What counts for
greatness? By what measure do we decide which is best?
A friend of mine runs
a food blog (Simon Food Favourites) that is currently ranked by Urbanspoon as
the #1 Sydney food blog. He mentioned to me recently that another ranking site,
Beanhunter – ‘Find the best places for great coffee’ – had similarly ranked as the
#1 Café in Sydney a little place in my home suburb of Mona Vale by the name of
Coffee Brothers. Mona Vale is quite a drive from Simon’s usual stomping grounds
so, knowing I was fond of a nice coffee, he suggested I might like to drop by
and sample their product sometime. Perhaps if I was impressed he would schedule
a trip north into his seemingly endless rounds of culinary explorations.
Suffice to say I was
curious. I had seen the café in my local travels but never taken the
opportunity to stop in for a cup. But #1 Top Café in Sydney! That must be worth
a try surely? So I dropped by one weekend, ordered a ‘double ristretto of your
best coffee please,’ (Their special that day was a Sumatran Sidalogan
Honey-Processed, roasted in Manly Vale) and was browsing the store portion of
the establishment when I was approached by one of the owners, ‘Anthony Macri: Brother’
as it says on his business card. I recognised his face from somewhere (We
worked out eventually that we saw each other at the beach every morning but had
never actually said Hi!) and we got to talking, so I mentioned my blogging
friend’s comments. Tony invited me to spend some time with him one day to
sample some coffee and hear the Coffee Brothers’ story, so we made a date for
an early morning rendezvous the following week.
Now, I’m no ‘foodie’
blogger and as much as I like a good coffee, I’m no connoisseur. I confessed as
much to Tony as soon as I arrived on the appointed day and told him with some
little embarrassment that at home, whilst I do daily use a counter-top espresso
machine, it’s not what you could call a top-of-the-line model. Plus I buy my
coffee ready ground in vacuum-sealed foil packs at the supermarket along with
all my other weekly groceries. It’s a 100% Arabica bean variety, the strongest
blend available from this particular company and is marketed as ‘Strong &
Intense’, ‘For those who love the pleasure of a genuine Italian espresso.’ And
I normally have a double shot espresso to start my day – so I’m no stranger to
strong or intense. To be honest though, part of it’s appeal is the simple
convenience and the fact that it seems to be the perfect grind for my machine,
but there are certainly times when this is not the case – when it is too fine
and creates pressure problems – or worse, when the roast has clearly gone too
long or too high and the flavour is burnt. But I figure ‘swings &
roundabouts!’
But back to Coffee
Brothers and back to Tony (who’s still standing patiently with me as I ramble
on) who tells me I don’t need a big expensive electric grinder to enjoy the
extra flavour of freshly ground beans because it’s possible to buy nifty little
one or two cup hand-grinders that will get you going with a minimum of time or
effort. At this point I make confession number two, that I have a sweet tooth
and have over the years adulterated my morning brew with just about everything
from leatherwood honey through to Demerara sugar (my latest fancy is granulated
panela, with its soft caramel flavour). Though to be honest, part of the
attraction of sugaring my coffee is less about the sweetness than it is about
the silky smooth texture it imparts. To my surprise, Tony doesn’t condemn this
practice either but simply suggests that everyone has their own preferences.
So what are Tony’s
preferences? He has now started to gather together onto a large table toward
the rear of the café (scattered with newspapers, decorated with coffee ‘fact
sheets’, and shared with some other happy customers enjoying their morning
brew), the various tools to brew the particular coffee he’d like to enjoy with
me today – Coffee Brothers ‘Vanuatu Gold’, their house roast. He places a small
cup onto some electronic scales and measures a precise 20g of fresh grounds
which he tips into the paper filter cone sitting atop a Chemex Classic Series
borosilicate glass coffeemaker. He then uses a kettle with equally precise
digital temperature settings to bring 200ml of water to 98°C before gently
pouring about a quarter of it onto the grounds in a slow spiral pattern and
leaves the grounds to steep for about 45 seconds before continuing in a similar
fashion with the rest of the softly steaming water, which soon drips down into
the bottom of the crystal-clear ‘flask’. Written in this fashion, it all sounds
a bit fiddly, confusing or even pretentious, but it’s actually very simple and
straight-forward – certainly no more involved than making a good cup of tea!
And then he pours and proffers a cup to me.
So what does it taste
like? This is the first ‘drip-brewed’ coffee I’ve had in the many years since
the counter-top home espresso machine supplanted the earlier incarnations of
instant coffee, stove-top percolators, Breville drip brewers or Pyrex plungers in
many Australian homes. So I’m in no hurry – I start with a long and deep
inhalation of the aroma before I take my first tentative sip. Well? This is not
espresso! This is not the strong, almost aggressive, punch of flavour I’ve
become accustomed to in recent times. This needs a different mindset. This is
not ‘good coffee’ (to mis-quote that dreadful Al Pacino advertisement for
another coffee brand), this is great coffee. Why? Because it still has all the
elements you look for in coffee – aroma, texture, flavour, warmth – but they have
a crispness and clarity I’m not expecting. This is strangely ‘light’ in the
mouth, but with all the strength and character you want. All the elements seem
to have been separated and given the opportunity to stand, and be judged, on
their own terms. It’s quite a revelation. Not what I remember ‘drip-brew’ to
be. Certainly nothing like the ‘bottomless cup’ of drip or percolated available
in every American diner.
More importantly
though, it’s not actually the coffee that I’m most interested in just now. Because
as we’ve been preparing and savouring the brew, Tony has been filling me in on
the Coffee Brothers’ story and it also is not at all what I expected. My
assumption was that the Brothers were siblings and that the café was simply
another attempt at making a buck in a highly competitive market in difficult
financial times. Nothing could be further from the truth. For these ‘Brothers’
(a little like ‘The Blues Brothers’ perhaps) are on a mission, or several
missions in fact. Tony already has another job and I’m pretty sure his business
partner Mark does too. So why are they putting so much time and effort into
Coffee Brothers? It’s simple. Passion. Belief. A genuine desire to ‘make a
difference’. That’s why.
You see, Tony is
passionate about coffee and he wants to make the best coffee he possibly can to
share with his customers. But he also wants them to be able to make the best
coffee they possibly can at home too. But then, he also wants to do those
things in a way that’s ‘right’ … Ethically, environmentally, socially. So he
thinks it’s right to fly to Vanuatu and meet the coffee growers, promise them a
good working relationship … Quality beans for a fair price. Supporting the
growers and their families in attaining a quality of life. He thinks it’s right
to use the Flagstaff Group in Wollongong to roast his Vanuatu Gold, not just
because they roast great coffee but because they employ people with
disabilities to handle all their packaging … Great coffee and a social
conscience. Supporting a marginalised, even almost invisible, sector of our
society in likewise attaining a quality of life. He thinks it’s right to spend
most of his morning with me, not because I can offer him anything in exchange
for his valuable time, knowledge and passion but because he believes in
something called community … People from all walks of life sitting, talking,
drinking great coffee, sharing and supporting each other. It really is quite a
mission (or three) that the Brothers have set themselves but I think their
passion is equal to the task. I think they are starting to succeed in their
missions.
Back to the coffee
once more, Tony is excited by my enthusiastic response to the Vanuatu Gold and
instantly starts to prepare a second brew – this time a roast of ‘Tercio Wood
Fired’ Brazilian beans. Whilst steeping, its aroma has a distinct similarity to
the delightful smell of freshly sawn hardwood (perhaps a Honduras mahogany?)
which matures in the cup to a bright, warm caramel nose. The taste, whilst rich
with flavours, is almost ‘leafy’ or ‘green’ (Tony suggests the roast is perhaps
too young) but soon mellows to a fuller flavour with a crispness and dryness
that lends a clarity but is still soft on the tongue. Again, totally unlike my
usual espresso, but extraordinary for just that reason. What value exists in
each new day if our experience of it is simply a repetition of those that came
before? My interest and enthusiasm for savouring ALL the many possibilities
that coffee can offer has been awakened. These are, I can see now, just the
first steps on a new journey of discovery and I think I shall enjoy each and
every new vista.
And where to tread
next? Well there’s plenty on offer in this store … café … ‘temple’ to coffee
that the Brotherhood have created, even if you are not a coffee drinker:
There’s equipment like kettles, espresso machines (including ‘Otto’, the new
and improved ‘Atomic’ stove-top espresso maker), scales, cups and glasses, teapots
and milk jugs; there’s filter papers, special barista cloth sets, cleaning
tablets and beans, beans and more beans; and there’s Prana Chai Masala Blend in
1 kilo. packs, Koko Deluxe drinking chocolate or Cascara organic coffee fruit
tea, made from the husk of the coffee berries. Wow, I just have to try that!
So, what counts for
greatness? By what measure do we decide which is best? I believe it is passion.
And I believe it is a genuine desire to share that passion with a community. (A
real community, not some on-line virtual substitute.) And these guys, the
Brothers … the Coffee Brothers, have both these things in bucketloads. That,
quite aside from the great coffee, makes these guys great. It does indeed make
this café the best. Number 1! Seriously … visit Coffee Brothers. Try their
coffee. Talk to them. Share their passion. You will not regret it.
http://coffeebros.com.au/Home.php
