As Newcastle’s coffee culture continues to grow at a phenomenal rate, our curiosity and knowledge grows, too.
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In the beginning of 2018 Weekender commissioned Newcastle food and drink writer Nathalie Craig to find out what local baristas, roasters, coffee lovers and cafe owners thought was the “perfect cup”.
Read more on the perfect cup:
The question was intentionally open-ended - Was it the best cup you ever had? The best cup you make every day? The best coffee memory of your life?
We cast a wide net, as the coffee community is a hugely diverse group of people on both sides of the counter.
The answers reflection the complexity, the knowledge and in some cases, pure emotion, of Newcastle’s coffee culture.
Among our favourites was the response of Bec Bowie, the owner of Estabar: “When I’m having a cup of coffee it’s a license to stop. It’s a moment of stillness while the rest of the world carries on”.
NEWCASTLE DARBY ST
Emily Murphy-Wilson, barista, Haywire, Darby St. “My perfect cup is a soy flatty first thing in the morning, just before the first rush of the day. Perched on a window somewhere, where I can look up to watch the people hustle and bustle into their day in between the pages of a good book. I like my cup of coffee to be bold with milk and subtle without. The greatest cup of coffee will challenge me to pull apart the matrix of flavours and origins that play on my palette, and it makes me appreciate all that went into making that simple cup of coffee.”
Nic Williams, manager and head barista, 3 Monkeys Cafe, Darby St. “The one I make myself using Allpress beans and drink out of a massive white mug. I love to do this before anyone else is awake, it's my time to unwind before the start of a busy day.”
Ben Richardson, co-owner, The Autumn Rooms, Darby St. “My perfect cup is served black, filter style by a non-pretentious barista, in a bustling cafe. If the barista takes the time to tell me why he loves the coffee and throws in some information about the farm or family that produced it I am his/hers forever. Coffee to me is as much about the attention to the brewing of the coffee as the work that has gone into it to getting it to that point.”
James Carter, Real Coffee, Darby St. “My preferred brew is a double ristretto origin coffee poured very short - around 15 to 20 mls. The most memorable cup of coffee that I have had was at St Mark’s Square, Venice and it was everything to do with the atmosphere. Sitting in arguably the most famous city square in the world with a jazz band playing behind me, the trumpeter in a white tuxedo, slick-backed dark hair and wraparound sunnies. It was also the most expensive cappuccino I have ever had.”