Coffee Number 15

***Getting through the backlog***


Skinny latte - $3 (?)

Jasper Coffee
Stall 105, Prahran Market
163 Commercial Road
PRAHRAN VIC 3181
(03) 9827 8509

A hectic morning of market shopping requires caffeinated assistance. I used to spend a lot of time at Prahran Market, and would always get skinny lattes from Jasper Coffee (I’d go for super-expensive Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee when they had it). Last Saturday was just a quick visit, ordering my Christmas goose and picking up other supplies. I enjoyed visiting my old faves – Jasper’s, Lee’s Asian Grocery, and the amazing felafel stand. Have you had his hummus? Incredible. No Jamaican Blue available this time, but the normal blend is great too. Man, I miss having a Jasper’s near my work!

Coffee Number 13

Krispy Kreme
607 Collins Street,
cnr Collins and Spencer Street,
Melbourne, VIC 3000
(03) 9629 4902

Latte ($2.75) and Original Glazed Donut

In honour of Barack Obama’s election win, I was in the mood to celebrate all things American with a classic donut from Krispy Kreme. With my donut I ordered a plain ol’ latte. (I’d normally get skinny but that just seemed pointless). You can upsize to a coffee and 2 donut combo for 70c extra, but I wouldn’t recommend this unless you’re not scared of getting diabetes. The coffee was frikkin awesome! Strong and smooth, without any harsh bitterness. The milk was the perfect temperature. Who knew Krispy Kreme would make better coffee than the trendy cafes on the block?

Catch-up!

Work, study, home. I’ve settled into a set routine. Here are some of the more interesting coffees of recent times.




Top Row L-R:
Custom-made Skinny Latte (S for S-arah)
2 white mochas at South Melbourne Pier
Attempt at coffee art on the home espresso machine

2nd Row L-R:
Home latte with my homemade choc & almond biscotti
Large latte at Babble Cafe on Greville St
Expensive-restaurant style latte at Conservatory in Crown

Bottom Row L-R:
Latte with choc cupcake @ Mario's on Glenferrie Rd
Latte w awesome chocolate profiterole at Jones the Grocer in Doncaster Shoppingtown
Ooh - coffee art!

Coffee number 9

Bistro Guillaume
Crown Entertainment Complex
8 Whiteman St
Southbank Victoria 3006
(03) 9693-3888



Cafe Latte - $5

Restaurant coffees are always expensive. Economically speaking, the high price is a result of the low price elasticity of demand for restaurant coffees. With there being few close substitutes for the coffee, (none, in fact, if you wish to stay in the restaurant, rather than searching for a still-open café), restaurants can charge higher prices than a cafés could. Not that I’m complaining. I love finishing off a good meal with a good coffee, and find myself looking forward to it as soon as they clear the plates away. I daresay I prefer it to wine! (How uncool am I?)

Coffee number 6

Brunetti
City Square
Corner Swanston Street and Flinders Lane


Cafe Latte - $3.30

I’m meeting my cousin at the corner of Swanston and Flinders Lane. We’re supposed to go to some rocking newspaper party and mingle, but I know we’ll end up in the corner laughing our heads off. I’m trying to have coffee only every other day (today being a non-coffee day), but it’s cold and windy, and for once, Cuz is running late. I walk across the street to Brunetti, order a latté and park myself under one of their gigantic heaters. As with most Italian coffees, the first sip seems too strong, but after that, it’s exactly what I want.

Coffee number 4

Flavours of Lakhoum
175 Swan Street, Richmond 3121 Vic
(03) 9425 9805


Cafe Latté - $3.20

Dontcha just love that coffee art?

Flavours of Lakhoum’s Barista, Chris Phillips, draws the cutest little faces in his coffees. I think his regular picture is a curly-haired female face, but we got a special one – a face with a hat, just like my lovely friend Markii who was also wearing a hat. You should have heard the excited squeals we gave when it arrived. What dorks! It tasted good too – very important. I’ve heard that during busier periods, not every coffee comes decorated. We’re lucky it was quiet when we went. One of the benefits of not working 9-to-5!

Coffee number 3

A Minor Place
103 Albion St, Brunswick 3056 VIC
(03) 9384 3131


Cafe Latté - $3

Brunswick is quite far, but after seeing this gorgeous photo on Where’s the Beef?, I just had to go. We made an expedition down to A Minor Place this week and enjoyed lunch in the sun, seated on surprisingly comfortable milk crates. Very boho chic.

Our lunch included scrambled eggs with caramelized onions and feta, and a wonderful meatball sub that tasted like lasagne. The coffees were delicious but not quite as dreamily creamy as Michael’s photo had led me to expect. Perhaps next time?

And because it was nearby, we stopped by El-Faiha for baklava on the way home.

Coffee number 2

Castro's Kiosk
University of Melbourne


Small Skinny Latté - $3


A good friend of mine is down in Melbourne for a conference this week, so we meet up at our old haunt for coffee. Castro’s Kiosk at Melbourne Uni was our Central Perk, our Café Nervosa, our Monk’s Café. I’m not sure exactly how many coffees I’ve bought here over the years, but I know it’s a lot.

My standard uni drink was a skinny latté, and I have dabbled with their hot chocolates (notably their yummy mint flavour), mochas, and a surprisingly tasty caffeine and dairy free concoction called “LSD” – latté with soy and dandelion.

Best coffee on campus.

Coffee number 1

Sweet Source
288 Rathdowne St, Carlton North
(03) 9348 2998


Café Latte - $3
Flourless Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake - $5.50

With limited funds and an ongoing desire to kick my caffeine addiction, going out for coffee has become an occasional treat, not an everyday fix. Keeping this in mind, we headed down to cuter-than-cute Sweet Source to get a coffee and look at the gorgeous cakes. Whoops. I didn’t mean “look at”, I meant “inhale”.

The foam on my latte had a disappointingly burnt taste, rather like cigarette ash. The rest of the coffee, bizarrely, tasted fine. The flourless chocolate and hazelnut cake was very rich, dense and dark. A bit too much for one person, but lovely to share.