EspressQuest

Here’s to making this one count…

I’m sitting here with a new lease on life.

You see, I’m on holidays at one of God’s most beautifully created places on earth, pondering the ever so pressing thought as to,”What the heck am I doing with my life?”. You know those moments you get where everything stops and you’re left in a dark place looking out among many bright lights that you could step in to. If only there was just one light, life would be so much simpler. But, life is complex, scary, exciting and just down right…. Lovely. 

Last year was a large step of faith for me. I got engaged, married, went back to studying, finished my studies, moved house, renovated a house to become a home and started this ‘EspressQuest’ with my dear friend Amylee. The new year has come so fast that I’m not too sure that I’m ready for it, however as I wipe the sweat from last year off my brow and pull up my socks that fell down numerous times I, Carley Anning, announce and proclaim that this year is going to be the best year yet! 

Yesterday afternoon I was in the car listening to a song that has really inspired me to make my life count. I was taking in lyrics such as “I wanna be a comma, not a full stop” and ” I don’t want to see my generation drop ” As I’m listening to these words I get butterflies in my stomach and goosey bumps all over my arms and I realized that I can make a difference in this world. Maybe - just maybe - a fun and exciting life is purely a choice. Opportunities come when you make the decision that you are going to find them rather than waiting for them to find you. I won’t lie, on my way to the coast I had made a decision privately in my heart that I was going to start to slow down a bit and take more time to ‘relax’. However, I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to slow down, I want to move faster. I dont want to relax, I want to wake up every morning with a purpose on my heart and a drive in my soul.  So, I encourage you, if you would join me in making the decision to enjoy every day as if it’s your last. Take every opportunity that comes your way. See places you’ve always wanted to see, talk to people you would normally just walk straight past, start that business you’ve always dreamt about, dye your hair the color you have always been too afraid to dye it and press on, your life is worth living and only you can live it.  So with all my love I say to you, enjoy this journey called life. Keep us informed of your adventures and we will tell you ours. So, here’s to a new year and to making this one count! 

If it’s good enough for Troy, it’s good enough for me…

Mothers are wonderful. They know exactly where your car keys are when you have lost them for the hundredth time that day, they can look at you and instantly know what type of mood you’re in and how they can fix a bad one and they are also very good at getting you out of bed on your your holidays for a two and a half hour walk.

OMG! That was a long walk… We walked alongside rivers, over grassy knolls, across main roads and over many bridges. The last bridge we walked over, I spotted something in the distance with my very exhausted eyes. So… What is round, green and you can spot it a mile away? A ‘Campos’ coffee cup, of course! “Excuse me Sir, where did you get that Campos coffee from?” I ever so politely stopped a man in his tracks as I spotted him juggling 2 of their coffee cups … “Hard Coffee on Hastings St” he replied. The excitement started to build within me… You see Campos coffee is one of my ultimate choices… It is so smooth and evenly rounded, once the taste hits your mouth you can’t help but quickly swallow it and take another sip. Some people like a bitter coffee… These people are generally a little crazy (one of those people is my darling husband, bless him). I am not one of those crazy people.

Ok so every place has it’s down sides, for instance this place is located in the food court, so the view is not so pleasant when your sitting down to your coffee and all your looking at is greasy kebabs and a shop that sells “simply pies”, however sometimes you have to make sacrifices for a good cuppa. ‘Hard Coffee’ has been open for many years but has only started using ‘Campos’ for under two.

The atmosphere is loud and busy yet for some unknown reason you still feel relaxed the moment you take a seat. You can also enjoy a nice meal and free wifi is supplied with any purchase. So, if you’re in Noosa, ‘Hard Coffee’ is a must taste destination, these guys have won awards for their coffee and I know you will love it! Carley Ps. Troy Cassar-Daley just walked in! Eek! This place MUST be good ;)

Open Late and Pretty Great.

Remember when I mentioned that Carley and I would be paying a visit to a darling little place by the name Black Coffee Lyrics? Unfortunately the night did NOT go as planned and I ended up missing Carley by about 2 hours (I was at a moustache party. A MOUSTACHE PARTY. I can’t really be blamed). There is an upside, however. Instead of only making it to one cafe that night, we made it to two! Carley went and had a gander at the impressive Black Coffee Lyrics (which we have both since visited multiple times and cannot wait to post a collaborative review for!) while I ventured out into the nightlife to a little 24 hour, caffeinated diamond in the rough - Three Beans Coffee at Broadbeach.

Three Beans is situated in what seems to be the hub of the Broadbeach clubbing district, though I could be wrong (I’m new to town). Personally, any place that claims to be open 24 hours immediately gets my attention. I’m a night owl (thanks, internet) and am forever being let down by those patronizing little ‘Sorry, we’re CLOSED’ signs that hang ominously from the doors of various coffee houses and hot-spots, so when I heard that we could leave the moustache party at midnight and still be able to share a latte and some good company I was thrilled.

Truth be told, I broke some rules. Given that it was midnight and the fact that my spawn has a general wake up time of 6am, I decided against coffee. This decision doesn’t hurt my review at all, seeing as they use Merlo beans - commonplace and underwhelming as they are, a bean that we can all agree is consistent in taste and texture. I opted for a drink of the chai variety and this brings us to my favourite thing about Three Beans. THEY ACTUALLY GAVE ME THE OPTION OF REAL CHAI TEA and I tell you, it was delicious. That extra 5 minutes that they took brewing the tea (in milk) and then carefully straining it into my mug was deal-sealing.

As far as ambiance goes, they maintained their outré exterior by blasting a mix of Avenged Sevenfold and Blink 182 ‘Greatest Hits’ (and having the cheeriest staff members ever). It was awesome. Probably not what some folk might want to hear in the early hours of the ‘am’, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Three Beans gets just that - Three Beans (out of five) in Amy’s cliched ways to rate things. Not anything to exclaim about, just a cute little nook amongst the dirty and drunk of the Gold Coast’s night scene. Oh, they also have old school arcade games inside. Cool? Cool.

High Speed Coffee Splash

Jack Long, a photographer from Milwaukee, has spent over a year developing a unique technique for capturing these cool organic splashes elevated above coffee cups.

Unlike typical “splash photography” these photos aren’t made from dropping objects into the liquid (it’s a secret), but Long’s technique has created shapes as large as a half meter in diameter and as small as just 5cm. Coffee was chosen as his medium for its universal appeal to both coffee lovers and splash photography connoisseurs—yes they exist.

Photos taken with a Canon 1Ds MkII and Canon 28-70 f2.8 lens at 50mm

[Photos: Jack Long / Rex Features]

Article courtesy of the beauts @ Dear Coffee, I Love You

Better in Byron?

I’m hopeful that the answer to this will be a resounding ‘YES’.  With all the cafes that we are yet to try in that beautiful place, there’s a good chance of that happening…

I gave Byron Bay a little looky loo with some delightful (and extremely good looking) ladies of mine last week and I have to exclaim that it is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SURF TOWN I HAVE EVER SEEN. I really loved it. We ate, we swam, we laughed and topped the day off with hot beverages and an excessive amount of desserts.

Bohemia is situated on one of the only roads in Byron. I’m only exaggerating a bit. Super easy to find and hugely welcoming late at night when most other places have already turned in, it was hard to not follow that whim and strut right in.

First impressions first - Cute. Enough. In all honesty, Balinese idols, kitschy/vintage mirrors and chandeliers and mismatched thrifted furniture all have their place in the world and are all gorgeous touches IN THEIR OWN RIGHT. All mashed together, they become a decór not dissimilar to that time your aunt Janine went on that mid-life-crisis-spurned contiki tour through south-east Asia and decided to redecorate her entire red-brick suburban McMansion with a single weekend trip to ‘Loot Homewares’.

Ok, enough nit-picking. It’s about the coffee, right? Right. Bohemia uses Ewingsdale Estate Coffee Beans and they seem to tick all the boxes.  The beans are locally grown, organic, hand picked and probably walk around sporting fedoras and moleskines.  Jokes aside, it is lovely to encounter a place that supports local farmers. I dig.

One soy flat white and an American brownie the size of my 18 month old daughter later, I can tell you that the coffee…was just awful.  The milk was burnt and the brew was bitter which was really unfortunate.  Despite the place looking as though it got dressed in the dark, I had high hopes for the coffee. Too bad eh.

A few redeeming qualities, however, would be the super chipper staff, the lengthy opening hours and the chai tea. OH THE CHAI TEA. It really was gorgeous and enjoyed thoroughly by my lady, Kelsie.  I would also suggest this as a pit stop if you’re a cake person. The cakes and sweets are ridiculously sized and elaborately delicious. See?

This blog is about coffee and this coffee is about a 2 out of 5. 

Don’t worry, Byron. We’ll be back.