Good coffee can be hard to come by when you don’t know a place. Here are some of the wonderful places I found on my travels…
Akha Ama – my goodness, not only is this some of the best coffee I’ve tasted (infused with orange and honey over ice – yes please!) it’s also locally produced and managed by a young entrepreneur from the Akha hill tribes of Chiang Mai – brilliant! It’s gaining quite the reputation and people travel far to get a taste. Plus everyone is super proud of Lee for his amazing achievements.
If you’ve never tried Vietnamese style coffee then I highly recommend you do! Dense, sweet coffee, warm or over ice with sweetened condensed milk. It’s probably not a good idea to have too many of these little ‘pick me ups’ if you want to keep your teeth for a long time. City Land cafe is about a 10 minute bicycle ride out of Siem Reap town in the Veal Village and I loved their version the best. Great coffee and the condensed milk served in a jug on the side so you can control the level of sweetness (lesson learned, they don’t measure, so best not pour the whole lot in at once!!). Only requirement of stopping by here, you’ll end up on Bunlin Khim’s Facebook page!
Vancouver was a different matter for coffee, I sought help from Adelaide sources with good tips and prior knowledge and walked the length of Vancouver to get there. Some excellent recommendations were made and acted upon, including Revolver down near Gas Town and 49th Parallel who also had cute crockery and amazing donuts. Then a couple of local tips, the first not so amazing and the second a two minute walk from the office. Visited too late in the trip I did manage about 5 visits to Caffe Artigiano!
A quick stop back in Adelaide for some old favourites at A Mother’s Milk and Coffee Branch and then a new location for BTS Cafe, having opened their second cafe, this one on Gouger Street and just as amazing.
Now finding the brews in Sydney… Single Origin Roasters near my office is still winning but then the search has not expanded too far yet.
A quick visit to Canberra on a recent weekend meant another trip to Lonsdale Street Roasters – still very good and a new one, Ona (the Manuka one) – really great too!
Sarah Rhodes 