Hi there from Tasmania.
My wife and I will be on the Gold Coast for nearly a week in early March. Too long to go without a decent coffee.
Considering grinding some beans to take with me for plunger so I don't miss out all together, but my question is simple.
Is there a good coffee to be had in Surders Paradise? Southport? Labrador? How far will I have to go to get a respectable coffee in these parts?

Any coffee houses up there recognise CS'ers and happy to sell them a cuppa?

Your help and advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers!

coffee sisters at oasis and monaco drive both pay close attention to detail when serving coffee...

also coffeeholics at circle on cavill are two great baristas from nz...

Thanks a lot - catching plane this morning!!

Who's beans does'' 4 love of Coffee'' use?

OK I would like to provide you all with an update of my Coffee findings while on the Gold Coast.

Of the recommendations above, I only knew of the ones before my previous post about catching a plane - no internet access while I was away.
So... To make it clear, we drink flat white's.

Our first stop was our accommodation, the Crowne Plaza. They offered an "upgrade" on your coffee with breakfast to an espresso based coffee, for $4.50. It was nice enough except that it was luke warm and I could have skulled it which spoiled it considerably, also it was a bit weak.

So out with our documentation (the printout of this thread up to when I left), and found Coffee Sisters at Oasis in Broadbeach.
Explained who I was and why I was there, they were quite chuffed and made a very nice coffee.
They also suggested the other Coffee Sisters shop down Monaco Drive probably closer to our accommodation.
So the next morning we tried there.
Where the experience of being at Oasis was very good, friendly staff etc, the Monaco Drive was much more matter-of-fact, queue up to give your order, pay, get a number, wait for it.
But the coffee was as close as possible to identical to the Oasis coffee from the day before.
The only criticism I have of their coffee was that they let a little too much air into the milk, there was a fair amount of froth left in the cup. Not Cappuccino levels of froth, but too much for a flat white.
Oh, the Latte Art was better at Oasis too.

On to our third recommendation. We tracked down Coffeeholics at Circle on Cavill, almost directly under a very huge television screen (LARGE billboard size) strung up between two impresssively tall buildings. We got chatting to Lee and she was over the moon to have learned that we were there from Tasmania following a recommendation on the internet. She was so chuffed that the chef was standing behind her gesturing with her hands that her head was getting bigger.
The coffee she made was excellent, the best so far. The latte art was excellent. The atmosphere was nice. And they had a nice selection of delights to go with the coffee, should you choose.

Our next visit was again to Coffeeholics. Lee wasn't there this time, but her husband Tama was.
He had only briefly seen us the previous day and did not recognize us this time. When the waitress brought us our coffees, my wife's jovial comment was something about the latte art not being up to scratch. Of course the waitress went straight back to Tama and told him, he then worked out who we were and began making another coffee for us, this time with latte art. I saw this and explained that it was not necessary, but he wanted to, so that was fine. We enjoyed both coffees as much as we had the previous day, and his latte art in the second cup was good.
He apologized that he had been having a bad morning, that wrong orders had come in, etc... But if he was capable of producing such a visually pleasing coffee, perhaps he always should. No matter - as I say, the coffee was very good and I liked the taste better than Coffee Sisters - possibly a bit stronger.

When I was talking with Lee about coffee in the area, one place she suggested we try was 3 Beans in Broadbeach. So we looked it up in the phone book and found our way there.
Now HERE is a good place to go for coffee!
3 Beans, 13/90 Surf Parade, Broadbeach. (07)55388744.
The first coffee was made by Brooke, a lovely petite blonde girl with a handle on how to make a good coffee.
When I went for another, I was waiting for Brooke when another girl (now I know it was Melissa) asked me if I was right, I explained I was waiting for Brooke. The third girl, Renee, explained she made a good coffee too, "13 years, man"... So I ordered...
Yes, very good coffee.

Another place we tried was what seems a hidden jewel in Surfers - a cafe called Bumbles, at Buds Beach. The coffee was good, but a little inconsistent.
The first was nice, but a bit weak for me. The second I ordered a double, and it came out too hot - not burnt, but must have been close.
But the taste was there, and if I were there I would frequent this place more often - I see they have the potential to make a good coffee given a bit more consistency.

3 Bean cafe is open 24 hours. When we left our accommodation in Surfers at 4:50 AM to head for Brisbane, we went via Broadbeach for one last coffee.
No latte art at that time of the morning, but the coffee was surprisingly consistent by all that made it there.
Hope this helps you lucky locals...

I just came back from another week around Labrador area. I managed to get down to 3 Beans in Broadbeach twice and the coffee there is still darn good! I remember they use Merlo beans, so I thought perhaps another cafe I found with Merlo beans would be capable of a good coffee. Not so, they burnt the coffee and the milk, totally rancid aftertaste, just YUK.
That was a cafe in a little shopping area called Chirn Park.
Another place I ordered a coffee from was a cafe at the shopping complex called HarbourTown. Directly opposite Dimmey's store, there is a cafe with green chairs on a corner. I ordered my flat white then took a seat. Looked around and discovered I had an excellent view of them making a coffee, so I watched.
They steamed the milk, I could hear way too much air going into the milk. Sure enough, after finished steaming (and growling) the milk, they rapped the pitcher on the counter more than 20 times initially (I counted), then more than another 20 times as they prepared to pour the milk into drinks.
Someone ordered a tall drink with chocolate sauce before me, they put the choc sauce in the cup from a bottle the same as a pie sauce bottle. They dripped a bit down the side of the mug, so they wiped up the side of the mug with a chux cloth that was on the counter.
Those drinks were served. Then they used the chux to wipe down the counter in front of their espresso machine.
Then they rapped the same pitcher some more, no fresh milk - same leftover stuff from those hot choc type drinks, then they poured it into my cup. Obviously there were still too many bubbles in the milk, because they then picked up the cup and rapped it on the counter a couple of times (I kid you not!).
But they spilt a bit down the side of the cup in doing this, so they then used that same chux rag up the side of my cup.
They brought it over to me, I explained the situation regarding the rag and asked for a refund, didn't like to do that but when you pay nearly $4 for a cuppa coffee, you expect better than that.
Another place I went to for a coffee, they also used the "rap the cup onto the counter to burst the froth bubbles" technique. I hadn't seen that anywhere before. New trend? I hope not.
I did notice a lot of Queenslanders order a drink with chocolate sauce added - some kind of Mocha thing I guess.

Tasadam next your time on the Coast drop by my roastery at Commerce Circuit, Yatala (exit 38 on the M1). Always have a selection of SO's fresh roasted for us to put through the ECM A3Veneziano. No charge for coffeesnobs  

I'm here on the Gold Coast for a week so wish me luck! I'll report back with my coffee hits n misses!

pat

Just drink coffee at the comp? haha

or bring a plunger. That's what I'm doin.

Sounds good. I've got the Aeropress packed but I may well want to drop out for something a bit different.

Barefoot Barista

Broadbeach
Shop5, 10 Palm Beach Avenue
City of Gold Coast, 4221
(07) 5534 2938

using Campos, linea and robur

i was up the gold coast and brisvagas the other week and went to Barefoot, the coffee was pretty/very good and the food is all home made and looked great. Guy who runs / owns it was making the coffee and was a really nice bloke making the whole experience great.

if your in the area this might be the stop your looking for.......