Toby’s Estate - (Sydney)

  Toby’s Estate originated from Sydney and is one of the more commercialised coffee distributors but to me it remains one of the best independent coffee roasters.   The Pott’s Point located café is easily accessible and used to be one of my coffee joints whenever I was up here for work or conferences (and I knew little about coffee back then),  not to mention it’s close to Fratelli Fresh as well as King’s Cross which makes it triple the fun to visit here.   Nowadays,  Toby’s Estate can also be found in Melbourne on Exihibition street and also their coffee has made their way to Eat Right in Hong Kong’s SOHO area.   

 

 

Some Single Origins -
The range is not extensive compared to the best cafes,
but they mainly concentrate on the Fairtrade and Organic beans ..

Coffee Station -
A Kees Van Der Westen built and very sexy Mirage machine,
a rare sight indeed.  Looks similar to a Mistral,  which shares similarities and even quality of cup..

 

 

 

Tap Water -
Saw this at a few places,  and if you’re in Hong Kong,
Café Corridor also carries one !

 

 

 

Cappuccino ‘House Organic Fairtrade Blend’ -
The barista said this was drinking well on the day.   It was very good indeed,
with a big fruity body punching through the milk and very different to most Sydney coffees,  it kind of reminds me of the coffees drank at 18 Grams in Hong Kong,  but very well balanced.   ~   9/10

 

 

 

Espresso -
Pulled as Double-Ristretti,  the barista on duty as well as some others I’ve met really preach this method,  as it is said that there is otherwise no point as it’s wasting the compacted density of flavours from 2 espresso shots.   I think aside from shots pulled on The Slayer machine  I tend to disagree with this as the beginning of the shot is often too sour and filled with bubbly crema, then the shot is stopped before it begins to extract the sweeter part of the espresso which adds to the overall complexity.  And with the availability of so many P/P enabled machines nowadays,  I think a split shot is often more interesting to me at least.   This cup was very viscous and pulled slightly slower than normal as explained, and has a bright acidity beneath,  it was addictive and so thick, but bordering on being too wild as it really wakes up your senses.   This cup to me was UNIQUE and surprisingly balanced for what it is,  respect!  ~   9/10

 

 

 

A very professional Café -
Good to revisit here again,  despite their other bigger premises and outlets.
Quality of the coffee was definitely world class,  even more than almost all the cafes I’ve tried to Sydney on this trip…  They never tried to take a step backwards to satisfy everyone but took strides in supporting and continuing in what they believe in is the way to go in the future…

 

 

 

Price: AUD $7 per person
Coffee:  ♕♕♕♕♕ 1/2

Address:  81 Macleay Street, Potts Point,  Sydney NSW 2011
Ph: (02) 8356 9264