Coffee

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