After living in places other than Sydney for most of the last 5 years, I have come to appreciate how short the supply a good cup of coffee is across the world. Since returning, I have been excited to imbibe in our burgeoning cafe and coffee roasting culture.
Mecca Espresso in the CBD has been a popular favourite and busy little hole in the wall for years. I have always been impressed by their espresso output, and when I heard that they had a Clover Coffee Machine in action I stopped by to give it a go. The first Clover coffee I tried at Mecca was the Panama Esmerelda Auction coffee, and it was lovely. The Clover machine provides a beautiful cup with a strong bergamot aroma and sweet acid finish.
My first experience with Clover brewed coffee was at Le Monde cafe in Surry Hills, where it is served as part of a popular breakfast degustation menu. Le Monde has (not surprisingly) been voted the best cafe in Sydney, and the execution of the food, the enthusiasm of the staff and remarkable clarity of flavour in the Clover coffee extraction are daily evidence of why. The more the barista talked about the flavours and preparation of their coffee, the more I was convinced that coffee and wine are the same. Extraction, flavour, retention, temperature, pressure, timing, ripeness, acidity, structure, terroir.
At Le Monde, the Ethiopian Nekisse tastes of rosebuds and bright berry fruits, it’s equivalent flavour profile found in a glass of pale French rosé or plush Gamay. On the other hand, a cup of Sumatran Lintong is all savoury, capsicum and sour limes, reminiscent of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or cool climate Cabernet. These are examples of coffee terroir at their best!
And this Clover Coffee Machine, what should we make of it? An exclusive fad ramped up by the controversial buy-out by Starbucks? Well yes… and no. This machine IS something to get excited about. Where espresso is extracted from a machine at a high temperature and pressure in only 30 seconds, the clover machine is about retaining delicate tea-like characters of the roasted coffee bean. This subtle profile cannot be retained in the same way through high-heat espresso extraction. Using the analogy of wine, espresso is akin to using hot temperatures and a roto-fermenter to ferment red wine in 5 days for rich colour, fruit and maximum extraction. Clover brewing is more like longer, cooler fermentation with gentle extraction and restraint. The idea behind the Clover machine is the mechanisation of the ‘pour over’ technique, also known as the single or individual drip. The principles behind the gentle single drip extraction are the same, but a clover machine takes out the variable human element and allows the extraction time and temperature to be easily controlled electronically.
Alas! This variable human element need not be scary! I am a big fan of the team at Coffee Alchemy in Marrickville. They have a hole-in-the-wall shop front selling beans by the kilo and offering coffee as espresso or as pour-over (by hand). The friendly staff approach each pour-over with the ritual of weighing beans, grinding, placing them in a ceramic filter and wetting down with water at the appropriate temperature. Customers can watch their coffee slowly drip into the cup for several minutes while the expert baristas share the origin and flavour profile of the beans with you. Coffee Alchemy is a mandatory destination for coffee with analogue flair!
The passion and information available from staff across these speciality coffee providers in Sydney is invigorating. Gone are the days of exclusivity and dirty competition. Life is too short to drink bad coffee, and with so many enthusiastic providers within this small region I am at pains selecting my daily dealer of necessary caffeine buzz.
