Hardcore Coffee Crawling

I started writing this post this morning, and it's been sitting open on my computer (between watching remixes of songs using Barack Obama's voice and lectures for my Politics of the USA class) because my brain is still in a bit of a funk after the excessive amounts of caffeine I've consumed over the past two days, and the lack of sleep that went with it.

So, for Friday's crawl, I've decided to just follow the program that I wrote up for our charming coffee crawlers, and inundate your screen with photos* (including some from my Pentax - finally!). If anyone gets through this monster post in its entirety, I will give them a hug :P

Taken on my Pentax K1000

Taken on my Pentax K1000

ONE: Standing Room Only

"The way this coffee is brewed resembles a high school science project, but the end result is a lot nicer to drink. Sip it slowly and try to pick out the subtle flavours that develop with this method of brewing. I used to think all this talk of 'hints of dark chocolate and citrus' was a load of crap, but then I tried this stuff and got crazy over excited, 'IT ACTUALLY TASTES LIKE FLOWERS!'"

Thankfully, after writing that in the program the guys at SRO, Michael & Rygel (I hope I spelled that right!!), didn't let me down. It was a lot of fun watching people's faces light up when they tasted the different coffees and realised there was a definite taste of chocolate, or fruit, or floral undertones. Not only that, but I think with all the coffee talk going on, everyone there could walk away with some new knowledge happily buzzing around their brains.

iPhonography

iPhonography

TWO: Lowdown

"You're second venue is Lowdown, where you'll be sampling some more rad filter coffee. It's a diner style, single origin offering that changes every week. The first time I drank it, I was so inspired that I wrote a review of the coffee that involved a few sentences about the joy of a man who wears beautiful cologne."

The review that I mentioned actually lives on this blog (here, to be precise), and although the single origin changes every week, it's always pretty darn awesome. Friday's offering was no different, with everyone happily sipping on their drink as we settled down at a table for a chat with Mark about the coffee, and then just to enjoy getting to know the other kids who came along.

iPhonography

THREE: Louis Baxters

"Here, you can finally have that latte with three sugars (if you still haven't been converted to the right way of drinking coffee) for the much more affordable price of an espresso. Tell the baristas that you think they're lovely for giving us a discount!"

Turns out, we also ended up getting to try some fantastic French Press coffee at Louis Baxters, as well as the lattes, cappuccinos & macchiatos that were initially ordered, also some cold drip that looked super classy & smelled like bourbon. Again, we were able to converse with the baristas, chill out and get even more excited about the realm of coffee - the French Press & conversation with one of their baristas, Seb, being the icing on the cake.

Taken on my Pentax K1000

iPhonography

FOUR: Black Cherries Espresso (fondly known as Tim's)

"I personally believe that Tim's is the best place around to get a coffee on the weekend, and so I trek here every Sunday for a piccolo, some friendly banter and some down time with a good book, so it seemed like the perfect place to go on a crawl devoted to coffee. While we think you should buy yourself a piccolo as well, the other Tim, co-owner of Dark Star Coffee, has kindly roasted us some lovely Guatemalan single-origin beans that have been cold-pressed, which involves steeping a coarse grind for at least 12 hours! This coffee is the definition of hard core and is guaranteed to give you a massive hit."

By this time, almost all of us were starting to feel the caffeine, and spirits were high. We drifted into the markets to discover that Tim had reserved the few chairs at Black Cherries for us and had everything really nicely set up. It was pretty exciting. The cold-press that the Tims made for/gave to us just made it a thousand times better, and was the undisputed favourite of the day. My words cannot do it justice, so instead I'll just say that, if you can, make sure you try cold drip sometime, preferably from Black Cherries if they ever start selling it regularly :D

TanyaVolt Photography

TanyaVolt Photography

Taken on my Pentax K1000

Taken on my Pentax K1000

Taken on my Pentax K1000

FIVE: The Grumpy Sailor

"The place is babein' and depending on how much coffee I've had, I may or may not attempt to orchestrate a game of musical chairs (although I highly doubt that this will be allowed given that the Grumpy Sailor is inside a book shop). Drink the coffee, listen to some more coffee talk and revel in the smooth goodness of your last cup of caffeinated beverage for the day. Eat some cornbread so that the coffee doesn't create a hole in your stomach lining and begin to ponder if you will ever be able to sleep again."

There were a few kids who were just too coffee'd out by this stage - judging by mine & Nageena's manic laughter on the bus afterwards, we probably should've been included in that group, but the coffee here was too good to say no to. We heard a bit about how blends are put together, which we hadn't heard much of after a day filled with single-origins, and enjoyed the coffee of our choice alongside some espressos. Sipping coffees while wandering around one of my favourite bookshops & enjoying friendly banter with friends both old & new was the perfect way to end the crawl.

TanyaVolt Photography

TanyaVolt Photography

Again, a massive shout out to all of these coffee shops, to Penny Bannister who didn't mind it when half of us decided to look through her incredible secondhand bookshop (177 High Street, Fremantle - if you get the chance, you have to check this place out!), to the Shaanti Project for donating bags, to those who bought tickets & made the day so much fun, and to everyone else involved. I really couldn't have imagined the event going any better and I had an absolute blast.

iPhonography

*Hope you don't mind the captions! There were just so many photos that I took on my iPhone and my Pentax, and that Tanya took with her lovely DSLR - I didn't know what to do with them all :P