Couple pour hearts into new cafe
A coffee-loving couple are pouring their hearts into one of Palmerston North’s newest cafes.
Halcyon Brew Bar owners Alesha Mcquinn and Wade Cashmore opened the cafe in Cuba St in mid-october.
Despite not advertising and a complete lack of signage for the first three months, the coffee spot has already attracted loyal regulars.
‘‘A lot of people have been finding us by word of mouth, or were just stopping out of sheer curiosity,’’ Mcquinn said.
A shared enthusiasm for coffee was one of the foundations of their relationship and their new venture.
The couple met in an Auckland cafe four years ago and immediately hit it off. Every year they tick off interesting coffee spots from a map during overseas holidays.
Now, they’ve combined their love of music, art, and crafts into an eclectic mash-up that resembles an eccentric family rec-room.
There’s a record player near a vintage globe, books and board games are peppered around the place, and the regulars have scrawled chalk-sketches and messages across the walls.
‘‘We wanted Halcyon to be a place people can escape to.
‘‘A place where people can pick a record to put on, read a book, and spend some time away from life.’’
They modelled the cafe’s lounge-room vibe on their own favourite cafes.
Mcquinn said they wanted to encourage people to experiment with the different brew styles and blends so Halcyon offered free tastings, so customers could find a new favourite without the risk of paying for a whole cup they won’t like.
It is one of the few Palmerston North coffee spots to offer alternative brewstyles like cold brew, and aeropress coffee.
An aeropress is a syringe-like device that uses air pressure to draw flavour from finely ground coffee beans. The process has a shorter brewing time, which leads to less acidic coffee.
Cold-brewed coffee is brewed for hours with chilled water and has a very different taste to traditional coffee. It’s usually either served hot, over ice, or blended with ice and ingredients such as chocolate.