Mecca Espresso - (Sydney, Australia)

  Mecca Espresso used to be one of the biggest disappointments in the Sydney Coffee scene for me,  as it was a little behind Single Origin Roasters when valuated in terms of thoughtfulness and variations.   It has been voted as the Best Sydney café for many years…   Numerous previous visits to here turned out to be unbalanced in a milk based coffee,  which was overly savoury and attacks the stomach yet was rather weak.  Unexpected experiences indeed for a coffee power house.   Fast forward 2 or 3 years  and I was finally back for a re-try over 3 different coffees.    Let’s see what this new trip brings and if it shall spring any surprises.   It definitely seems to have improved quite a bit,  especially when considering it is a 3 Beans Rated café.   I knew this was going to be one interesting visit indeed!

 

 

This Café is Packed -
There is no doubt as to its popularity.   Voted as the No.1 Café in Sydney for so many years,  I guess it must have its attraction.  But to which audience indeed? 

 

 

 

The Clover Machine -
Just having one in the store is convincing enough,
as it is a flexible gadget which makes some filtered coffees within controllable and certain parameters, no matter how much this machine might be over-rated in hindsight..

 

 

 

Cappuccino ‘House Dark Horse Blend’,  without Chocolate Powder –
This arrived pretty scorching hot,  and easily hotter than most milk coffees in Melbourne.  After exploring around a bit more I figured this must be a Sydney coffee preference?   The coffee itself carried a lot of Earthy/Dirty note,  to the extent it was initially off-putting but once it cooled down it was more approachable.  This is definitely aimed at the everyday drinker needing a caffeine hit !  but in this respect, done well ~   8/10

 

 

House ‘Dark Horse’ Blend Espresso  -  
Made as a short black espresso with 3 types of beans from Sidamo/Costa Rican/Kenya,  this as an espresso was viscous and bold.   It was bitter-sweet and probably too wild to be tamed without any milk,  but it certainly jolts you senses! ~   7.5/10

 

 

 

Espresso of Panama Elida Natural -
Rather than a mixture or a Geisha,  this is of a Catuai bean variety.  Very highly praised,  when pulled on the Le Mistral machine it is indeed fairly aromatic  7/10.  It does retain part of it’s parchment cherry profile on nose and taste,  although not resonating as much as a real Geisha but sharing some similar red fruit berry details.   A lovely shot indeed ~   8.5/10

 

 

 

Busy City Café -
As much as I held personal bias against this café in the past,  and even to this day I think their Milk Coffee has improved but tend to work to an extreme edge slightly,  I did think their black coffees/ especially espressi to be quite convincing.    No one can satisfy the whole crowd all the time,  but here they did strike the balance and have maintained it quite well!  (With the exception of the very obviously powdery dirtiness feel in the House Blend,  which distracts from the overall experience!).  Very nearly perfect,   if they do finally make a decision on which course they need to follow and also to satisfying everyone in the process!  Understandable but they did a great job!

Price: AUD $7.50  per person
Coffee: ♕♕♕♕♕ to ♕♕♕♕♕ 1/2  (Except house blend milk drinks which are way too ‘dirty’ despite the strong flavouring base…) 

Opening Hours:
Mon – Fri         6.00am-4.30pm
Sat                 6.00am-2.00pm

Address: 67 King St, Sydney, NSW 2000
Ph: 61 2 9299 8828