Dead Man Espresso - (Melbourne)

  There are too many cafes to choose from,  I mean just within the few blocks here there’s already my other favourite cafes or pastry shop -  such as St Ali, Chez Dre as well as Sweet Hearts Café.   And throughout Victoria and Melbourne,  one can imagine how many more choices are there for us to choose from.   A filter system has naturally evolved and developed by itself,  much like a warning system to instinctively tell me the ones I should visit or avoid!   Naturally, one starts to have a feel on how attractive the menu recipes might turn out in reality,  or knowing who roasts their coffee beans might help!     Deadman Espresso passed this initial test by virtue of having a strong roaster behind their supplies called Seven Seeds,  and looking back at the beginning they even carried their own Deadman coffee blend (but unfortunately has reverted back to the normal Seven Seeds or Brother Baba Budan and De Clieu blend due to a lack of availability of these particular beans).    On the menu  items such as olive oil, bacon or bread are listed with the suppliers’ names,  and they even make a Hanger Steak!   These clues give the customers reassurance and enough confidence for me have revisited here 3 times,  to see how good they can get !

 

 

 

Found in South Melbourne -

 

 

 

Friendly Staff and Beautiful Room inside -

 

Menu – And Specials are on the Daily Board
Some of the food has heart put into the recipe but remains simple enough,
albeit they’re not as complex as say the food served in Duchess of Spotswood and Auction Rooms,  and a few others.  But it is still decent food quality.

 

 

Caffe Latte -
Like most 7 Seeds related cafes,  the default blend is mildly sweet and barely manages to cut through the milk.   This coffee was made very well and in fact better than my many coffees at Brother Baba Budan,  which is a big statement as BBB has been a coffee temple for many years.    7.5/10

Potato Rosti with Herbs, Poached Egg, Smoked Salmon and Avocado -  $17.50
Proud Mary’s potato rosti is ordered by many customers,  but the version here beat a few of the ones I’ve tried locally.   It is more crispier instead of wet, and slightly herbed.   The herbs made the dish colourful,  but the poached egg was decent.  Rosti was a big winner however!    ~   8/10

House Blend Espresso -
I do like this blend as it is quite approachable,
balanced well between all the variables of sourness, bitterness, sweetness and the chocolate and molasse undertone.   It’s an everyday type of espresso!  ~   8/10

 

 

Panama Esmeralda Mario Enero Lot #1  (Chemex drip with Metal Filter) -
I’ve had this batch of beans numerous times to know where its potential lies by now.  You’ll notice I also order some similar single origin beans via more than 1 method in a café,  and then do the same at other cafes.   This is more because it is educational for me, as I need to single out the variables and learn what can affect the outcome the most!   Eg. this hand dripped Panama is slightly missing its desired,  very bold aroma of berries and pollen alike, but in the mouth it was smooth.   A little muted for its potential ~   6.5/10

Panama Esmeralda Mario Enero  #2 (Aeropress) -
The above coffee uses a metal filter which is unusual for certain purists,  as it lets more sediments through and drips a bit fast,  but hand drip aficionadas will say it is the best for a delicate coffee.  It’s never conclusive,  unless you 'throw away’ all biases and explore it from scratch.   This Aeropress version of the same beans definitely smelled much better than the above Chemex-Metal version.   But then again,  have both of these been ‘dialled in’ and is using the right water temp, dosage and grind size, etc?   Coffee is such a complex and sensitive thing..    ~   8/10

 

 

Espresso:  Nicaragua Limoncillo Estate ‘Javanica’ -
Unlike the other Limoncillos I’ve posted on this blog or on facebook,  this is not the same batch. Instead of the equally amazing Paca-Mara hybrid bean,   this from the same estate is the Javanica lot cultivar (Java and Ethiopian Longbean DNA).   Not your typical Java bean,  this has a sweeter and brighter citrus note and bigger body.   As an espresso as roasted by Seven Seeds and pulled on this day,  it was a lovely shot but wasn’t overly impressive despite the bean having been a COE #2 a few years ago.  May be another roast, another method?   ~  8/10

 

 

Smoked Salmon Bruschetta,  Baby Leaves, Fennel, Cherry Tomatoes,
Blood Orange & Poached Egg -  $16.50
The food elements used here can overlap a bit,  but I liked the idea of having so much salad in my egg dish.  The blood orange unfortunately were nowhere to be seen,  but on the other hand even the tomatoes were paired with torn basil.  It’s these little details that count!   This was decent enough and the missing oranges would have been the key to its success ~   6.9/10

 

Potato Rosti with Istra Bacon instead -
Same dish as the 1st Salmon one above, 
the rosti were still good but slightly less crunchy than another day.  The bacon were tasty and not too salty.  I like how they’re not overly covered with fat strips either ~    7.5/10

 

Potato Rosti -
One of the best I’ve tried in Melbourne,
and worth coming for this…








Cappuccino without Chocolate Powder - 
I’ve had this a few times,  and it is just like their caffe latte,  quite sweetishly mild but approachable.    At least it has some coffee taste,  unlike the one at Brother Baba Budan which tastes mostly of milk.   ~   7/10

 

 

Price: AUD $22  per person
Food:  ♕♕♕♕   (recipes were ok only but food executed and presented well! Rosti is great!)
Coffee: ♕♕♕♕♕

Opening Hours -
Mon to Sat 7:00 am - 4:00 pm.
Sun 8:00 am - 4:00 pm

Address:  35 Market St, South Melbourne,  Victoria
Ph: 03 9686 2255