Coffee Snobbery

It's a great disappointment to me that you cannot rely on getting a decently made coffee in this town. There ARE people who can make coffee, and true espressoheads know where they are, but I'm just not willing to travel all over town to get a single cup of well made coffee. I don't know why it's so hard- I can make a better coffee than many of the best equipped so called baristas, armed with just a cafetiere and some beans.

Personally I'm a fan of the stove top. I don't think home coffee machines except for the most expensive are really worth the money. They don't seem to get the water hot enough for one thing. After so many years of drinking coffee I can also tell almost straight away when the beans used are stale and I have to say it happens alot. They develop a sort of soapy, flat taste to me, and a faint smell of stale oil. I buy mine weekly, from Aromas on Montague Road in West End. I like it because it's not a trendy roastary at all- it's a proper no frills working business. You walk straight into the roasting room where the guys are working with the big shiny machine and choose which beans you want from the big black barrels. I like mine full and rich with those chocolatey/caramel flavours that come with a longer roasting.

Good coffee is like good wine. Once you've had a couple of good ones, it's hard to go back. And a bad one is always disproportionatley disappointing.

If anyone knows good baristas in Queensland, let me know- I'm always interested in creating a mental map, should I ever be stuck and desperate for a caffeine fix.