Half a century...

Major Milestone achieved.... drum roll.......... I have reached 50 cafes! Halfway to my target of the Melbourne  Coffee Top 100!! I am amazed at myself for taking such a simple idea and  running with it.... who would have thought me, someone not at all educated in coffee, but with  an earnest  appreciation and devilish curiosity, now  drinking my way through Melbourne's best !! Even I am patting myself on the back!!

I certainly have a greater  lens now to what is around, and there are so many remarkable places that I am glad I am blogging because its all becoming a blur and as nostalgic and corny as it is  I want to be able to remember this journey  forever! 

Oh and one of the amusing things I have been labelled recently is a coffee snob (by some close friends just having a dig) when I don't order coffee at particular places! I find this very amusing!!!

I feel as though Life is too short to drink Crap coffee!! My new life motto - I just need to get it printed on a T-Shirt...(might get Darby a matching one but change coffee to babycinos!!!)

The Bar was raised for both Darbs and I with our coffee experience last Saturday! Out to visit a friend in Bentleigh was also a perfect opportunity to visit some cafes out that way... and to get to that number 5 0 ..

First stop was Bent Espresso in Bentleigh..A lovely cafe tucked off busy Centre rd. With red retro chairs and tables and a very laid back feel it was the perfect place to start the weekend! Darby's babycino was dressed to impress... he talked about the sparkles and giant marshmallow all day! Something so simple gave him the biggest thrill and also kept him entertained while I sat back to enjoy mine. My coffee was intense and strong , just how I like it, with subtleness from the nutty soy milk. Picture perfect really, it gave me the right amount of buzz to get myself going! They use Toby's Estate here so its always a winner!

What I loved most was the mural on the wall - (I'm guessing by a happy customer), it spanned the entire cafe wall, and felt as though we were in degraves st or a little lane way in the city!  The mural pays homage to their place in the Top 100!



I couldn't stop staring! My photos don't do it justice.. Go there and check it out!  



How gorgeous is this mural!



I look possessed here, must just

be the 2 coffee buzz (I promise I

didnt get stuck into the wine!)



Next stop after my visit with Nicole and Kailani, was The Artful Dodger, just over the railway line in Glenhuntly Rd, Elsternwick. The place was buzzing with people outside enjoying the sunshine... Darbs and I opted to sit inside and enjoy the ambiance - Led Zeppelins' "Whole Lotta Love" playing loud... Yeah Baby!! This was one sexy place... loved it.. would have loved it more in my twenties when a coffee could have turned into several bubbles..with an  array of  vinos on hand, this is the place to come if you are hungover and want to get on it the next day! Darby and I ordered some eggs and bacon.. they were greasy and yummy hit the spot in all the right ways... and my coffee was good and left me buzzing and delirious...Darby's babycino had a bit of a mishap on the way to the table.. an eager elbow swung around enthusiastically when the waiter brought it over resulting in milk and froth going everywhere. The staff were gorgeous and made him another one .. with a cute smiley face to match! They were so delightful to us and to Darbs! A winner! Might have to organise a boozy lunch there one day(not that they exist in my world any more!!). Here's to trying something new!  

On Sunday Laura and I (with Darbs too) went for a coffee at Maison Ama Lurra - the scene of the broken down coffee disaster of February! Well today the coffee machine was not broken and the coffee i had here was pretty darn good!!! Lucky!!!!

Here is just a recap of the top 50 I have been to so far! (in no particular order!) Plus a plethora more of cafes that I love that are not on the list .... Elevenses, Wee Jeannie etc

1. The Corner Shop
2. Le Chien
3. Duchess of Spotswood
4. Grounded House
5. Nosh @ Newport
6. Salford Lads Club
7. Social Roasting Company
8. Cafenatics
9. Auction Rooms
10. Di Bella Coffee Roasting
11. Cafe TRUTRACK
12. Dancing Goat Cafe
13. Shop 7 Coffee Alimentari
14. Eclipse coffee
15. Seven Seeds
16. Nabiha Cafe
17. Brother Baba Budan
18. Dead Man Espresso
19. Sensory Lab
20. St Ali
21. Journal Cafe
22. Cup of Truth
23. Switchboard Cafe
24. 65 Degrees Cafe
25. Toby's Espresso Bar
26. Miss Marmalade
27. Ray's Cafe
28. Gingerlee
29. Proud Mary
30. El Mirage
31. Pope Joan
32. New York Tomato
33. A Minor Place
34. The Brunswick East Project
35. Growers Espresso
36. Three Bags Full
37. Coffee Darling
38. Outpost
39. Market Lane cafe
40. Abbotsford Convent Bakery
41. Leroy Espresso
42. Penny Farthing Espresso
43. Foxy Brown
44. Monk Bodhi Dharma
45. Liar Liar
46. The Artful Dodger
47. Studio Movida
48. Omar and the marvellous coffee bird
49. The Mailing room
50. Bent Espresso