:: COFFEE AT MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY

 

Coffee is something that most university students love, and maybe even need. I know what you’re thinking, that this is “bad”, saying that we need it that is, but hey - who are we kidding? I need my coffee and you probably do too!

I love coffee. I really do. Back in the days when I lived in Norway, I worked as a barista for two years at a great coffee bar. We were passionate about making coffees - I mean, we had our own roasting machine.. They actually look like a giant popcorn machine, he he. But I digress.. So being a student at Macquarie University - what are your coffee-options, where can you get them and how is the quality?

As you probably know, we are so lucky to have little coffee-carts all over the place at uni. There’s the much loved coffee-station outside the macquarie theatre, and there’s usually a couple of portable one’s (yes, it’s like a bicycle with a coffee machine mounted on it) which change location. I would like to take this opportunity to suggest that you stay away from them UNLESS you are in a hurry. The coffee is usually tasteless and bitter, resulting from bad-quality beans, or just a barista who doesn’t have a clue, and the milk is usually burnt which kind of makes it taste like porridge. One porridge-
flavoured flat white coming’ up!



Next there’s a new cafe in our new amazing library. The coffee up there is nothing special but at least the baristas know what they’re doing, so it’s okay. I tried to find out what blend they use but they wouldn’t tell me (most likely because they don’t know). You’d be surprised how many coffee places just go to wollies and buy some bag of horrible old beans from ‘Vittoria’ or similar. However, even with an amazing fresh blend of great beans (like single origin or Campos) - your coffee can taste horrible if the barista doesn’t know how to make coffee.

There’s also Globe cafe, located in E3A. I don’t go there.

Lastly we’re left with the main food court. The two best coffee options here are ‘The sandwich stop’ or ‘Taste baguette & grill’. I know many people like the coffee at the sandwich stop, but personally I prefer Taste. They use beans from a roasting company called ‘umami’, and they are always fresh (with fresh I mean a couple of weeks after roasting process. Beans need a couple of weeks to mature their oils and flavours. Using beans that are roasted the same day or a couple of days after will taste incredibly bitter!). The baristas at Taste really know how to make great coffee, and they seem very passionate about it too. As far as an on-campus coffee experience goes, I always go to taste. And if you find yourself hungry, Taste also bake fresh baguettes every 15 minutes, priced between $5.50 and $10.50. I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed!