Day 2 kicked off with a bit more back and forth that I had hoped for, but on the whole the experience was still a good one.
I jumped on a tram and had been told that opposite the Auction Rooms was a Mork cafe that I “had to check out” pity that they weren’t open at 730am when I passed by. On a side note, what is it with Melbourne cafes opening so late..?? I get the closing early thing, but coffee is quintessentially a morning beverage right…??
The actual coffee here though was quite decent. The house blend mac (Indonesia, Brazil, Ethiopia, & PNG blend) started off at a walk with a not bad, but not mind blowing coffee. Thankfully the Nayarita Reserva 2 Mexican long black picked up the level with a clean, darker brew, with nice back notes of stone fruits. It was well balanced, and as I don’t get alot of Mexican coffee to drink normally, it was a nice change. I then finished off with a nice Dukes coffee Kenyan Karimikui batch brew, which had a distinctive nectarine aftertaste, and a light honey acidity. Very interesting coffee.
Next on the cards was Patricia, but walking by, the line up to get in was insane. With little time left before getting over to #MICE2015 I needed another option and fast. Luckily Filter cafe is not too far away.
The coffee was…. not bad…. If I was being perfectly honest, the coffee was clean and spot on the flavour notes of the coffee, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I started with a Colombian Artunuaga batch brew that certainly had the advertised almond taste (of almost nothingness) and some of the apple/blackcurrant acidity once it cooled. If nothing else it was interesting. I then had a Costa Rica Ortiz aeropress which giving the awesome coffee coming out of there this year I expected alot. It was better than the batch brew, but not by a wide margin. It had a little acidity, it was clean, but that’s about it.
At MICE on this day I got to try a quick Mocopan espresso and a Grinders espresso. Both were possibly better than expected, but dark and chocolatey was the main aim. The Grinders booth in particular had an awesome concept. They’ve put alot of effort into it. I grab a couple of random coffees during the day including a nitro cold brew, and a few more espressos, but nothing noteworthy.
And so day 2 was completed.