The northern suburbs of our lovely city are known for the eclectic mix of people it attracts. It’s not unusual to see a scrangly looking, dreadlocked hippy sipping a latte merely meters from a group of elderly greek gentlemen enjoying their daily espresso. After living here for just under 2 years, I’ve sampled some of the best (and worst) coffees on offer in the Northcote/Thornbury area and I thought my huge amount of idle holiday time would be a good time to start writing about it. I work at a cafe on High st, and while I won’t name which one, I’ll include it in one of the writeups over the coming weeks.
Northern Soul 843 high st Thornbury
Expect a well prepared, moorish brew. Toby’s Estate Fair Trade Organic blend is used; a smooth-tasting, fruity affair. Atmosphere is relaxed and the staff are friendly. A personal favourite. For a full review click here
Foxy Brown 31 South Crescent Northcote
A relatively new cafe tucked away close to Dennis station. With their primary focus being quality coffee I had high expectations when I ventured there for the first time. The blend they use has been painstakingly created by owner Patrick Sloane in conjunction with Master Roaster Joshua Bailey and I must say the effort has definitely paid off. The individual components of the blend are also available (at different times I’m lead to believe) to be tried both in store and as beans to take home. From my experience these fell pretty flat in comparison to their blend, the single estate from New Guinea (Delorusa from memory~ will check when I go in next) I tasted was fairly salty and uncomplex. It was simply dwarfed by the awesomeness that is their in-house blend.
The passion for the product is pretty clear from the outset. The first two pages of the menu are dedicated to the coffee available in house and to take home (as whole beans); precluding any mention of food whatsoever!
My only qualm with the place was the service (or lack-thereof) in our initial first few trips. Several items of our order were either wrong (no I didn’t order a long black for the second time) or simply failed to appear. While I appreciate the laid back atttiude, if you can’t remember a tables order please write it down! They offer a fantastic product, and I’m confident once the teething problems are ironed out the service will match the self proclaimed “best brown in town”
Pictures and further writeups to come over the coming days
