As Newcastle’s coffee culture continues to grow at a phenomenal rate, our curiosity and knowledge grows, too.
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In the beginning of 2018 Weekender commissioned Newcastle food and drink writer Nathalie Craig to find out what local baristas, roasters, coffee lovers and cafe owners thought was the “perfect cup”.
Read more on the perfect cup:
The question was intentionally open-ended - Was it the best cup you ever had? The best cup you make every day? The best coffee memory of your life?
We cast a wide net, as the coffee community is a hugely diverse group of people on both sides of the counter.
The answers reflection the complexity, the knowledge and in some cases, pure emotion, of Newcastle’s coffee culture.
Among our favourites was the response of Bec Bowie, the owner of Estabar: “When I’m having a cup of coffee it’s a license to stop. It’s a moment of stillness while the rest of the world carries on”.
LAKE MACQUARIE
Lee McWilliams, owner, chef and barista, Seed Cafe, Swansea. “It's 5:58am. I listen to beans clinking into the grinder as I blink sleep out of my eyes. Coffee. The sweet aroma circles around me. I watch in awe as the silky milk disperses the crema. For 11 years I've started my days the same way. Pushing open the roller door to the quaint cafe that has become my second home. The perfect cup of coffee means so much more to me than the texture and taste. The perfect cup entices friendship, tickles relationships, encourages chit chat, and leaves small stains on The Herald's crossword puzzle.”
Beck Neale, barista, Common Circus, Belmont. “As an extrovert and full-time socialite, the perfect cup of coffee not only encompasses a delicious beverage but the entire experience from the moment I walk into a cafe. The initial smile and ‘g’day’ from a fellow barista subconsciously determines how much I’ll enjoy my coffee. Without realising it, the warmth from a barista cleanses my palette so I can fully appreciate my coffee.”
James Pheils, owner (with wife Kylie), Mama-P cafe, Charlestown. “Think of a Barry White and Lionel Richie love child. Can’t get enough of a deep, bold, rich and sexy brew with a smooth finish like a Sunday morning.”
CARDIFF
Theodore Stein, barista, Door 34, Cardiff. “My perfect cup of coffee lets the brew speak for itself without resting on the laurels of a label or two-page spread of tasting notes. A clean, honest cup is all I'm chasing; best downed slowly outside work hours over the comics/crossword section in the paper.”