News Articles by Brigette Paterson
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Impressive latte art by the Balinese baristas
As part of our direct trade relationship with farmers in Bali, we enjoy training the local Ubud baristas. After our first training session, two of the baristas stood out. Their natural talent and enthusiasm were impressive, and we quickly decided to sponsor them to a week of intensive training with us in Perth.
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Get into The Grind
It’s a long drive to the roastery each morning for a few of us north-of-the-river-ites. There’s nothing better than breaking up the routine with a stop at one of our favourite cafes. On a particularly cold morning, we dropped in to The Grind on Hay Street to catch up with the girls and enjoy brekkie and a fantastic coffee.
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Jamie Oliver interviews Nolan
Jamie Oliver recently visited Australia. During his stay, he dropped in to Proud Marys and tweeted that he’d just had the best coffee of his life. That’s high praise — but most definitely deserved. Jamie’s followed this up with a long interview with Nolan Hirte, co-owner of Proud Marys and one of Australia’s leading baristas. Check it out on Jamie’s blog.
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Steves is all grown up
I rarely order coffee when I go out for dinner. I’ve become a little pretentious with my coffee. I was a bit of a snob before, but since my Five Senses days, I’m worse. So you can understand why there’s great excitement around the roastery when a top notch restaurant joins the Five Senses family. Steves Fine Wine & Food in Nedlands is one such restaurant, and on a cold and rainy Wednesday night, I enjoyed a night out on the Five Senses expense account. (Thanks boss!)
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Cup of Excellence win
While most of the world is gearing up for late nights watching the World Cup, Jen Murray has been up until the wee hours for a far more worthy reason — Cup of Excellence coffee auctions. Jen pulled off an all nighter in a bidding war for our pick of the COE coffees — the Esperanza del Carmen Tercero Monca — La Esperanza. And she was successful!
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The Lounge Room brings great coffee to Guildford
Fear not, Eastern suburb dwellers. Great coffee has arrived in Guildford! Whether you’re a local caffeine lover, dropping in on your way to the beautiful Swan Valley or fossicking around in Guildford’s antique shops, you must put The Lounge Room on your agenda.
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Smokin' new latte art
Our resident latte art pro, Bo, took a break from the Latte Art Champs last year. While those competing breathed a sigh of relief, we missed his frantic practice sessions. There’s nothing like freebie coffees from The Bo. Lately he’s been getting back into the game. His dragon is especially impressive. Check out his smooth moves in our new video.
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Skip the queue at txtSHOTS
If you have a love-hate relationship with your snooze button, you’ll think newly opened espresso bar txtSHOTS, in North Perth, is heaven sent. Kitted out with an iMac ordering system, you can text or email your coffee order so that it’s ready and waiting when you arrive.
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Unwind at The Dizzy Witch
The Dizzy Witch seems as though it was specially designed to make you relax. There are comfy couches scattered around, a huge variety of newspapers and up-to-date magazines, even a bookshelf with plenty of books for you to choose from. There are a couple of chess buffs poring over their moves at the long dining table, and another table engaged in a game in the far corner. I spy a couple of sneaky business meetings — and why not, when you can take advantage of The Dizzy Witch’s free Wifi, bring the laptop, and savour a great coffee at the same time.
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Single Origin Coffee Tasting at Sayers Tonight
One of our favourite WA cafés, Sayers, is hosting a Single Origin coffee tasting tonight. If you’ve never tried any Single Origin coffees or experienced a tasting, this is the event for you! For just $10, Sayers’ barista will guide you through four of their favourite Single Origin coffees, and you’ll enjoy some of Sayers’ delectable tapas.
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Voulez vous Miss Marmalade
You know you’re doing something right when you get a write up on the Melbourne Coffee Review website in your first week of opening. That’s exactly what happened for Melbourne’s new kid on the block, Miss Marmalade, which opened recently in Brunswick.
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CU @ Cnr.
If you’ve wandered through Northbridge recently, you may have stopped to admire the grassy piazza at the corner of Lake and James Streets. You may have even discovered the piazza’s best kept secret, Cnr. Tucked away under the huge TV screen, with tables overlooking the grassy expanse, Cnr. has been serving up outstanding coffee to lucky punters for just over two months.
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Signature drinks to try at home
Some of the signature drinks we saw prepared at the 2010 Australian Barista Championship made us drool. It’s exciting to see creative new ways to enjoy espresso. In honour of the ABC, we thought we’d ask the Five Senses experts for a few recipes you can try at home. Jen, Jeremy, Mark and Caleb have all won their state barista championship in years past, and they’ve put their creations down on paper (so to speak) for your enjoyment. Let us know how you go!
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Chic Espresso plays host
We sent a massive Five Senses contingent over to the Gold Coast for the Australian Barista Championship. Luckily, Dean and Kathryn of Chic Espresso were happy to play host and made sure we were taken care of with great coffees on the way to the airport.
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Bali boys get the art cranking
You may remember that we enjoyed a visit from two of Bali’s best baristas earlier this year. They put in long hours at the Barista Academy, learning best industry practices, and got plenty of practice at Hush in Fremantle. We just received a video of Gede (pronounced g’day!) pouring some fantastic latte art and thought you might enjoy seeing what the boys can do!
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APTE and Voyage Kitchen in delicious. magazine café awards
Delicious. magazine has undertaken its annual survey to find the nation’s best cafés. For the second year running, APTE has been awarded. This year APTE was named Victoria’s best café, and WA’s Voyage Kitchen was highly commended.
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Café Elixir — a new star in the north
Café Elixir opened in Wanneroo two months ago and came as a welcome addition for the multitudes living in Perth’s ever expanding northern suburbs, where top notch cafés are… well, a little thin on the ground.
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Impressive izakaya at The Bonsai
Move over Spanish tapas, izakaya is the new way to go, and The Bonsai, recently opened in Northbridge, is the place to experience it. Small, share sized plates allow you to loose your tastebuds on a variety of dishes and the communal plate-sharing provides plenty of opportunity to dissect and discuss tastes and textures.
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The coffee community at Collective Espresso
Collective Espresso opened recently in Camberwell, Melbourne. It’s the perfect combination of stellar coffee, hip fit-out and a savvy crowd. Owners Mark and Gerrick put everything together perfectly, and Mark’s enthusiasm for his craft really gives your espresso experience an extra buzz.
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Beanhunter — on the trail of the world’s best coffee
We’ve all felt the pain of being in an unfamiliar city or country and not knowing where to go for a decent brew. Sure, there are a few things you can look out for to assess the quality (or otherwise) of the coffee being produced — things like machinery, the knowledge and passion of the barista, information about the origin of the beans being used, and so forth. But you might find it easier to simply log on to Beanhunter.
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Record numbers at the WA Barista Championship
This year’s WA Barista Championship was bustling, with record crowd numbers and a massive 16 baristas hoping to take home the trophy. But it was last year’s champion, Mark Chandler, our man on the street, who was crowned 2010 WA Barista Champion. Mark wooed the judges with a flawless and professional performance and some sweet looking coffees. Second place went to Jeremy Hulsdunk, who heads up training for Five Senses at the WA Barista Academy. Kaya McCarthy from Dimattina Coffee came in third.
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Pimping the grinder
The guys in our tech department are so busy out on the road that it’s hard to figure out how they have time to indulge their passion; tinkering around with machines and grinders, working R&D magic. However they manage to find the time, it’s good news for you guys out there in the cafés, who reap the rewards from their technical inventions and modifications. Their latest project is a pimped up version of the Mazzer Robur. Rich and the guys have been hard at work, altering it from a traditional doser-type grinder to a grind on demand doser, complete with variable timer.
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Going green
Eco-friendly, sustainable living, environmental footprint — these words have quickly established a place in the common vernacular, and no doubt you’ve noticed an increase in the number of customers seeking assurances that your café uses environmentally friendly products. As the media focus on climate change escalates, it seems likely that consumer demand for sustainable products is set to rise.
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Coffee evolution takes the prize
Entries came in thick, fast and from far afield for last month’s coffee photo competition. It was hard work trying to choose a winner! We received photos from all over the place — Melbourne, Perth, paddocks in regional Australia, and even a couple of shots that were taken in Seattle.
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Entering the land of milk and honey
While there’s plenty to love about Northbridge, from the cultural surrounds of PICA, The Blue Room, and the Art Gallery, to sumptuous dim sum and arthouse films at the Paradiso, one thing has always been missing. We mean somewhere to get a great coffee on the weekend, of course. Fortunately, that’s no longer the case, with the arrival of the swanky new café, milk and honey.
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Q Graders in our midst
The roasting business involves a lot of cupping — not only to make sure that we’re roasting your blend just right, but also in the selection of green beans.
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Latte art winner and new competition announced
We weren’t too sure what to expect from our latte art competition. Our first latte art comp set the Five Senses wives against each other, and the results were (we’d better be diplomatic here) — interesting. So we were totally blown away by the response from you guys. Amazing stuff!
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All hail coffee at Brownhaus Espresso
It’s hard not to love a place that goes by the motto “all hail coffee”. Especially when they back it up with a two group Synesso and a set of bathroom scales underneath the grinder to ensure that their tamping is right on the money, every time. Brownhaus Espresso in Subiaco is that place.
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Latte art showdown
It’s time to get your latte art cranking. You might have seen some of the awesome art that we’ve turned out over the years? Well, we reckon it’s high time you guys show us what you’re made of, so we’ve decided to hold our very first latte art competition, for all you home baristas out there.
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La Galette cures the winter blues
It’s a grey and dreary Tuesday and I’m grumpy. I don’t like winter, and today is the seventh miserable day in a row. To make matters worse, rain starts to fall the instant I step foot out of my car. Just perfect! Muttering nasty things under my breath, I stomp grumpily along Broadway, a ferocious scowl broadcasting my displeasure to unsuspecting passersby. In keeping with my dislike of all things winter, I believe it’s important not to make any concessions to the season. This means I own only one coat (which my sister bought me), two pairs of closed-toe shoes (neither of which are suitable for wearing in the rain) and I certainly don’t own an umbrella. I’m swiftly getting soaked. I pull up my hood, but it doesn’t help much. Then I spy something in the distance that wipes the scowl clean off my face — La Galette de France. Ah, a port in the storm!
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Synesso Hydra is here
The guys at Synesso are a meticulous bunch. Their machines have long been touted as the best in the business — and not just by the good folk at Five Senses! The Synesso is the machine of choice at the leading espresso bars across the globe.
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Voyage hits the mark
Situated on West Coast Highway in Sorrento, the distant murmur of the ocean gently soothes your senses as the friendly staff welcome you to Voyage Kitchen. Weekends are always busy — the uninitiated would be wise to book ahead — but early on this weekday there’s a little more breathing space.
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Azure delights
I’m not exactly a Mt Hawthorn local, but with a sister living in the area, I’m a regular visitor — so regular, in fact, that I should be awarded frequent flyer points! Keen to make the most of WA’s unusually balmy autumn weather, I decided that an afternoon’s alfresco dining at Azure Restaurant would be just the thing.
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Introducing Bar 9
For those of us who are passionate lovers of coffee, the dream of owning your own espresso bar is probably a pretty familiar one. Even if it’s more daydream than serious plan, it’s always fun to imagine how you could do things just that little bit better than your local.
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Chilling at Celebrate the Bean
Melbourne’s coffee lovers were rewarded for their devotion in March, with all things coffee being honoured at Celebrate the Bean, part of the annual Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
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SidePLATE hits the NSW espresso scene
Sydneysiders are discovering that when it comes to coffee, bigger is not always better. It’s something that we’ve known for a while. SidePLATE hit the NSW espresso scene in January, and manager, James and head barista, Matt, have been run off their feet as they quench the thirst of coffee lovers from all over the metropolis.
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Five Senses serves at the World's Longest Lunch
Every year in March, foodies from all around Victoria start salivating in expectation of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. The Festival attracts a massive 300,000 people to more than 200 events over 17 days, and is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the State’s most outstanding local produce.
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Barista on iPhone
If you’re an iPhone geek, as well as a coffee geek, take a look at the new Barista app. It’s a bit like a how-to-guide — but it fits in your pocket far more easily than your favourite barista guide book!
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A gem on Victoria Avenue
There’s nothing better than finding a fabulous café that’s guaranteed to satisfy your caffeine craving with a perfect brew, every time. In or around Melbourne’s Albert Park, Pagoda is the place to go. The talented team of baristas behind the counter have built a dedicated following of coffee fanatics for this gem on busy Victoria Avenue.
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Even more at Epic
There are some who would have us believe that less is more. Then there are the rest of us who believe that more is, quite simply, more. More is what Epic Espresso has. More Synessos than any other café in Australia. And while we’re not entirely sure, we reckon it’s a strong possibility that Epic is a contender for the world title in Synesso ownership. In fact, we’d like to challenge any cafe around the world to better Epic’s stats.
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See the assembly of our 60kg Renegade
The roasting business can sometimes be a little secretive. We’ve even heard that there are a few roasters who like to keep their roaster tucked away, out of sight, reluctant to allow anyone a sneak peek.
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Temptation at New Norcia Bakery & Café
February’s here, which means we can forget all about our New Year’s resolutions. Just as well, because it’s simply not possible to enjoy a sublime coffee at New Norcia Bakery & Café without indulging in one (or two) of their delicious and most definitely not fat-free pastries. Hmmm, there goes that resolution.
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Ben is crowned the Australian Cupping Champion
Ben Bicknell, 5 Senses’ Coffee Quality Manager, scored an amazing win in the Cupping Championship, slamming the competition and coming heart-stoppingly close to breaking the world cupping record. Ben scored an impeccable 8 out of 8 in the incredibly short time of 1 minute 29 seconds.
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Ben becomes a world accredited judge
Any coffee geek worth his beans knows all about Ben Bicknell. To say that Ben is one of Australia’s foremost figures in the specialty coffee world is no exaggeration. Ben takes his coffee very seriously. Start any conversation with Ben and it’s sure to head in a coffee-related direction. This is great news for all of us who are fellow coffee connoisseurs!
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Australia's favourite cafés
The nation’s growing obsession with coffee comes as no surprise to any of us here at 5 Senses. The good folk at delicious. magazine were, however, a little taken aback by the overwhelming response to their request for nominations for their annual Café Awards. Amongst the thousands of nominations, two of the top spots were taken out by cafés using a 5 Senses blend.
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Just add milk
With the strong preference for milk-based espresso drinks throughout Australia, lattes and flat whites rule the roost in most cafés. This being so, the milk used has a major impact on the quality and taste of the coffee being served. It’s worth investing some time in testing the various options that are available to compare how taste and texture measure up.
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2008 Christmas Wish List
You can almost hear the bells a’jingling. Yes, Christmas is just a few short weeks away. If you’re anything like us, you won’t be looking forward to battling hundreds of other stressed out shoppers for the best bargains.
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Octavia Coffee and Whole Foods opens in Mornington
Nestled on Octavia Street, Mornington’s freshest new coffee outlet has opened!
A new concept in the café world, owner Judy has combined her many years working within the coffee industry with her love of whole foods to create a relaxing environment in which you can enjoy a premium coffee while you browse their vast range of top quality, whole foods.
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Fly into Lemon
There must have been quite a sigh of relief when the new Lemon café, Lemon Espresso @ hkew Alpha opened its doors on 10 November. Relief at last, in caffeinated form, for all the good people working at the Perth Domestic Airport.
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Latte art video shows our skills
The big ticket event for Australian baristas is edging ever closer, with State competitions underway to decide who will make it through to the Australian Barista Championship. While baristas around the country gear up for competition Bo and Richo showcase their latte art skills in a short video.
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A big day for the Captain
During October, we celebrated a rather special day for our Master Roaster, Dean. He might not want too many details made public, but if we tell you that it involved party hats, a cake and plenty of candles, you can probably figure it out. Throw in a reference to ‘the age of wisdom’, and no doubt you’ve got the idea.
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Best of the South West
The holiday season is just around the corner and our thoughts are turning to long summer days; lazing on pristine beaches, relaxing in the shade with a good book … heaven. The long, sweaty drive to your destination, however, with the kids griping, “Are we there yet?” every ten minutes, is not quite so heavenly. So a good brew to sustain you on the drive is essential. Here’s the official 5 Senses’ guide to some of the finest coffee establishments in WA’s popular ‘down south’ region.
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Hubbles Yard wins Gold
This week, the Catering Institute of Australia (WA) honoured the industry’s finest with their annual Gold Plate awards, held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. We felt a bit like proud parents when we heard that Hubbles Yard, one of our favourite 5 Senses cafés, took out the award for best Coffee Shop.
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Fingers Crossed
You may have heard that our website has been listed as a Finalist in two categories of the WA Web Awards. Well, okay, maybe we told you … we are pretty excited, after all!
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Watching the world go by at Le Monde
Passion is an elusive quality … one of those things that can’t be taught, but which go a long way towards distinguishing a good café from an exceptional one. Fortunately for Sydneysiders, passion is one thing that Anthony Svilicich, joint owner of Le Monde Café, has plenty of.
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Bo in Beauty and the Beast
Last time we brought news of Bo’s stellar onstage performance as Lumiere in the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre’s production of Beauty and the Beast, we were inundated with protests that we should have published the news earlier, to allow people time to get a ticket. This time, we’re doing as we’ve been told!
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Just a snippet of the 5 Senses culture
For the past month, the 5 Senses crew have been indulging in some particularly childish behaviour. A game of ‘You’re It’, an adaptation of Chasey, has been raging across the country.
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No compromise at Bella Vista
When you talk to John Todaro, owner of Bella Vista Espresso Bar, you get the impression that he was almost destined to open his own café. A first generation Italian from Melbourne, with a background in fashion and design, John has always been around good coffee.
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Mooba spreads it's wings
One of our favourites from the 5 Senses family of fine cafés, Mooba, is spreading its wings, and being believers in Mae West’s “too much of a good thing is never enough” philosophy, we couldn’t wait to bring you the good news!
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Pumped Up
The boys in the 5 Senses roasteries are a buff bunch. You’d be forgiven for thinking that this is a result of the millions of coffee beans they heft about every day — but in the case of Caleb Podhaczky, his muscles pre-date his work in the 5 Senses roastery.
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Epic Stars as 'Best in the West - Coffee'
Epic Espresso notched up yet another media accolade last night, starring as the ‘Best in the West — Coffee’ in the WA episode of Today Tonight.
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Epic Feature on Today Tonight
Tune in to Today Tonight this evening (Tuesday, 29 July) to catch the Epic Espresso team explaining the art of espresso.
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Grocery Bar changes hands
When John and Maggie Leever decided to leave the world of high fashion and venture into coffee, they wanted to retain the sense of style that they were known for. Where better, then, to set up shop than St Kilda, where the fashionable flock to share the latest gossip over a coffee.
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Snaffled from Synesso
Seattle — a mecca for all things coffee; Synesso — touted by experts around the globe as the crème de la crème of espresso machines. Coffee and Synesso — a marriage made in heaven! Little wonder, then, that we considered ourselves incredibly lucky when we snaffled Synesso’s first official employee, Caleb, to work at 5 Senses.
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Scottie Callaghan talks latte art on Sunrise
There’s no doubt that Scottie Callaghan, previous winner of the coveted Australian Barista Championship and World Latte Art Champion, knows his coffee. So, naturally, there were a lot of high fives echoing around the roastery when we heard Scottie talking up 5 Senses’ coffee on 7’s “Sunrise” programme.
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Divine comes to Freo
Fremantle is famous for its multitudinous cafés, but if you’re seeking outstanding coffee and a genuinely tempting menu, you can’t go past Hubbles Yard Café, which stands proudly on the corner of George and Hubble Streets in East Fremantle.
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The singing barista
At 5 Senses we don’t usually like seeing ‘Pablo’ and ‘coffee’ in the same sentence, but for Kevin Cortez, owner of Rojo Bar and Café, we will make an exception.
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Kimbo plays the Scarecrow
We at Five Senses are a talented bunch, but it’s usually our (unbiased, of course) partners or long-suffering families who lavish us with the praise and admiration we deserve. This, however, isn’t the case for Production supervisor, Kim Godleman (Kimbo to us).
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