Coffee Confessions

I am a bit of a coffee snob.  Well, actually, snob probably isn't the right word, I just know what I like when it comes to coffee and I know the difference between a good one and a bad one.  There are a ridiculous number of coffee photos in my Instagram feed.

On my floor at work we have a fancy schmancy machine but unfortunately the beans supplied aren't that great and by afternoon the machine tends to run too hot and the coffee gets bitter and pretty much undrinkable, as far as I'm concerned.

I've resorted to making tea, and I can tell you that the T2 choc chip chai is delightful in the afternoons.  Madagascan Vanilla is my choice for a morning cuppa.  However, I digress, I was talking about coffee wasn't I?

When I started working in the city I would get a coffee on the way to work I stuck with what I know so Cibo on the corner of Grenfell and King William was my regular but it really wasn't cutting it.  Cibo in Pirie Street is en route to Joggers World and after stopping there a few times I discovered that the barista really does have a whole lot to do with how good your coffee is because the coffee in Pirie Street is a whole world better than on the corner of Grenfell.

Then, one morning whilst dashing up James Place, I spotted Fair Espresso out of the corner of my eye.  I was confused because I was sure that they hadn't always been there but I had been missing their coffee since the baseball ended back in February.  That weekend I discovered them at the footy, tucked under the northern grandstand at Aami Stadium.  When I fronted up for a coffee in James Place the following Monday morning they recognised me, my name often gives me away like that, and I have been visiting each day I'm on my way to work since.  Love the place, love the friendliness and warm atmosphere and love that what they serve is fair trade and organic.

However, there was one morning when I got coffee from the Coffee Branch.

The Coffee Branch is on Leigh Street and, semiregularly, on Friday mornings we head to work via Leigh Street to visit From Scratch Patisserie who set up their cute little cabinet selling their amazing pastries each Friday. 

A couple of weeks ago I decided to get a coffee to go with my almond croissant, there is a delectable array of pastries but I still haven't tried anything other than an almond croissant, call me a creature of habit.  Well, the coffee branch coffee is fantastic, but the atmosphere just made me want to pull up a stool and my laptop and just spend the entire day in there just sitting and writing and drinking coffee and eating the delicious things they have in their cabinet. Seriously.

Around the time Fair Espresso opened on Leigh Street so did Caparezza.  They sell the from scratch pastries everyday, thats what drew my attention to them in the first place.  So, I have my lunchtime coffee with the Italians (and often with Lauren).  I'm sure they secretly want to tell us off for drinking lattes after lunch, I'm so sure of it I think I might start having a macchiato in there instead...once I feel confident enough that I won't sound like a dick when I order one.

The baristas wear white shirts with skinny black ties and mandatory 5 o'clock shadows.  They talk to each other about the soccer in Italian and someone's Mamma makes the minestrone.  I love the place, it makes me happy.

Besides the pastries they also have some kick ass looking rolls and sandwiches but their cannoli are amazeballs.  I told Lauren they were a zillion times better than the ones from Cibo, I don't think she thought it was possible until she tried one and agreed it was probably closer to infinity times.

So there you have my Adelaide CBD coffee confessions.

Are you a coffee drinker or is tea more your thing?  Is there somewhere in the Adelaide CBD, or any other CBD for that matter, that makes a great latte that I just need to try?

Tatum xx