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FRESHLY ROASTED COFFEE - CERTIFIED ORGANIC NICARAGUAN FAIR TRADEFollowing up on my earlier article on freshly roasted coffee beans, I am inspired to write about a new coffee now available from Coffee Bean Genie in Roseville. When buying my last supply, the proprietor suggested that I try the certified organic Nicaraguan Fair Trade that he had roasted just the day before.I’m glad I did. The resultant cups of coffee displayed clean coffee flavours, a gentle sweetness offset by mild acidity and perhaps most impressively, exuded a very rich and strangely lingering aroma hinting of roasted hazelnuts. Probably a more mellow coffee than what I normally drink, but certainly another to put on my list of favourite freshly roasted coffees from Coffee Bean Genie. 1:28 PM - 20/5/2008 - comments {0} - post commentFRESHLY ROASTED COFFEE IN ROSEVILLEThe consumer gadget of the moment seems to be the domestic coffee machine. In this regard, I was a very early adopter having acquired my first coffee machine around 8 or 9 years ago. That first machine was a low end Krups that seemed to do a reasonable job for me based on my expectations at the time.When the Krups "died" a couple of years ago, I upgraded to a Gaggia Classico, a reasonably priced middle of the range coffee machine, with enough manual operation to give some control over the coffee making process. The first coffees from the Gaggia were however a complete disaster with the long blacks that I tried to turn out being on the bitter side and having virtually no crema. No matter what techniques I applied (the degree of packing of the coffee in the head, the warmth of the machine and coffee cup etc) the results were invariably the same - disaster. I must admit to being a little perplexed as I was using the exact same coffee beans and grind that had produced what I considered decent enough coffee on the Krups. Being caught short of coffee beans one day and with no time to get to my usual supplier, I visited the Coffee Bean Genie in Penshurst St, East Roseville. I got to talking with the proprietor and explained the problem I was having with my Gaggia machine. After a detailed explanation of my coffee making technique, his opinion was that the lack of success was probably all to do with the freshness of the coffee beans I was using. This confused me as the beans from the same supplier had produced reasonable coffee on the Krups. The explanation provided for this was plausible, the Krups apparently having crema enhancing functionality that reliably produced frothy, pale coloured crema at the lower pressure levels at which the machine operated. Anyway, I was given a free 50g sample of beans and the correct grind setting to use (which was a 4 on a Gaggia grinder) and told to go and try it out at home. As I had previously bought my beans already ground, I had to invest in a decent grinder (I bought a Gaggia model at around $170). I have since learned that the quality of the grinder is also very important as some cheaper models pound rather than cleanly grind the coffee beans, producing dust particles that interfere with the coffee making process. Unbelievably, the results from the Coffee Ban Genie beans were simply outstanding with cup after cup of almost perfect long blacks finally being produced. Coffee with rich, complex flavour and dark golden firmly textured crema that was far, far superior to the earlier Krups product I had experienced. I was simply amazed that the coffee bean, or more specifically, the freshness of the coffee bean, could make such a vast difference to the end result. At Coffee Bean Genie, daily roasting on the premises and a decent turnover mean that the beans are always about as fresh as you could possibly get them anywhere. When bought in small quantities (no more than a week's supply at a time), stored in the freezer (although there is a lot of debate about what is the best coffee storage method) and ground immediately prior to use, I have been experiencing fantastic coffee for years now. From time to time, circumstances have been such that I have had to buy coffee beans from other suppliers, including my original supplier back in the Krups days. Using the exact same time honoured technique, the coffee produced from these beans is more often than not nowhere near as good as that achieved with the beans from Coffee Bean Genie (the possible exception being the more expensive sealed bags of coffee beans from Toby's Estate). I guess the main reason for this article is to highlight the quality of the freshly roasted coffee beans available from Coffee Bean Genie in Roseville. But equally important is the level of service they provide. Not only do they sell great quality beans, but they also sell a range of coffee machines, including Gaggia, and have so much experience that they helped me, and I'm sure many other coffee lovers, get the most out of both beans and machines - that being a highly satisfying coffee experience that is arguably better than that offered by many cafes. Visit Coffee Bean Genie at 457 Penshurst St, East Roseville (group of shops at the corner of Boundary St) or buy coffee beans online from anywhere in Australia. 11:00 AM - 20/5/2008 - comments {0} - post commentTAKEAWAY CHICKEN WARS - HILL ST, ROSEVILLEThe recent opening of Psycho Chicken in Hill St, Roseville has sparked what seems to be a local battle for the takeaway chicken market in the Roseville area.For a while now Roseville Chickens have been operating a nice little business serving mostly takeaway barbecued chickens to a loyal local customer base attracted by the consistent quality of the product and speedy service. Recently, however, all of this seems to have changed with the opening of the latest Psycho Chicken store just a half a dozen doors away in the same shopping strip. Roseville Chickens is a no frills family owned business that delivers consistent quality takeaway barbecued chickens, burgers and rolls, salads and of course the all important chips. Psycho Chicken on the other hand, is about as funky as a local takeaway chicken store can get, gleaming fit-out complete with wide screen TV, and a menu perhaps skewed more towards the chicken burger end of town – an offering that is bound to be a winner with the masses of private school kids that pass by en-route to Roseville train station just 20 or 30 metres away. The first week of “war” certainly seems to have been interesting, with the queues forming inside Psycho Chicken contrasting with an unusual quietness down at Roseville Chickens. As one would expect pricing is pretty much the same in each store, with Psycho Chickens offering a whole Inghams Barn Raised chicken for $13.90 (actually only available in two half chickens) with Roseville Chickens offering a whole chicken for the same price. Two dollars extra at Roseville Chickens gets you a Lilydale free range chicken.  We decided to undertake a bit of simultaneous quality testing when the family got hungry last Saturday lunchtime. We ordered our usual whole chicken and chips with an accompaniment of Greek salad from each outlet. The Psycho Chicken order took quite a bit a lot longer than Roseville Chickens, perhaps due to the opening week business rush and some teething issues with store operation and staffing.As far as the taste test went, the results were inconclusive. Whilst the chicken from Roseville Chickens (we chose the Lilydale free range option) was much more “barbecued “ in appearance and perhaps a little dry, the Psycho chicken (pictured above) was much lighter in skin colour and relatively moist – but we reached a split decision on which chicken had the better flavour. It was a different story with the chips, with Roseville Chickens coming out on top, their chips being a bit crispier and the flavour enhanced by what we agreed was a superior variety of chicken salt. Both Greek salads were pretty disappointing, with too much liquid and a lack in flavour. No doubt many other families in the area will take their own chicken taste test in the months to come and that the outcome of those tests will decide which business survives over the long haul. It is unlikely that there is room for more than one takeaway chicken store in the locality, so one certainly has to question the motives of Psycho Chicken in selecting the Roseville location. Local rumour has it that the Roseville store was a “revenge” opening as a payback for some family fall-out over the setting up of Roseville Chickens. Whilst the authenticity of this rumour hasn’t been verified, one thing is for certain – a takeaway chicken “war” is well underway in the Hill Street, Roseville shopping strip. Psycho Chicken also have a takeaway chicken stores in Northbridge and St Ives. 9:47 AM - 13/5/2008 - comments {0} - post comment |
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