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”.
NEWCASTLE ROASTERS
Chris Edden, owner, Josie Coffee Roasters, Gateshead. "I would have to say a single origin coffee, generally something like an Ethiopian and Kenyan coffee brewed manually via a pour over or aeropress is hard to beat on a lazy Sunday morning at home".
Hal Gibbs, owner, Glitch Coffee Roasters. “Being a coffee professional I spend a lot of my time in analysis and QA so my perfect cup is when a shared experience is elevated by something as simple as ground coffee and water.”
Ross Ciavarella, head roaster and owner, Sprocket Roasters, Lambton. "When I actually remember to take coffee home for our pour over on a rare Sunday off! A bit like a plumber with leaky pipes ... "
Adrian Rigon, owner, Peaberry’s Coffee Roasters, Islington. “I had my perfect cup of coffee during a moment I shared with my wife Debbie in Alatri, Italy. It was early morning and neither of us could sleep so we walked into the medieval town centre just as the sun coming up. It was a chilly morning and we could see the snow-capped mountains. We went into a third generation bakery where I had an espresso shot with a freshly baked pastry. It was perfect. Just simple, no bells and whistles.”
Kristy Mujana and Priscilla Fisher, owners, Floozy Coffee Roasters. “Our perfect coffee moment is being tagged in Instagram stories as people wake up and brew the coffee we have roasted.”
Matthew Pointon,owner, Silverskin Coffee Roasters. “My ultimate coffee, or coffee memory was from 10 years ago when my wife and I were travelling. Rikki wasn’t a coffee drinker then and we were in northern Thailand. I was buying local coffee from the villages we passed through. The coffee was ground in a mortar and pestle, we were heating water with an element in a mug in our room and strained it through our teeth while sipping away. It tasted incredible. I was able to get Rikki drinking coffee for the first time and it just made a beautiful memory.”
Trent Alder, co-owner, Darks Coffee Roasters. “My perfect cup depends on the time of day, the weather and my mood. I generally drink multiple coffees each day and tend to change it up as the day goes on. I start the day with a short black, usually our U47 blend or a nice single origin coffee.”
Ben Gleeson, co-owner (with brother Chris), Glee Coffee Roasters. “Nothing beats the very first cup of the day. For me, it’s made even better when it’s an Ethiopian Guji pour over, shared with my wife, sitting on our deck overlooking the lake, listening to the birds. Now THAT is perfection.”