A Year of Coffee in Melbourne

Short Black at Padre CoffeeA week is a long time in football, and in a city as fascinated with coffee as it is with football, a year is an eternity in the world of cafes. Today marks the 1st birthday of Seven Seeds, one of the superstars of coffee in Melbourne. Happy Birthday Seven Seeds.

It is amazing to think that since the opening of Seven Seeds there have been so many other great coffee shop openings. So many in fact that Seven Seeds feels as though it is one of the “old boys.” It will be fascinating to see how the “scene” evolves over the next year.

Putting it all into context I’ve constructed something of a timeline of the last years specialty coffee shop openings. The dates aren’t exact (and I would welcome corrections) but they are pretty close.

Cafes opening aren’t the only thing that has happened in the last year either, the blog coverage of cafes in Melbourne has gone through the roof with the usual suspects spending as much time reviewing cafes as restaurants. There is one specialty coffee blog though that has been providing an attempt at objective reviews of the coffee being served across the city. Backseat Baristas is doing a great job and can only get better as they refine the concept.

Like in so many other facets of life Twitter has become the best way to talk to people who are involved in the industry and coffee is no different. I have created a coffee list of the people I follow. It’s a great way to keep an ear to the ground.

In a summary of the year I would be remiss to ignore the fact that the actual coffee has changed quite considerably. Seven Seeds, St Ali, 5 Senses, Market Lane and Small Batch seem to be all be expanding the number of cafes they are supplying with beans and places like Dead Man are making the most out of the variety.

Experiencing these coffees has never been easier either with Seven Seeds and Market Lane (that I know of) doing daily cuppings.

This isn’t to mention alternative brewing methods which seems to have had a massive boom. The syphon has gone from strength to strength with a good number of these cafes using it. Pour over seems to be the flavour of the day though, with it allowing some subtle flavours to really poke through.

Related Postss

  1. The Sugar in Melbourne Coffee Shops
  2. Padre Coffee opens at the South Melbourne Market
  3. Campos Coffee to open in Melbourne
  4. Siphon Coffee Video – St Ali

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 at 2:45 pm and is filed under Cafes and Restaurants, Coffee, Cure, Melbourne Restaurants. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “A Year of Coffee in Melbourne”

  1. Tresna commented:
    June 1st, 2010 at 4:15 pm

    A really great round up of the newest cafes – good work!

    I feel really lucky to have moved to Melbourne during such an important time in the coffee scene. You’ve certainly pointed me in the right direction a number of times on your blog – please give us more!

  2. Campos Coffee to open in Melbourne commented:
    November 9th, 2010 at 10:49 pm

    [...] coffee can certainly accommodate another good coffee shop. It hasn’t been a problem for the 12+ recent openings and I doubt another one will be a [...]

  3. Alex Franklin commented:
    December 29th, 2010 at 4:21 am

    Seven Seeds looks to be a great coffee shop. Have to stop in on my next visit to Melbourne.

  4. Skinner Union commented:
    March 23rd, 2011 at 4:31 am

    Does anyone know what this St Ali place everyone keeps talking about in London? This vid is super cool.

    Can’t wait to try their coffee.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu6h-TbbACg

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