Special journey Pt 1-Visit to the Coffee Roaster

My 5^th visit to this café was a special visit – a planned guided tour by Dan, the Managing Director of The Coffee Roaster for my friends in Sydney and a group of coffee lovers from Hong Kong.

 

The air-flow roasting (for details please refer to another post) is special for its strengths in consistency control of the beans roasted as compared to the conventional drum-roasting.  A breakthrough from the traditional stuff is always uneasy with lots of risks and uncertainties.  Thanks for Dan who took these risks and uncertainties in 1992.  Without all the efforts by Dan and other pioneers, all we can try in the market may be solely factory-made large-scaled beans with hardly any character.

All the participants in this visit were impressed not only by the smart logistics of the roasting process, but also Dan’s knowledge and, more importantly, the passion and persistence in the coffee industry. 

Hopefully coffee quality in Sydney can be kept consistently high.  At the same time, I hope coffee industry in Hong Kong can grow with an integration of the knowledge, skills and culture from different countries in the world.

Special thanks to Chester, my coffee instructor, who took me from absolute zero in coffee knowledge.  All the best for his coffee business and mission in leading the coffee education and industry in Hong Kong.

Special thanks to Nora and Edward, my BT classmates.  I didn’t expect our friendship started with coffee and it lasts until today.  All the best for their everything~!  Hopefully we shall see in another coffee meetup very soon.  Hong Kong? Taiwan?

My coffee journey started 3 years ago in Hong Kong.  Until today, I have not been good in tasting, roasting and barista skills.  Yet, I support the mission of the coffee industry, the passion of the people involved, the life and hope farmers in underdeveloped countries derived from this industry.  And I hope the coffee industry in Hong Kong and Australia can have more passionate people like Dan and Chester!

到這兒的第五次探訪是一次很特別的安排－跟這兒董事總監Dan一早約定的講解探訪，除了悉尼的朋友以外，還有一班來自香港的啡友。

相比傳統的鼓熱式烘焙，熱空氣烘焙的好處，在於更能控制烘豆的一致性(詳情請參看另一篇部落文章)；但這樣的突破傳統，難免帶著危機與難測的未來。感謝Dan勇於冒險，於1992年引用這樣的烘焙技術，若這行頭內沒有像Dan及其他先行者，我們能在市場上嚐到的，大槪只有是工廠裡大規模烘焙，沒有個性的豆子。

這次探訪的參觀者不只讚歎整個烘焙過程的運作，還有Dan的知識及他對咖啡業的熱誠與堅持。希望悉尼能維持高質數的咖啡，同時，也希望香港的咖啡業能成長，並融合來自世界各地的知識­、技術與文化。

特別感謝我的咖啡導師Chester，從零開始一點一滴的教授我咖啡的知識。祝福他的咖啡事業，及帶領香港咖啡業及教育的使命。

特別鳴謝咖啡班的同學Nora及Edward，我從沒期望從咖啡班開始的友誼能持續至今，衷心祝福他們的一切。希望有天再在別處啡聚。香港? 台灣?

我的咖啡旅程由3年前在香港開始，至今，我仍不算在味覺、烘焙及沖煮方面有任何特長之處。然而，我仍一直支持咖啡業的使命、業界的人的熱誠­、及在落後國家啡農在透過種植咖啡時得到合理的生活與希望。很希望香港及澳洲的咖啡界能有更多像Dan及Chester的熱誠者!

Mon-Sat 0600-1430

380 Botany Road, Beaconsfield NSW 2015

1800 811 0309

www.thecoffeeroaster.com

An introduction about beans by Dan

The green beans are dropped from here (1/F) into the huge roaster which is situated next to the wall.

Computerized roasting procedures to ensure consistent bean quality

Good coffee, good roaster, good roaster owner, good visit... all good~!

Good coffee

The whole group was impressed by the guided tour and the passion of Dan!

The Shortlist Espresso Bar

很久沒有獨喝一杯espresso了，或者因為我很難欣賞那入口刺激的口味。然而，今天因為肚子不太舒服，對奶有點過敏，還是來一杯沒奶的espresso，竟是出奇的好。果酸加丁點先兒的苦，讓那口味變得可愛。

小店在一個舊且複雜的區域，我很明白常人眼中所謂的複雜，多少夾雜地位的區分。或許多年在香港的複雜地區工作，習慣以外，令我看到許多低下階層生活的智慧，文化與生活的豐富意義。舊的東西，加上塗鴉，讓地區更顯精彩。

或者，我愛的生活及愛所見的，也是一樣，不希望它像杯潔白無瑕的牛奶，樣子醜醜的espresso，其實，很有深度，十分可愛。

I haven’t had espresso for a long time. Perhaps it’s because I don’t really like the excitingly strong flavor.  Nevertheless, because of my lactose intolerance and stomach discomfort, I’d better have a non-milk drink, espresso.  It’s a surprisingly good shot with fruity sour plus a tiny bit of bitter.  It’s a wonderful cup.  Ended up, I couldn’t resist from trying a cappuccino to test if the beans were that good. :P

This café is situated in a notorious and complicated suburb.  From time to time, I heard people having bad comments about some suburbs.  It seems that there are prejudice against some nationality, culture and life style of people of the minority (?)  I really feel sad about that.

For many years, I worked in complicated areas in Hong Kong where I truly saw many interesting things through which I realized how people used wisdoms to cope with adversity and marginalization in life.  These are rich culture that I wouldn’t want them to disappear.  Old things, dilapidated buildings and graffiti all gave colors to these areas.

Perhaps the life I long for is similar: not as pure and uneventful as a glass of milk.  The ugly and ‘dirty’ look espresso really gives me complex, complicated, rich and deep feelings.  Lovely!

Mon-Fri 0700-1600; Sat 0800-1600; Sun 0800-1500

258 Abercrombie Street, Darlington

9318 0080                                                           

http://theshortlistespresso.com

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/shortlistespressobar?fref=ts

 

 

 

Top Hat

Top Hat has just opened in November 2012 but gained locals’ favor very quickly.  It doesn’t have very fancy decoration but the design is cute.  Within the clean, neat and tidy premises, attention is drawn to the greens on the cups and ceiling lamps as well as the drawings on the walls.

The first shop of Angus and Jessica in Rockdale (Swallow) brought surprises to people living in the southern suburbs.  Top Hat has done the same to Clovelly.

Beans are specially ordered at reliable roasters for ensuring quality.  Apart from the espresso based coffees, you can also enjoy single origin beans by means such as filter and plunger.  Only dedicated coffee brewers care about fulfilling the needs of true coffee lovers, especially those who are after the flavors of beans by non-espresso brewing methods.  If you are one of them, I believe Top Hat won’t disappoint you!

Today’s Pick:

Panama Geisha by plunger: strong berry flavor with long after-taste

Banana bread: well-toasted… yum!

Top Hat 僅在2012年11月進駐Clovelly小區，瞬即成為當地人啡店之選；它沒有花巧的裝潢，佈置卻是別緻得令人眼前一亮。步進簡潔整齊的店中，視綫即投到到牆上的璧畫及那幾點綠上－吊燈和咖啡杯。

它們的豆子是來自可靠的烘焙店，以確保質數。除了意式咖啡外，你還可在這裡選單品豆，以濾杯及壓濾法享受咖啡。這樣的熱誠，只有對咖啡鍾愛的咖啡經營人，才會摯力滿足志同道合的愛啡人口味，尤其是一些非意式咖啡這類主流的選擇。若你也是這樣的啡癡，我想Top Hat大槪不會讓你失望！

今天之選：

以壓濾法做的Panama Geisha: 濃厚的莓味，口感餘韻悠長，令人難忘！
香蕉麵包：烘得微焦，香香脆脆，讚！

Tue-Sun 0700-1700

315 Clovelly Road, Clovelly, NSW 2031

0414 924 685

http://www.tophatcoffee.com.au

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/TopHatCoffee?fref=ts

Panama Geisha by plunger

Pretty Jessica - friendly and dedicated barista who always loves to share with you about her coffee journey and knowledge :)

The Coffee Roaster

This is my 4^th time visiting this café (in fact the name is called ‘Roaster’ because there is roasting operation at the back of the premises).  Shortly after entering the entrance, your eyes will definitely be attracted by the huge machine sitting in a glassed room.  There it is the heart of the production line – the Chinook (air-flow) coffee roaster.  I met Dan, Managing Director of The Coffee Roaster in my last 3 visits as well and each time he was more than helpful to share with me his knowledge about coffee industry in Australia and his roasting experience.  Today, he gave me an even more detailed explanation of the operations of their roasting production. 

I like the drawings on the floor

Those having knowledge about roasting should know conventional drum roasting (direct heat) method is the prevalent means of roasting all over the world.  So, my question was why he took the risk in 1992 in using air roasting (seemed to be a pioneer at that time).  My question was then well-answered by the following half hour of explanation and actual demonstration.

Air roasting allows beans to be evenly heated up by hot air, preventing the burning of beans which is common in conventional drum roasting methods.  The overall roasting procedure is well-monitored by the computer.  More than saving man power, thermostats, air-flow rate and air temperature can be carefully adjusted to achieve the desired results.  While roasting, graphs are shown instantly in the computer system.  After roasting, the beans are tested and grounded for retested by a machine using infrared light reflectance (so scientific!).  This determines the external and internal degrees of roasting for quality control.

They are using computerized records to keep all the data for generating consistent production.  Awesome!  With such scientific methods, no wonder they are proud of gaining customers’ support and was awarded one silver and seven bronze medals in Sydney Royal Food Show 2012.  Today, the roasted beans are supplied to about 50 cafés in Sydney.

When discussing about beans, I told Dan Costa Rican beans are one of my favorites.  He then took some Costa Rican beans and demonstrated the whole roasting procedure which took about 15 minutes (including cooling).  Amazing!!  And there I got them as a gift!!! Yeah Yeah Yeah!! ^-^

這是我第四次到訪這家咖啡店(事實上，它的名稱是烘焙店，正因這地方的後半部分是作烘焙用途的)。正對大門的玻璃小房內，就是整條生產線的心臟地帶－一座以熱空氣運作的烘焙機。過往3次來訪中，董事經理Dan都很樂意解答我的問題，分享他對澳洲咖啡業的了解及烘焙經驗，今天，他給我更詳細講解他們的烘焙生產運作流程。

對烘焙有了解的朋友，都該知道傳統的直火鼓筒式烘焙大概是全世界上最流行的烘焙方法。因此，我的第一個問題就是，為何他們會在1992年冒險用這非傳統的方法(他們大概是當時的先驅吧!) 其後約半小時的講解與實際示範中，我的疑團終於解開！

熱空氣烘焙讓豆子可以平均地被熱空氣烘焙，不像傳統直火烘焙方法，豆子較易被燒焦，而且整個過程都由電腦監控，除了節省人手外，恆溫器­、空氣流動速度及溫度都被好好調節致期望的效果。烘焙的同時，電腦即時顯示所有有關數值。

烘焙後，豆子會用紅外線機器測試數值，然後被磨粉後，再作測試(實在很科學化!) 數據用作豆子外與內的烘焙度參巧。

他們用電腦記錄資料，作參巧用途，確保質素穩定。因為這些科學化的方法，難怪他們為贏得顧客支持而自豪，並在2012的Sydney Royal Rood Show中榮獲一個銀及七個銅獎。現今，他們為悉尼約50家咖啡店的供應商。

當我們談論豆子的時候，我告訴Dan來自加斯特黎家的豆是我所喜愛的豆子之一，於是他取了些加斯特黎家的豆，即席示範了整過歷時約15分鐘(包括冷卻)，還送我作為禮物！Yeah Yeah Yeah!! ^-^

Mon-Sat 0600-1430

380 Botany Road, Beaconsfield NSW 2015

1800 811 0309

www.thecoffeeroaster.com

This is interesting... seeing myself from the reflection in the window... enjoying a cup of coffee watching the rainy street outside.

The air-flow roaster

Mini-sized roaster for small-scaled production

Beans from all over the world

 

You can see the roasting data on the computer.  Hahaha.... I'm the Roasting Operator this time! :D

Print-out of the roasting chart

With Mr Dan Fitzsimmons, Managing Director of The Coffee Roaster

與咖啡對話

咖啡先生:

數數手指，原來我喜歡你，僅是這3年多的事。

今天忽然想起，13年前的我，原來一點也不懂和喜歡你，陳年舊事，有點不堪回首的感覺。

原來，13年是可以讓一個人轉變，無論是性格、喜好、生活取向、價值觀等等...

大概，是因為我變了，開心了，快樂了，才讓我覺得咖啡不像想像中的苦。

這.... 也許是好事!

喜歡這首歌，不怎因為內裡的歌詞，純粹很簡單的喜愛曲子，又或許是因為，曲子令我想起某些人和事吧。