Hipster Coffee Crawling

Didn't get enough of coffee after yesterday's monster post? That's good, cause I'm back to do it all again today!!

After that overload of caffeine on Friday's hardcore crawl, Kelsie, Nageena & I decided to organise another one for the Saturday, except this time it was hipster themed. The program for our hipster take on this event was written by the lovely woman who came up with the grand idea to hold a coffee crawl or two, Kelsie, and I'll just be writing brief reviews, and once again inundating your screen with photos of all that went down. Enjoy!

10am til 11am

Bookend

"This teeny tiny hole in the wall opened up just last month. Owned by a cafe on the same street (Little Willies) and rented by neighbouring bar, the Bird, this cafe aims to serve coffee and just coffee. Serving fantastic espressos, stop here and ask the (beautiful) Rob some questions about his business, his blend or his job. I remember reading somewhere that apparently if you spoon Rob it feels like heaven. Bookend is the ultimate collaboration between the fantastic venues popping up around Northbridge, and because it's brand new and no one has heard about it yet, its like the ultimate Hipster Christmas."

Yes, Rob was beautiful. Yes, the espressos he made were fantastic. I honestly don't think this utterly rad little shop needs any more of a review than what Kelsie wrote in our program because it just about sums it up. Oh but I should add, get your butt down there before word gets out about this little coffee gem and queues start piling up down William Street!! It's that good :D

PICA Art Gallery

"Welcome to WA's Contemporary Art Gallery. Take a look at some of their recent exhibitions including Yonder and the Democratic Set. Have your mind stretched, be an art critic and make sure you look around corners, walk up stairs and interact with whatever you can. The aim of PICA is not to keep you looking at ancient works of art, it's to show you what art is becoming and can be. Perhaps after a coffee later, you could create something yourself!"

I know, I know, this isn't a coffee venue. But it was kind of fun to go and lounge in the bean bags that PICA had spread out in a big room where the artistic video that is 'the Democratic Set' was being shown. Especially because our friend and coffee crawl attendee, Chantelle, was responsible for a little segment of this piece.

Urbanistar

"This wouldn't be a coffee crawl without a bookshop. You've got to know your Chuck Palinuiks from your Stephanie Meyers. The guys at Urbanistar provide cheap coffee and espresso for all weary travellers and all coffee hungry hipsters - just like you! Grab a book, take an instagrammed photo and listen to the guys behind the counter tell you about who they are!"

Urbanistar was a lot of fun. My little group started out here, and Lee, their barista, was fantastic. He let us come behind the counter one by one so that he could explain to us how he made our order, which was a bit of a treat I think. I might be a little biased, because he figured out pretty quickly that I was a coffee nut and let me steam my own milk (I miss making coffee for a job!), but on top of being a fantastic venue, the coffee is pretty darn tasty. And if you're not feeling like coffee? This place is worth a visit anyway for their bagels, sweet treats and the amazing walls of books that surround you. 

The joys of film & a flash that doesn't work.
I'm kind of in love with this photo though...

11am til 12pm

Ristretto

"Now this will be fun! Ristretto have offered us a coffee tasting for free! Make sure to tell them they're lovely and smell really nice and that you think they're (insert hipster comment) like that (hipster band). These guys only used to roast coffee, but have recently opened up their windows, popped in a coffee machine with some fresh cookies, and welcomed hipsters from all over town."

Here at Ristretto we got to try something that my inner coffee freak has been wanting to try for ages - cupping. It's used by baristas far and wide to determine the flavours that characterise a particular coffee, but it's not a process that is that well known of outside of coffee circles, which is a pity. It was a lot of fun standing out in the sun, trying to 'aspirate' the coffee in the right way and laughing at the noises that go with sucking up the little spoonful flavoursome caffeinated beverage. More than that, I know everyone got to learn a lot about coffee here, with Emanuel happily answering our questions and really engaging with our little group :)

"AND THEN?

"All are invited for a wine and burger up at

the Mechanics Institute to calm the coffee jitters!"

Post burgers + drinks, asides from some loitering and lazy conversation, we dispersed to buzz around in our caffeinated state, and to realise that sleep was a very distant thought...

Again, a massive thank you to all those involved! Kelsie & Nageena - my partners in crime, all of our lovely venues, the Shaanti Project, the two little patisseries who helped us out. You're all absolutely amazing :D

Now that I've said all that though, there is actually something that I've missed out from this little charity event of ours, but it's so rad that I've decided to give it a whole post to itself that shall be appearing tomorrow. So never fear, there is more to come (although more fashion related, less coffee related)! :P