THE CAFÉ OF 2017

As specialty coffee takes centrestage in Australia’s cafés, the daily grinds of 2017 combine high-tech gadgets with Instagram aesthetics and a passion for all things single origin. If your local looks like an artfully designed lab for thirsty scientists,

If your local looks like a designer lab, here’s a café cheat sheet.

MULTIPLE GRINDERS

A choice of beans calls for multiple grinders, lest you cross-contaminate the notes of a fruity Geisha variety with an all-rounder house blend. Plus, switching between the grind measurements of each coffee slows things considerably – not fun during a morning rush.

AUTO-TAMPERS

Tamping ground coffee into the basket properly is essential for good espresso. Programmable auto-tampers such as the Puq aren’t cheap, but deliver programmable and consistent pressure every time, sparing baristas’ wrists along the way.

THE MACHINE

There’s no consensus on the must-have machine, though the sleek Synesso MVP Hydra and the low-lying La Marzocco Linea PB (pictured) are popular with many a specialty café. Newer models bank on facility to extend customisation (“dial-ins”) to water pressure, temperature and timing, though it’s more fun than functional. “They’re really just kettles with pumps,” says Tim Williams of Melbourne roastery Bureaux Collective. Shiny, though.

CUSTOM-MADE CERAMICS

Handles make stacking awkward, latté glasses don’t retain heat and espresso cups prove too narrow to show the nose of coffee at its best. Sydney’s Single O was an early adopter of the move to custom-made ceramics, trading in tradition a few years back for Malcolm Greenwood clay cups that are a pleasure to clasp on a cold day.

THE JUGGLER

Daily crates of milk cartons have been replaced with The Juggler, a fridge system connected to pressurised taps and sinks built into the barista bar. Milk sits in squishy 10-litre bags underneath, keeping at a consistent temperature, and it can be set to pour to the millilitre. It’s more efficient – though if you see your barista sprinting to the corner store, there’s a split bag causing havoc behind the bar.

MULTI-COFFEE MENUS

Will it be a natural Ethiopian heirloom? Or a washed Colombian Geisha? While the menu options might resemble Mad Libs more than a drink, cafés list country origin, variety and harvesting process as part of specialty coffee’s focus on quality control and traceability, challenging coffee production’s history of unethical labour practices. Usually, each option is designated to black, white or filter on tasting notes – one coffee, three ways.

SCALES

Whether an espresso or a five-litre batch of cold brew, each coffee is weighed pre- and post-extraction. It’s the best way to ensure every cup sticks to the day’s recipe, save for a sneaky sip.

BREW BAR

Brew bars let baristas bounce between filter coffee’s many forms. The most common is a V60, a funnel-shaped tool that lets water siphon through the coffee over several minutes, though some prefer the manual-release Kalita, its metal cousin. The AeroPress (pictured) – an all-plastic French press designed for easy use – is popping up more on menus. Its fans say it produces results that are fuller-bodied than the cleaner cup from the V60.