Here’s the lead line from the Sydney Morning Herald’s recent feature, “Sydney’s hottest new cafes“:
Sydney’s café scene has never been so full of beans.
Oof. But the list itself, from what we can suss out, is actually pretty great (if you ignore the subsequent reference to “sniffing out the La Marzocca” [sic]). It includes several roaster / retailers we recently featured at our International Delight cupping, including Mecca Espresso (winner of “Best Boutique Roaster”), Coffee Alchemy (winner for “Best Coffee”), and Single Origin Roasting (“Best Barista”, given to staff member Shoji Shaja). We tried coffees from these three outfits ourselves in LA, and can vouchsafe for their award-worthiness.
But we’ve never actually been to Sydney before. Or Melbourne, for that matter, or Perth, or Adelaide, or Brisbane, or even bloody Darwin. This will be changing soon, but in the meantime, here’s a full list of those awards from the Sydney Morning Herald – Sprudge readers based in Sydney or with a bit of cafe travel experience there should feel free to sound off in the comments below.
Best Boutique Roaster: Mecca Espresso, Ultimo
Best Coffee: Coffee Alchemy, Marrickville
Best (new) Brew Bar: Don Campos, Alexandria
Best Barista: Shoji Sasa from Single Origin Roaster “Sideshow” cafe, Surry Hills.
Best Small Cafe: Room 10, Potts Point
Best Food Cafe: Three Ducks, Bronte
Local Hero Award: Cornersmith, Marrickville
Hall of Fame: Bar Sport
Best New Cafe: The Grounds, Alexandria
Eftpos Best Café Award: Reuben Hills, CBD
