Hi,
Excuse the delay! We’ve been busy with some nice developments, plus recovering from our latest Black Coffee Saturday. (For which we got so very lucky with the weather: it’s been raining every weekend since!)
Talking about water… We’ve never worried (geeked?) too much about it, nor been extremely prescriptive in our brew guides.
Perhaps it’s because Sydney Metro—where our cafes and most of our team and customers live—has a pretty decent water quality (in any case, it brings flavour profiles and acidity to our taste, with our beans and roasting style). Or, perhaps it’s because we’ve preferred to take a relaxed approach, letting coffee be in charge of most of the magic.
But it’s true that there have been times when, while holidaying in different regions/countries, we’ve used bottled water for brewing because tap produced an extremely flat, unexciting coffee.
So we do not doubt that water is an ingredient that impacts the final cup. We’ve just never explored it too deeply. But this is about to change.
We’re currently diving into this topic so we can expand this historically brief section of our brew guides (in case you feel like going down the water rabbit hole). We’re also playing with a new wave of ‘water products’, and we’ll add those we find most helpful to our growing homebrewing gear shop (there’s a whole world beyond ye old Britta jug).
While we do that, we’d love to hear where you’re at when it comes to water and coffee:
Care much? Don’t even think about it? Have you ever noticed a difference when brewing the same coffee in different locations? Questions? Insights? Opinions?
Thanks for going with our flow. Catch'ya in September. —The Sample crew
News & things
New pro filters → Sibarist (made in Barcelona) and Bruer (German precision) being the last to join our bounty section. PS. We’re working on some sort of resource to help you explain their unique qualities.
New drip bag origins → 3 single origins and 1 VS single origin added to our brew bag section. Easy, convenient, delicious.
September’s tasting session is open → As always, first Friday of the month 12.30pm in Surry, first Saturday 8.30am in St Peters. Come on, come see us!
Old friend: Flour and Stone → This Sydney institution has been serving our coffee alongside their delicious pastries since 2019. Get to know their lovely work and team.
Strictly coffee
Not devil but Albeirzon Prada*→* A Colombian washed Gesha lot that is subtle and refined, but affordable enough to not enter our VS category. Still a limited lot, so it won’t be part of our regular Brew Crew subscription features.
Gondo goodness → Another African (Kenyan) banger that won’t be featured in our subscription. Grab a bag and chuck it in your freezer for run-out-of-coffee emergencies; you won’t regret this tip.
Sweet Tooth espresso blend x Flour and Stone → Did you know we created this blend expressly for Flour and Stone? It’s roasted a touch darker than our Pacemaker, giving a rich and chocolatey body. |
Sample hotline
“What makes your coffee unique or different?”
Woah, tricky question. If we had to nail it down to 3 elements, it would be:
Exceptional, traceable, no BS specialty sourcing (our single origins are Arabica +85 SCA score and our blend components Arabica +80) Consistent roasting towards clarity of flavour, acidity and sweetness 4-6 weekly rotating single origins (one of the most generous single origins offer in Australia?)
But there’s a lot more to it.
Learn more about our coffee philosophy.
Send your coffee questions, thoughts or love letters by hitting ‘reply’ or via [email protected]
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