It’s
uneasy to have good coffee by siphon and pour-over in Sydney. Yes, I’m serious! Basically, the prevalent brewing method in
Sydney is espresso machine coffee. Few people
like or have even tried other brewing methods.
No wonder not many cafés here provide siphon and pour-over coffee.
As a
fan of siphon and pour-over coffee, today I really had the luck in finding a
right place – Whole Bean. The café is
owned by Michael who worked in the coffee industry in Osaka, Japan for about 20
years. There he learnt the siphon and
pour-over brewing methods in traditional ways.
In recent years, Japan and Korea have become leading countries in siphon
coffee and hold internationally important siphon championships annually.
This café
is nicely decorated with a comfortable corner with skylight and couch. It’s more than relaxing to sit there enjoying
a cup of coffee. I like
the vinyl records and old stuff at the other corner. Sitting in front of them is a scooter which
attracts your attention. All come
together to form an atmosphere where you would love to spend a lazy morning in.
The
siphon coffee was nicely brewed by Michael.
Beans were roasted to an appropriate degree, not so dark but enough to
give you the proper flavor of Ethiopian beans.
Michael and I shared the coffee with a loyal customer who comes from another
suburb but visits the café regularly because of the good coffee.
Whole
Bean roasts its own beans to ensure good and well-controlled quality. Apparently, self-roasting plus brewing
methods for the minority (siphon and pour-over) are something I consider as
things only dedicated coffee people care and do.
Whole
Bean’s major business revenue comes from mobile coffee cart service in which
they do coffee for corporate customers.
Whenever they have big events, Whole Bean’s van carries the mobile
equipment to the venue to do good coffee for those who attend the events. How lucky for those who can enjoy good coffee
but need not to travel to buy!
The
mobile coffee service is so busy that Whole Bean can’t open on all
Saturdays. So, if you want to go there
on a Saturday, better call to avoid disappointment.
According to Michael, it’s because of the
good revenue from the mobile coffee service, he can finance more variety of
coffee brewing methods to the customers, including siphon and pour-over methods
which are not readily available in other cafes.
Café owners know it very well. It
takes 1-1.5 minutes to make a cup of espresso-based coffee which charges
$3-3.5. But it takes 5-10 minutes to
make a cup of siphon or pour-over coffee (excluding the preparing and cleaning
time) which charges $5-10. If solely
from a profit point of view, what would you choose?
Next
time when you go to Whole Bean, give yourself a try of their siphon or
pour-over coffee. You won’t be
disappointed!
老實說，在悉尼，很難到提供虹吸壼和濾杯手沖的咖啡。基本上，悉尼的咖啡都是以意式濃咖啡為主導，很少人喜歡或甚至曾試過其他的沖煮方法，因此，大部份的咖啡店均沒有提供虹吸壼和濾杯手沖的咖啡。
作為這兩種沖煮法的粉絲，今天我就有幸找對了一間咖啡店，它是由一位曾在日本大版的咖啡業工作差不多20年的Michael所經營。在那兒他學懂這兩種傳統的咖啡沖煮法。其實，近年日本與韓國已成為領導國，屢辦一些相關的國際性虹吸壼沖煮比賽。
這咖啡店的裝潢令人有種舒服的感覺，入門的一個角落有透天然光的天窗及沙發，坐在那兒歎咖啡是件賞心樂事！我也喜歡他們在牆上作裝飾的黑膠唱片及其他的老東西，旁邊還有一架小摩托車吸引你的視綫；這一切構成的氣氛，定讓你願坐在那兒享受一個懶洋洋的上午。
今天的虹吸壼咖啡由Michael親手沖煮，豆子烘得合適，不會烘得過度，卻足夠給你享受來自埃塞俄比亞豆子的美味。Michael與我跟一位他的常客分享了這壼吸啡，他是專程從自己住的小區來到這兒，為的，就是一杯好咖啡。
Whole
Bean自家烘焙豆子，好能確保咖啡有高水準的質素。明顯地，自家烘焙及提供只有少數人才會點的沖煮方法(虹吸壼和手沖濾杯)，我認為只有對咖啡有熱誠的店主才會願意關顧的。
Whole
Bean的主要營業額來自流動咖啡機服務，顧客都是大型企業。每當他們有大型活動時，Whole Bean的小車便把咖啡機運到場地提供咖啡服務，讓在場人士可以享用高質素的咖啡。他們真是幸運，不用千里迢迢來到Whole Bean便能享用好啡！
流動咖啡機服務的生意繁忙，有時Whole Bean亦不能在每個星期六都營業。因此，若你打算在星期六光顧的話，不妨先致電查詢，免致失望。
據Michael所說，因為流動咖啡機服務營業額滿意，經濟條件才能讓他為顧客提供更多的咖啡沖煮選擇，包括是虹吸壼和手沖濾杯這些不是所有咖啡店都提供的選擇。咖啡店東主都很清楚，做一杯意式特濃咖啡為基礎的咖啡大槪須要1至1.5分鐘的時間，收入為$3-3.5。若做一杯虹吸壼或手沖濾杯的咖啡，須要5-10分鐘的時間(預備和清洗的時間不包括在內)，售價為$5-10。若純為營利角度著想，你會選擇那類?
下次當你到Whole Bean光顧的話，不妨給自己一個機會，試試他們的虹吸壼或手沖濾杯咖啡，定不會讓你失望！
38
Chapel Street, Marrickville
Mon- Fri:
0700-1500
Sat:
0800-1400 (Please check before going)
Phone:
9565 4063
 |
| Siphon coffee |
 |
| si |
 |
| Mobile coffee cart |
 |
| Traditional pour-over using cloth as filter |
 |
| A relaxing morning with Michael and a loyal customer - cheers for the coffee! |
