Hobart coffee adventures
Went to Hobart for work for a week, which was the perfect opportunity to explore the city and see how the specialty coffee scene has evolved since my last visit in 2017!
A lot of cafes don't open until 7 or 7:30AM so my choices on weekdays were quite limited, but I still I found some nice ones! Staple Coffee was one I kept returning to; their bagels and croissants are really tasty (and cheap?! A coffee and bagel/croissant was only around the $12 mark!).
Bloom coffee and bites is cute too! However I had a pretty strict morning schedule, and while they advertised being open at 7AM, I wasn't able to revisit because they opened a few minutes after 7 so I kept returning to Staple!
I revisited Villicia, and they still use Ona coffee!
Pigeon Whole Bakers now has an espresso machine and seems to have gotten more famous in the last few years! Their pastries are still as tasty as ever, and their filter coffee quality is still good! I even bought heaps of merch this time haha!
Lastly, Somewhere Coffee Bar! This one is a nice place, and has heaps of coffee on offer. This is probably the prime specialty coffee shop in Hobart now, and they're about 3 years old I think. I visited this one on the weekend so I had plenty of time to chat (and they're open till 5 on Saturdays!) - sampled some coffee from Good Life coffee roasters from Finland, as well as some Leaves Coffee from Japan. Oh, and they had Wood & Co roasted for Audrey coffee in Hobart - a cafe that is probably only really accessible by car so it wasn't on my to do list this trip.
One of the most interesting things while chatting was watching the barista make breakfast, which was a couple of slices of toast dipped in olive oil, salt and pepper. It's rare to see baristas making breakfasts for themselves so this was cool to watch!
Overall I think there's still some inconsistency with how filter coffee/batch brew tastes, as if it's still developing. I am pretty sure my palate was on point but a lot of the coffees lacked acidity/brightness. There was something else lacking (though sweetness was often prominent in the brews), such as body? I'm not too sure. But I am no coffee expert and I didn't have time to chat to confirm; but Pigeon Whole Baker's batch brew was the same as always so I wonder what it was!
It's great to see so many more coffee shops now!
Hong Kong - October 2017
Circumstances lead me to take a relatively unplanned holiday, and one for visiting relatives instead of exploring by myself. However, my brother managed to suggest that we stop by Hong Kong first, and that way, I could tick off another country that I've been too!I was quite looking forward to it since I heard about the efficiency of Hong Kong, and I figured it'd be easy to navigate and communicate since the people there could speak English.But first, plane wings!
My plane was quite empty so I could take all the window seat pictures I wanted. I'd also forgotten how nice daytime flights are.
Obligatory airplane food pictures! All the food on these flights had flavours about right; lately I've really noticed that plane food and hospital food have far too much salt. Nothing needs so much salt! These were all quite tasty. In fact, they hand out surveys to random people on the plane, except I got handed a Chinese one and they didn't appear to have an English one available, but I got picked again on my return flight and that's when I provided feedback on the food.
And touchdown!My brother and I were originally set to arrive at similar times, but for typhoon reasons, he was delayed quite significantly. So, I was left to my own devices. First off, coffee! Because Asian countries know how to enjoy coffee at night!
Look, people who make coffee, inside a box! It's such a cute setup! But while everything looked really great, I had an immediate culture shock here. I didn't realise that the staff here ignore you until you tell them what you want! I had walked up to the counter, ready to ask about their different coffees, when I realised the person at the counter, who was folding a whole bunch of boxes, was ignoring me until I asked for something. How awkward!
Well, their coffees were intriguing enough that I ordered both an espresso and a filter (the espresso picture didn't turn out so great). Look at all the coffees in test tubes!I had ordered a Kenyan on filter which tasted great, it was exactly how I liked it. The espresso was also really good, surprisingly so, as I think they didn't have single origins (a lot of cafes don't seem to serve single origin espressos). I was simply offered the choice of fruity or nutty/chocolatey. And I always (almost always) go fruity.
Some random artworks while exploring this little mall. WE LIKE THE MOON!!! This exhibit was definitely better at night than the daytime. There's also a cute little Japanese-Brazillian restaurant here that I thought about going to, but I figured it was very tourist trappy.
Instead, I finally got a rose ice cream! I'd been waiting a long time for this moment. I always thought this was gimmicky, especially if the quality of the ice cream wasn't good and the layering was done poorly. But I managed to pick well first go! This was an assortment of floral flavours - rose, hibiscus, and lavender. Also, they seemed to have some sort of Elizabeth Arden promotion going on, so they handed me a sample of things too!
But coffee and ice cream weren't going to fill me up for dinner though, so I spotted this busy little stand. A waffle iron!!! Yes, I would eventually have egg waffles from this place (and they were so cheap at 14HKD!) Plus I loved the sheer number of things I didn't recognise.
This caught me eye, which looked like radish, fish balls, tofu and something. I was guessing the something was fish maw. I never bothered to find out though, but I'm pretty sure I've eaten it before. And it was curry flavoured! Yay! Except that also meant it was a tad spicy, so I was sniffling while eating it on the side of the street. But it was cheap and tasty! Though again, not really all that filling.
So I finally hot my Hot Star fix. I've never bought anything from the ones in Australia, just because I never felt like Taiwanese fried chicken at the time (things like Gojima, Belle's Hot Chicken always get my attenti0n instead). Again, I couldn't figure out why people were pushing ahead and ordering, and it took me a while to realise that all I had to do was walk up and place an order. I think I'm far too polite to survive in a place like this!Anyway, I chose the two things I couldn't get in Aus - cartilage, and giblets (though they were labelled as kidneys, but I figure they're the same thing). Wow, they were so cheap, and so delicious! Now I know why everyone loves Hot Star. I guess I should give this a go when I want fried chicken in a pinch!
Oh yes. I wanted to visit some wet markets though it wasn't high on my priority list. Turns out I didn't have to try very hard because it was just around the corner! Man there were just guts and stuff everywhere, it was amazing! I was taking so many photos likes the tourist I am.I kind of wish that Australia had some of this stuff, but I think it'd violate just about every food safety rule out there!
Now it was time to tram into the city, where the hipster area is. The view while travelling was super interesting - it's amazing how hilly this place is, and that there are buildings just happily built there. How cool!
The Cupping Room! This was the place one of my baristas recommended. You can tell it's cool because they have a lego model of their own cafe. Funnily enough, Black Eagles don't impress me though. I'm more a La Marzocco/Synesso person, and sometimes Slayer. And man, they have an impressive selection of beans. And expensive.
A chausson aux pommes! I forgot that they don't necessarily know what an apple turnover is, so I double checked the name before ordering. I kind of wish there was cream in this, but it still tasted ok.
Because of the machine, and because they didn't offer single origins as espresso, I skipped the short black and went straight for milk and filter. I'm pretty sure it was here that I started freaking out about the volume of my flat white again though. I pretty much only like 6oz, and I think this might have been 8 (or it was somewhere in China, I can't remember). It was ok.The filter, however, was an expensive competition coffee, and also one that I recall Proud Mary having on offer. I chose this over the two higher priced coffees, because I liked the sound of the tasting notes better. And that mango! Yes, plenty of mango flavour in this. My brother chose an Ethiopian gesha, which wasn't as outstanding as this one, even though it was the "better" coffee.
More exploration, and more markets. Look at this happy pig head! Also, I didn't realise that Feather and Bone had shops outside Australia... that was pretty cool!
Sad papaya!
I needed some hydration, and found a health food place with cold pressed juice. There were so many different coconut options on offer! There was juice, juice with pulp, juice with pulp but blended, and then there was this. Silk mylk, which had a luscious (but almost too thick, but still ok) texture. Very interesting mouthfeel, but it didn't feel as hydrating as I think just the water + pulp would have been.
We passed Noc Coffee Roasters a few times, mainly because I was hoping to get some egg waffles from Oddies Foodies - but alas, they had run out of the only flavour that I was interested in trying! So I opted for more coffee instead. This place had a primising looking LM Strada, so I chose an espresso here. But ugh, it was too dark and not that nice.
Also, I managed to take a nice picture of my skirt!
And the filter - by guest roaster Onibus! This was the Rwanda Coko, which is a super delicious coffee. Here, the flavours still stood out, but no the best brew I've had. They were off slightly, but this was still drinkable, unlike their espresso.
Now we needed food to offset all that coffee. My brother couldn't decide between this place (Mak's Noodle) or the one across the street, in the end we decided that green was good. Oh, this is wonton noodle soup! Nice! I like the texture of the noodles and while the serving size was small, there was plenty of tendon, so I was happy! I actually think the brother was not as rich as a similar item I had at Singapore airport earlier in the year.
Then, still being hungry, and having stumbled across a soba shop that my brother wanted to visit in Tokyo (and it has a Michelin Star), we decided to pop in. Yep, I was hungry enough that I consumed all this too! Ajitama shio soba with truffle oil. Personally I don't think the truffle oil was needed, but definitely made it aromatic!
And then the night lights!! The light show was OK, but I liked Singapore's one better. And I managed to catch the ferry to the other side to return home!
It was only a very short trip, so our time was already up. A simple breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien since it was close and I spotted it on my first night here, and because I've been hoping to stumble across really good waffles ever since I left Adelaide. However, even though these were Belgian waffles, they simply didn't live up to what I enjoyed at Exchange.
And finally it was time to leave. Here is some airport food of roast duck and BBQ pork, with some delicious peanuts. My brother ordered the goose version of this, except I couldn't tell the difference in flavour and texture between our two dishes.Overall, I didn't actually enjoy Hong Kong as much as I thought I might. Singapore was more my style (except for the humidity), a bit more orderly and polite. Hong Kong felt like China if China was a westernised country, or something. I loved the street stalls and they've got some good stuff, but the culture just wasn't the same. Which makes me wonder, will I actually like New York once I finally visit? Only time will tell!Hopefully I get to post my Shanghai adventures too, but given how busy I am these days, I'm not so sure it will happen. Maybe in December!
Singapore Coffee
Oops, I forgot that I intended to split Singapore into two sections, one about street life, and the other specifically for coffee. Guess I should post that now before I get distracted by my Japan adventures!I started compiling my Singapore list quite a while ago, and one of the recommendations actually came from some coffee people while I was in Dubai. That was Common Man Coffee, and in a stroke of luck, my accommodation was nearby so I knew that if all else failed, I'd have an easily accessible cafe if I ran out of places to visit. Being part of the 5 Senses group, I also know that it'd have a certain level of reliability to it.What I didn't anticipate was the late opening times of cafes here. By late, I mean 7:30am. Some other cafes opened even later than that! It was probably the biggest shock to my system here, since I'm used to cafes being open before I'm awake back in Aus.The prices here are pretty insane too. Breakfast and two coffees cost me about 40SGD, and my conclusion is that Australia does the best Aussie brunch!
The first thing I noticed about Common Man was how spacious it was. There was a lot of floor area and a whole variety of tables - some benches against the windows for people watching, a massive round table, other communal tables and my favourite, seats at the bar.
I went for two coffees - espresso and filter, since they're my measure of a cafe. The espresso was the Ethiopia Ardi, which wasn't too surprising, considering it's one of 5 Senses' main beans. Nice and bold.The filter was considered a special one, and it was the Costa Rica Las Lajas red honey. I don't know exactly how special it is, since I had it back in Perth too. The filter was done really well and I loved the flavour!At some point early on, I told the barista that I liked their machine (Synesso MVP Hydra... which seem to be popping up everywhere now), so this happened:
I ended up with a cold brew and a nitro cold brew too! That's far too much coffee and it was only the morning of day one in Singapore! Plus considering I'm not a fan of cold coffee... but it was still great to try all the different things.
And brekky. This was actually really delicious, even though I say that Aus cafes are better. It was filling and tasty, especially as it was a vegetarian plate! It was far too expensive though...
On another visit, I decided to try their milk coffees, because I became curious as to what these tasted like. The cup it was served in was alarmingly big, probably 12oz? It was hard for me to tell the exact volume, all I knew was that I didn't want that much coffee.
Some fluffy pancakes. Again it tasted pretty good, though this was my second choice. I had wanted baked eggs and ricotta, but their oven wasn't working/ready that morning which is how I ended up choosing this instead.
Next up, a place called Nylon Coffee roasters. This place is amazing because getting here was quite the journey for me. It was straightforward enough, except that I was wandering through a housing complex that looked like it belonged to old people - the kind where the apartments look old on the outside and there's washing hanging from above.While there were shop fronts at the ground level, a lot of them were also dodgy looking (though by dodgy I mean similar to hawker markets), so probably little family run shops for the residents. How could a specialty coffee shop possibly exist here? Plus I had to walk back and forth before I was able to zone in on exactly where Google was telling me to go - the dot didn't indicate which side of the apartments the front entrance would be.Finally, after passing it at first, I confirmed that the N/C sign was indeed for Nylon. And what a cosy little space this is! Very cute with a communal standing table, and also a roastery tucked away called the Maillard Project. They roast their own beans here, so I tried out a filter and an espresso (so totally my standard now).
This San Jose, Nicaragua was really enjoyable! It was right on the cusp of juiciness where I think there could have been a little bit more brought out, but very delicious nonetheless since I could taste its potential. I love it!
A Kenya Kainamui on filter. With so many Kenyan coffees that also start with K, it gets hard to keep track (so far Kagumoini is my favourite), but this one was deliciously strawberry flavoured! Great stuff!And of course with my orders and my questions, the owner was enthusiastically asking me about coffee back in Perth, so I gave her a small list of my favourite cafes (but did I put Modus down?? This is now bothering me because it's my favourite Perth cafes - beats Pixel by only a small margin), and then she gave me recommendations for coffee in Singapore! Good trade! It turns out there are a few in this area, so I decided now would be a good time to drop by one on her list, though I was a little worried about my coffee tolerance.
Stranger's Reuinion is the name of this cafe. Very hipster, and has this really nice glass communal table. Since I was at my coffee limit, I decided a piccolo would be my last coffee for the day. It was quite nice, a tad strong, but only because my piccolo preference is quite specific and the drink can taste vastly different depending on bean (and sometimes it really feels like a double shot).
A crab cake! With stuff! Like asparagus, avocado, egg, salmon roe. Of course I had to get it! Especially because I needed to start padding out all that coffee. Again, expensive, but it was quite nice.
These guys have a nice looking menu, it was kind of Market Lane like in terms of font and design (the horizontal bars above and below). Not only did they have coffee and food, but their tea menu actually looked like they put effort into their teas. I wasn't disappointed! This white tea came in a lovely set, except I don't understand why there were two little cups. I either didn't know what the tea etiquette was, or, this was just fancy? Either way, this tea was great.
Next on my list? VXX Collective. now this oozes hipster. The marble tables, the Aesop bottles, it was all so hipster artsy, with a dash of the "I just set this up as a temporary station" kind of look. That's the vibe I got from the bench that the coffee machine was sitting on, as well as the visible water filtration system (with Matt Perger's EK sticker stuck on it). I thought it was just the front, but they also have an open air back dining area, where the kitchen lives too. It's a very sleek place, and has great coffee.
I don't remember who this was roasted by, but it's the Chelelectu, Ethopia, as espresso and milk. The shot looked really short, and the milk cup was just larger than a piccolo, so both had a strong flavour.
Decided to order the chilli crab omelette while I was here, since it was unlikely that I'd actually get the chance to eat singapore chilli crab. This was delicious! It did burn a bit, but it's not that spicy. For the most part, I could still taste the coffee through this.
And Koppi roasters makes an appearance here! A Tanzania Majinja. Since I was slightly burning, I think the fig tasting note was there, though it was definitely harder to tell!Don't you love these little coasters for the coffee?
Candour Coffee was next, and this one went onto my list from one of my Perth Baristas, because the owner here had visited my local cafe. These guys have guest roasters rotating, so today it was Square Mile. The owner was away at MICE though.The Colombia Las Brisas, tasting really good! The flavour of the milk coffee was also quite close to what I get in Aus, which I was really pleased with. I noticed they used Meiji milk, and after paying attention, I think most of the cafes I visited use that.
Went for the egg sandwich option too... which caught me off guard because I was expecting a sandwich... when in fact it was a roll! Well, same same but different :)
When there's a Panama coffee, I tend to want to try it. Especially when it's by a roaster I haven't tried before. Here's the Panama Boquete by Amano. I was actually surprised because it tasted dark. For some reason I just wasn't expecting it.Because I had ordered a second filter coffee, the Ethiopia Wegida from Square Mile, which tasted better, I decided to take a side by side shot:
Panama on the left, Ethiopia on the right. Luckily I had some nice backlighting, so I could compare these two. They looked roughly the same to me. So then I looked at the Amano bag - and the roast date was back in January! Maybe that's why it tasted not quite right! That being said, there were still some really nice fruity flavours coming through (it was a natural processed coffee) so I was impressed that it held up so well over time!
Drinking so many coffees so many days in a row is pretty damaging to my heart. But it was my last day. so I did my best to drink responsibly. This was on the Nylon Roaster's barista's list, a place called The Botanist. She recommended searching it with the word "pacamara" otherwise the results wouldn't show this cafe. A nice little place which I think was near the rich part just outside Chinatown (where Burnt Ends is), and they roast their own coffee (Pacamara roasters, that is, because they're the one and the same).The coffee for some reason took a really long time to come out - while I didn't ask to check up on my coffee, it definitely felt like they'd forgotten my order. That being said, it did actually come out without me needing to do anything (and the waitstaff didn't give me an update) so not sure what happened there.This was a Kenya Gatina Peaberry. Not really too memorable, but it's hard to complete with some of the top end Kenyan coffees out there.
I was about dying, so I was debating whether to skip coffee altogether and take a trip to 2AM Dessert Bar by Janice Wong, or to go to one last cafe. In the end I decided a cafe visit was more worthwhile... but of course, as luck would have it, there was a lot of coffee to choose from... so I decided that enduring the symptoms of heart palpitations and shallow breath and general dehydration and faintness would be worth it.I ordered a Honduras COE #17 El Matazano, roasted by Two Degrees North (which was okay but not mind blowing, but hard to tell why at this point), and also, since they had three blends, the barista recommended a cappuccino of the Calderra blend (can't remember what was in it).
I had to order food to try and cope with the amount of coffee I had, and barely got through this. Some really delicious fried chicken on an okay spring onion and corn pancake.That chicken! So juicy!And thus ends my Singapore coffee adventures. There are some great cafes out there, and their filter coffees are great. Espressos are quite good, though Sydney's still my favourite place for espresso. The milk coffees... stick to Australia :)
Another Sydney coffee crawl
Since my Sydney visit was a pure foodie adventure, it was important that I drank lots of coffee, this time without almost dying from caffeine overdose. It was a combination of old and new!
Elbow Room espresso. Mecca's Blackforest blend and a Pedro Moreno (Santa Barbara, Honduras) on filter. 
Chapter Five espresso. A single origin from Peru, which was quite nice. I actually passed this on my way to Eveleigh Markets, wondering whether or not I should go in. On the way back, the barista said hi, and so I decided I may as well. He was suggesting iced coffee, when I mentioned I drank espresso. I guess I don't look like an espresso drinker!
Some Gumption yeeah.
Steam Tank. Mitch is a very talkative guy. Knowledgeable too! He likes his La Marzocco Strada very much because of the real time information it provides! I also learned what a quaker was from him, because apparently there was one in my coffee and I had no idea.
Good old Single Origin Roasters. Never fails to impress - after everyone I knew from years ago had all moved on, they are still serving up tasty food and coffee. It's my old stalwart, especially if I need a good breakfast after landing!
Handcraft Specialty Coffee. Serving up a lot of Proud Mary.
Skittle Lane, a cute, minimalist little place.
And good old Artificer. I have no idea what those things on the floor are. I took a photo of this bench because it hasn't been in that spot on every other visit. I love it because it's crooked but actually straight due to the sloping of the actual ground. Dan explained that it's the outside bench. I totally hadn't noticed!
Their plant. I want to call it Wilty because it's a little less alive than when I first saw it, but would he get offended?
Dan the hand model.YAY coffee