We are planning on escaping the smog and cold of Beijing winter for a little while, heading to Australia. Spending a few days each in Melbourne and Sydney, as well as a couple of days in Brisbane, Canberra, and on the northeast coast, in Hervey Bay. I hear that Melbourne is a great food town and am hoping that means it's a good espresso town, too. Any recommendations? How about Sydney? I won't get my hopes up for the smaller towns on our itinerary...

Snaab
Take a look at the thread "Traveling to Oz: Melbourne and Sydney" where there is a lot of info on Oz and its food and coffee.

Traveling to Oz: Melbourne and Sydney

Have a great trip
Geoffrey

GB/Gyro -

thanks a ton - i should have known there'd be an HB thread on this already . and i am stoked to hear that there is a good coffee culture there -- I can leave the aeropress at home.

snaab,

Another resource might be the Australian Embassy in Beijing:

[url][/url]http://www.china.embassy.gov.au/

Australia has an espresso culture that is quite old due to the immigration of Italians that dates back to the mid 1800's. As a result shops serving espresso and espresso based drinks and european style pastries are very common. Typically the coffee is better than at that famous American chain and the food is usually very good. Many of the places listed should serve a better than average espresso. But for the exceptional espresso I would defer to gyro's more recent experiences.

Cheers
Geoffrey

I recently came back from Aus having lived there for a year. I was in Cronulla which is a 45-60 min train ride south of Sydney. They have two of the most highly ranked cafe's in the Sydney area and both are worthy of a visit:

Grind has a manically loyal following, typically people will pose somewhere famous with a sign reading "I'd rather be at Grind"
"The loyalty of the Grind customers is arguably unparalleled for a Sydney cafe. The espresso was presented with a smooth, luscious, caramelly crema, residing above a deep dense body which was silky smooth when drunk. The flavour was well balanced and rich. The resulting aftertaste was short yet strong on the palate."

Salvatore Lannuzzi & Mark Scandurra, The Coffee Guide...Sydney (2007 Edition) - October 2006

Then there is Kafenio, which does some amazing food to boot (I recommend the Nio Breakfast)
"In its running of a successful coffeehouse, Kafenio's formula is simple: good food, good service and good coffee. The coffee had an elegant taste but not before a sharp and vibrant overtone as one first sips the coffee. Well-balanced, right temperature, full in body - the flavour floats in the mouth leaving one wanting more."

Salvatore Lannuzzi & Mark Scandurra, The Coffee Guide...Sydney (2006 Edition) - January 2006

Typically I found that I prefered the Espresso at Nio (much richer and smoother than Grinds) but for Latte and milk based drinks Grind ruled supreme. Grind will also have a bean of the day that is always worth a try as well. A trip down to Cronulla is well worth the effort, plus it has a great beach, the opportunity of seeing whales/dolphins in the bay area and some of the best surf in Oz. Damn but I want to go back there

If you get down there let me know what you think.

Mecca

Mecca, Mecca Mecca

Update: First few days in Oz: Never have my fears about being unable to find decent, let alone excellent espresso, been so unfounded. It is not an exaggeration to say that pretty well every time we turned a corner in Brisbane, we found a new espresso shop. First try was in the Brisbane airport -- what are the chances airport espresso will be good? -- and we were pleasantly surprised by a place with kind of a silly name -- "The Coffee Club". A little bit of a lost in translation moment -- a macchiato here seems to mean "a little foam and some hot milk" -- but still very rich espresso.

I should apologize for the pics, iPhone is only but so good for this sort of thing

Next morning, our first stop was a place called "Spoon" on Albert and Charlotte streets in the central business district. Spoon is a deli/espresso shop and seems to cater to the business crowd, closes early, opens early. Having largely sussed out how to order a macchiato while minimizing the hot milk, had a great couple of shots and the wife's cappuccino was done right, too.



On to Sydney, where HB folks' advice has been right on the money. And happy coincidence, our hotel is two blocks from the Mecca (aptly named, I think) on King street. This place also caters to the business set and opens at 0600 -- in plenty of time for me to enjoy a shot before going running across the harbor bridge(!). Small shop with a couple of La Marzocco Mistral working away at full speed - beautiful machines. And they pulled beautiful shots, a macchiatto this morning.


My afternoon ristretto came at another Mecca, on Alfred and George streets, not from a Mistral but an older La Marzocco, still beautiful.


The tough thing here is choosing when and where to have that next espresso, not worrying about finding one. I max out at about 4, maybe 5 in a day -- I would happily drink many times that here but I'd probably end up hanging from the harbor bridge or the opera house.....

so far, so good. tomorrow's another espresso adventure...with some sightseeing thrown in for good measure....

Photos of the best Australian coffee houses featured in "The Australian" the national newspaper:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/ex...431?page=1

Enjoy

Geoffrey