Sweet Lovers, Station Street Moorabbin VIC.

Over the last 12 months or so I have been working a few days a week out of an office in Moorabbin. Suffice to say the coffee expectations in the area were not high. I found the best I could at the time in a place called “Sweet Lovers”. A Cake cum sandwich shop. It had the friendliest service with out a doubt (mind you some claims of great coffee near by were bewildering).

Well, slowly over time, I convinced the owner, Mark, that he should really consider a better bean for his establishment. To my delight, he made the leap to Red Star in the new year.

After that I dogged him to improve the coffee making skills of his staff. That in fact was the most dangerous bit, but I seemed to do it without being banned from the premises. Mark, Zaine and the rest of the team do a respectable coffee now (occasionally over extracting, but they are always making improvements). The atmosphere is friendly and its certainly fine for a business meeting. More recently they brought on a new staff member, who has a panache for mosaic.

Results of the Victorian Barista Championships 2007.

I was privileged to attend the Victorian Barista Championships last Sunday. It reaffirmed my perception of Melbourne’s Coffee Culture as one of passion, appreciation and a state of total ‘in love’ for good quality coffee in wonderful surroundings. I admire the effort not only the event participants made, but also the organisers and support people.

As with my reviews, I attended the event for the few hours I had like a ‘thief in the night’. This works for me, as I don’t really see myself as part of the industry, just a distant admirer.

I am delighted to announce the winners as:

1st: David Makin,
2nd: Erin Sampson
3rd: Simon James.

(If someone would submit a post as to where these three work, I would appreciate it!)

The fact is that all the contestants were of an amazing calibre,.. so a genuine salute from the Melbourne Coffee Review to Ya’all!

Here are some random shots from me!