Hunt for the Best Coffee

The Gold Coast is a great place to hunt for good coffee with plenty of baristas vying for your attention. Before I tell you about what I have found on my hunt for the best coffee, here is how I judge a decent coffee.

When you walk in to the cafe you usually walk past the coffee machine. This is good because having the machine pride of place means that it takes pride of place meaning that they put a lot of effort into their coffee and hopefully the effort pays off. It also means that you can get a good sniff at the aroma of the coffee. You shouldn’t get any burnt smell, it should smell fresh and enticing. Secondly listen - the milk steamer shouldn’t be screaming and neither should you hear any over fluffing of the milk which sounds like a bubbly grating noise. If you wanted to you could even observe the barista making a couple of coffees to be sure that they don’t scoop cold foam from a container in the fridge on top of the cappuccinos or other such atrocities.

The menu can give clues too. Somewhere that only sells coffee and maybe a few little treats in the glass cabinet at the counter will usually make good coffee. These sorts of places also usually offer a choice in the beans used in your coffee. Take your time to choose one that appeals to you and chat to the staff if you want some guidance. The menu can also be your saviour because if after sussing out the smell and sound of the machine when walking in and guessing that the coffee isn’t going to be good you can either hide your coffee under so much sugar and chocolate and cream that you wont notice or even better just order a juice.

When it gets to you at the table or in your groovy little take away cup (bonus points for a cool cup!) take a look at the top of the coffee. It should have an even, dark coloured crema - a pretty pattern gets more bonus points. There should be a deep rich and complicated aroma and it should be heavy and smooth on the palate. You can get all fancy pants and start describing the flavours with all sorts of words but really it comes down to good or bad.

On top of a great cup of coffee I like my cafe to have a good aesthetic or be close to somewhere I can escape for a while, like the beach or if my kids have it their way, a park. There are a lot of cafes on the Gold Coast now but some of the top coffee I have had came from the following cafes (in no particular order).