Bliss Coffee Roasters - in the Hunter Valley Gardens (Broke Rd, Pokolbin).

Have visited a few times in the last year or so.

This time round I tried an espresso, ristretto and a long black. The long black was great, the other two quite good. Really well made, just not my preferred style. Milk drinks looked pretty good. According to friends and family, the iced coffees are awesome.

Can't agree with either of you more, this place really has some great coffee, having to stop there for one of these coffees is a must each time we drive from Dubbo to Newcastle...

Not so much as a great cup of coffee (I didn't stop to have one - I hate spending money on coffee nowdays when I can go home and make it - most times - much better!).

I'd run out of Brown Bay Beans, and knew that Andy doesn't roast until the weekend so I was facing Tuesday next week before I can get a fresh batch, so had to go and source some reasonable roasted beans from elsewhere.

Not holding out much hope, I went into the Greenhills Shopping Centre at East Maitland and into a little cafe called 'Cino's' in there.  They had some one way valve bags of beans on a shelf and I asked the Barista behind the counter how fresh they were.  His reply was "I'm not sure, but I can give you some beans I definitely know are fresh".

I took him up on his offer and bought some fresh beans off him and they are brilliant! I could tell they were fresh because they left oils on the brown paper bag he put them in (I'd already told him that I had a couple of valve bags at home, so don't worry about packaging them up too much) and I could smell them in the car all the way home.  Got home, pulled a shot and can definitely say they were lovely & fresh.

I'll be going back there when I'm in a tight spot again...thoroughly recommended!

Cheers
Di

An extremely high recommendation to James at Real Coffee, Belmore Road, Lorn.

James, who owns the place, makes a brilliant coffee, offered two choices of beans and has equipment and every imaginable accessory along his walls that are to die for.  It was great to see a Vibiemme in the flesh (still think it looks a little bit industrial but, I have to admit, it looks a lot better in real life!)

James obviously has a real passion for coffee making and imparting that knowledge to anyone and, as a fellow CoffeeSnob Member, made us feel extremely welcome and comfortable in his Cafe.

If you are passing through Maitland, or live close by, definitely drop in and say hi to James and have one of his coffees!

It's hard to believe there has been no mention of Suspension espresso or Estabar.

Suspension was great a couple years back, but has been a bit hit and miss lately - they seem to be employing people that don't have much of a clue about coffee, a couple of the guys there I used to be able to talk to all day about coffee and they were as into it as I. All their been hoppers used to be between full and empty and were regulary replenished, with an excellen selection of singles and blends, roasted on premesis. Nowadays the roaster is in Sydney and there is rarely a full hopper or two, but if one of the old school skilled baristas is working there is still tastey espresso to be had.

Estabar I'm yet to have a bad coffee, every time I've been there the machine is operated by, I assume (based on the outcome), a skilled barista, and the drink is excellent. Highly recommended.

if any CSers are getting around SCONE with that large amount of cafes around i suggest Canters using fresh campos beans and
Kerv is also good at times depending who makes it ushaly have fresh tobys estate beans.
The Larda is also good for a quickie. sorry so many to choose from but all a good drop, my fav is Canters though.

^^^ I tried sprockets and it was awesome, but when I next went in they had a different blend in the hopper and it wasn't as nice.
Rolladoor was pretty tasty I thought, but I was annoyed before I even arrived because hamilton is just frustrating to get around with my son in tow.

I went to Sprockets last week on my way back to work (had been in town for a meeting, so decided to spend my lunch break there) and the coffee was excellent and service was great.

They didn't have any beans on the shelves for sale, so I asked where they were and they were just roasting up a batch that day.  I happened to mention that I roasted my own at home and the Barista was really interested and genuinely impressed and asked the right questions.

They were also quite shocked and appreciative when I took the time to go back in after my coffee and tell them that I really enjoyed it and had done a great job.

Now, I just wish they would move closer to Williamtown.

Cheers
Di

Oh, a few addresses for those that aren't locals (Scoots) and those that are but don't know where they are:-

Sprockets Roasters & Cafe - Cnr Hunter & Watt Sts, Newcastle (Just up from the Newcastle Train Station)
Estabar - 61 Shortland Esp, Newcastle (just down from the Old Hospital)
Roladoor - 1 Beaumont St, Hamilton (right next door to Hamilton Train Station)
Suspension - 3-5 Beaumont St, Hamilton (just a couple of doors up from Maitland Rd)
Eurobar - Can't find this on White or Yellow Pages, sorry, Scoots they must be very new!

Cheers
Di

Off-Topic replies have been moved to this Topic.

Darn!  Maybe you could have given him a CoffeeSnobs card, told him about the green beans and the matching 'Boema' Coffee Roaster coming soon and got him onto roasting his own beans?

Sounds to me as though it was a bean issue - probably doesn't go through enough being stuck up the back of an arcade to ensure the beans he had were fresh.  Sounds like they might have been as old as the machine, unfortunately!

I feel for you, though, what a disappointment!



Cheers
Di

Ah, just come over to my place, Bon, and I'll show you a decent coffee!  

Where have you not been so far for a decent coffee that makes you write them all off?  I've not had a bad coffee yet from Sprockets...

Cheers
Di

hiker wrote on Jan 3^rd, 2010, 5:45pm:

That's a shame.
I tried them a few years ago and had a chat with the roaster as well.
It was good back then.

Been in newcastle for the weekend.
so far ive only had a chance to hit up sprocket ... the coffee was good, definitely not the best espresso ive had, but it was pretty good none the less.
I did however, get to see a roast and chat to the roaster/owner who talked me through the whole process with the machine that he had designed and built.  basically a roaster that used alternative fuels (ie recycled paper or spent coffee pucks etc ...anything that burns really) and had a vertical roasting chamber which provided a more even roast and blew the chaff up and away from the coffee which would then be cycled back through and burned in the burner chamber rather than clogging the roaster's components and catching fire.
great idea.

hoping to hit up some of the other places tomorrow.

Hi Kotaro,

Nice to read that you got good coffee around here. We haven't been so lucky lately. Enjoy the rest of your stay.

Ive recently had a few very nice caps at the Bogey Hole Cafe, surprised me really because you really do have this expectation of being disappointed in Newcastle when you go out for a coffee.
Ordered one with my breakfast and had to have another  

Rolador has to be the best in Newcastle and by far. Di Bella beans, usually given quite a good treatment by the local girls - well done!

Suspention gets some good reviews however I don't understand it. If you want to sit on broken chairs rescued from the last council pick up and drink from dirty cups, it might be your thing. Some of my mates quite like it, I just don't get it. I can't enjoy coffee from a dirty cafe. These guys used to do it well and roast their own - anyone know what happened?

Escobar on Newcastle Beach is pretty good, using Single Origin from Surry Hills, Sydney.

Sprocket Roasters are also right up there, on Watt St in town. They seems to get passed over and I'm not sure why - they defiantly deserve a mention even if only for the awesome fact they they invented their own carbon-neutral fluid bed roaster that runs on bio fuels and waste products from local cafes. How cools that, double thumbs up! In addition to that they usually (always?) have a dedicated grinder doing SO's. Unheard of around here.

Apart from that, absolutely nothing worth mentioning in Newie.