Toby’s “Woolly” blend is a heavy-bodied coffee with notes of spice, earth and cocoa.
Campos Barangaroo
Campos Coffee are serving their popular house blend of coffee, which has a rich body with a sweet butterscotch finish. Also on offer is a rotating single origin roast and a rotating filter coffee blend.
‘The Precinct’ by Toby’s Estate
The Precinct by Toby’s Estate is one of the brand’s flagship stores that offers exotic single origin roasts and contemporary blends. The café is the brand’s very first ‘Espresso Bar’ and incorporates a frameless machine called a ‘mavam’. All major hardware of the machine is located below the counter, giving customers the opportunity to sit at the bar and get to know their barista.