Baby its cold outside!

 To get started on a very very cold  Friday morning a girl needs her coffee!! This is also helpful to get the brain ticking and start thinking about the work day ahead.. although procrastinating about the weekend is not too far out of the question!

Janine and I decided to head local today, it was too cold to go very far from the office and the chance of rain without umbrella was quite high. (forgot my Buzz Light year!)  We headed to Cafenatics http://www.cafenatics.com.au/ which is only a short work from our Docklands office! Before my "coffee blog obsession/ New Year resolution" began, this was the cafe I went to every working day!

Busy Cafenatics!! Love the funky design

The frenetic pace of this cafe is unbelievable often with a line out the door, generally a sign good coffee is made here!!  Its  not a very relaxing cafe to have a chit chat over your mid morning latte... unless you don't mind yelling, but it does have a very funky vibe to it ! Its better once it calms down although the pace quickly picks up again around lunch time and they do a roaring trade! The Ham & Swiss Cheese flat bread is a staple for me when lunch is forgotten (or often left at home on the bench!!).Its simple yet delicious, its hard for me to order anything else! A creature of habit I call it!

My coffee today however was not showing the usual richness that it normally does. My expectations have also gone up a notch of late, so I'm not sure if this played a factor as well! I will be back.... hoping for a better coffee next time.

For lunch I wanted to go far far away from work ! Well to the other end of the city,  which feels so far away. I have been talking about my desire to go  65 degrees http://www.65degreescafe.blogspot.com/ for a long time.. so today being the coldest day, and  still battling a cold it wasn't the most sensible thing to do! These days I would do anything for coffee! How sad!

Janine and I met Laura there for some lunch and another hit of caffeine! I was hoping for a great coffee after this mornings disappointment! I have been reading great things about award winning  65 degrees... When I looked into why name a cafe 65 degrees I found out that this is the  perfect temperature milk should be in a coffee (hope that's right, someone please correct me if I'm wrong!!!) See I am learning something about coffee making every day!


Gorgeous red coffee machine!



 I asked an obviously new waitress for a Piccolo latte, I had heard about them but had always been reluctant to  try.... I had in my mind that it was a half espresso half milk, a mini latte so to speak, she told me it was a long black, so to chicken I didn't order... I now know it is a mini latte! Ah next time I will order it! I'm moving more and more out of my comfort zone everyday.

My coffee, however did not disappoint, it had very strong nutty flavour, enhanced by the soy milk.  They use Gridlock coffee here  and I can see why they have won many coffee making  championships! They  have so much pride in their coffee and their cafe.   Another one to add to my faves! (Pity its up the wrong end of town!)

Nice and Strong Soy Cappuccino

Until next time xx

PS - As part of my Blog journey, I have started to collect the business cards from these cafes so I can make myself a framed picture of my journey for 2011! Hopefully it doesn't get too big, I have no wall space in my place left!

Work, Life, Balance, and good Coffee!

Well its good news to start with today, a brand spanking new car back in my possession, 3 weeks to the day! Yay! Boy have I missed my wheels.. I can really recommence my coffee challenge and start hitting the burbs for some caffeine! Although on the flip side my body has really thanked me for this extra walking... so I am going to try and keep the activity levels up!

This week has been rather hit and miss on the coffee front .... Monday, Darby and I ventured to Spotswood by train in the freezing cold weather  (who knew it was the last day of Summer!!!!) to visit the Duchess of Spotswood. I have been here a couple of times and it was brilliant! Alas we arrived and their coffee machine was being taken away in a car, not a great sign! Another broken machine! Damn!!!

Coffee dilemma solved by catching the train back to Yarraville (luckily only 1 stop) and meeting up with  my aunty at an old fave:  The Corner Shop! I can never fault their coffee, it is always incredibly smooth and rich. (and no broken coffee machine in sight)

 I was back in Spotswood again on Tuesday to pick up  my car so thought I'd swing by the  Duchess again, but it closed at 3.30! (I arrived at 3.35!!!) Ill keep persisting and go tomorrow!  I have worked hard for this coffee,  I hope its a good one.

I have  also still battled on with my cold, I felt better over the weekend and then went severely downhill when I was back at work (mmm makes me wonder if work is the culprit for making me sick! Ill ponder that some more) .

Work  and home life have thrown me some challenges this week that normally wouldn't  phase me, but somehow I have found it to overwhelming, tears as well! Oh Jane!!!

Quite ironic though that a topic of  my team meeting on Tuesday was Work Life Balance - Is it a load of twaddle! 

 Who really has it??? Is it just a nice saying?? Does it exist in the real world??? This week I'm  certainly  not feeling any kind of balance in life or at work !  I'm completely out of whack!!

Lets hope tomorrow off will rejuvenate and revive me before the weekend!



Total Eclipse.. my magical coffee



Anyway enough of the serious stuff, lets talk about  the most important topic : coffee... I went to Elevenses this morning and was a little concerned when a man was tinkering around with the coffee machine. Oh no not another broken coffee machine, I just couldn't bare it..not this week ...Thank god it was fine and I actually think today's cup was the best I have had from the guys here and that is saying ALOT.... Thank you Elevenses! You made my day!!

I needed to get out of the office for  Lunch, So headed to Eclipse for Lunch with Janine. We both loved what we had.... it was very tasty with finesse, and  presented soo well (it also filled me up for the whole day). My fancy was Flat bread toasted with Chicken, Bacon, Avocado, and Aioli, with Rocket!  The coffee was beautiful as well ..



Highlight of the day: Catching the train home with Darby and using the Master Chef magazine as a picture book.  We read together pointing out all the obvious things , George, Gary, Matt, Curtis, Figs, Lemons, Pizza, Chilli, pasta etc etc! What a great purchase, we both get enjoyment out of it!! Classic moment when we got to   George and Gary's chocolate desserts and I told Darb's everything that was on the page! He piped up "mum I want to cook  a Jaffa Souffle with candy orange !" A few peak hour commuters smirked at that!  Bring it on Darb's!!! Ill drink to that!

Until next time xx

PS - Thanks Damien Rice... you have helped me get through a tough week!

Total ECLIPSE of the heart

Total Eclipse!

Eclipse Coffee http://www.eclipsecoffee.com.au/ is another mysterious cafe, its address is Collins St, but in reality it is tucked away at the back of the Rialto in Flinders Lane, so you have to really be seeking it out.
 I'm seeing a theme in the cafes I have been  trying lately that they are all so understated, with no need for signs or marketing on the outside and often you could walk past and not realise you have missed it. They really let their coffee speak for itself!!

Janine and I made our way to Eclipse on Wednesday morning for our daily coffee experience! When you enter, the  darkness of the cafe is quite overwhelming so early in the morning. You almost feel like its 11pm and you should be ordering  gin and tonics, not soy cappuccinos and long blacks at the bar. The colourful down lights just add to the  late night mood as well, but the scent of Cinnamon lingers from the  nearby fruit toast and jolts me back to my 9.30am reality! Damn!  The food here  looks like another reason to keep coming back, with gorgeous looking pastries and croissants . Ill definitely be back for breakfast and lunch ...

Eclipse have about 3 or 4 baristas working tirelessly  on the Synesso http://www.synesso.com/ coffee machine (I am taking much more notice of the coffee machines these days!)  to churn out the hundreds of coffees it must make in a usual mid week morning rush.  
Now onto my coffee, for the price I pay $4.10 (on the pricey side for a small coffee), I would hope that its damn exceptional!  I can't wait to get it back to the office to try it! It does not disappoint , it is soo smooth and rich. The soy milk enhances the rich chocolatey nutty  flavour. They use their own beans here and they change the blend daily. Today  its a Brazillian exquisite blend!
Ill be back here again for coffee in no time!



My Elevenses coffee



In the afternoon I was after another caffeine fix! So I opted for convenience  and went to Elevenses http://www.elevenses.net.au/, something always draws me back there! The coffee even at 4pm, is still as good as it is earlier on in the day and that's always a sign to me they take their coffee making seriously!


Hasn't been a great week for my Melbourne coffee review 100... no new ones off my list! Still without a car for 2 more weeks, so I  will have to pick up the pace when I get it back!

I purchased the Melbourne Coffee Guide today http://www.thecoffeeguide.com.au/ and it reviews 150 places to go... slightly more ambitious, although there is quite a few cross overs with MCR so it could be doable! If only I had the time... the thought of giving up my day job sounds nice.. but then I have to be able to purchase coffees so that may prove a problem... mmmm If only I could drink more than 1 or 2 in a day without the palpitations and headaches!

Until next time, enjoy your coffee xxx

Yay its Friday

A night where I  slept alllll night, Darby is with my mum and dad so I woke up disorientated, not knowing where I was and what Day it was. That's what a full nights sleep does after 3.5 years of disrupted sleep.
Haven't worked on my goal yet today,  but have had some fabulous coffee with Janine at our new favorite 'Go to ' place from work - Elevenses. They make a nice strong coffee and don't charge for Soy! Yay.... Plus it gets us out of the office for 15 minutes to achieve another goal... Get moving during the work day 2 times a week..... I better practice what I preach at work - Health and Wellbeing!!
Have a happy Friday .....