Tag Archives: perth love

Mirage, I see

This is a blog for the coffee lovers! Thank you to guest blogger Pradeep Gurung for his coffee trekking and writing, he also took the photos (and he does know his stuff when it comes to coffee, we’ve tried it!)

Coffee crawling is what I like doing – and I do it whenever I get the chance. Whilst I do have my favourite cafes that I visit regularly, I check out new places to see how they match up. Two places stood out over the other on a recent crawl. They were: Brother Cafe; and Black Cherries Espresso Bar.

Brother Cafe is located in the suburb of Menora and has been open for only a few months. This place uses Toby’s Estate coffee, based in Sydney, which now has a roastery in Perth – meaning the beans don’t have to go through the shipping process it went through before. I’d never had a good experience of this coffee prior to my visit to this cafe, so I was hoping this place would change my opinion. And it did! Although I prefer a light roast profile, the espressos, in my two visits, were very pleasant.

Apart from the sexy coffee machine that they have, Kees van der Westen’s Mirage Veloce, the place has ample space inside and has a small alfresco area. They also have food on offer; and are open Monday to Saturday. An ideal place to stop to grab a cup of coffee on the way to work. A place worth visiting, I say.

Black Cherries Espresso Bar in Fremantle Markets was the place I always wanted to check out for a long time. And I did for the first time two weeks ago. Not only had they moved to the middle of the yard (they used to be in the corner) I noticed they also got themselves a new machine: Mirage Triplette Classic. Seeing that, I almost clapped in excitement. I’d never tried Dark Star Coffee prior to my visit there but read about it being a darker roast, something which I’m not a fan of. I ordered an espresso which was very fruity and sweet and none of the darker roast element was noticeable in the cup. I was content and left with a smile on my face. On my next visit I tried an espresso and a long black. This time I did find some bitter elements of the roast, which overcame the flavours of the espresso a bit, but it was still good. I sat at the bar and spent almost an hour and a half reading a book while sipping my second coffee. It’s amazing how serenity can be found in a place such as Fremantle Markets. The staff are very friendly and are happy to have a chat. The ambience of this place is quite amazing and you get a communal feeling that just makes you enjoy the coffee even more. A must visit, I say.

Brother 

Address: 300 Walcott Street, Menora WA Perth

Phone: 08 9272 5787

Black Cherries Espresso Bar

Address: Fremantle Markets, Stall Number ‘The Yard’, South Terrace and Henderson Street, Fremantle

Phone:  Timothy Lock 0413 735 196

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Love of Libraries

During my final year of high school I would spend countless hours on the third floor of the WA State Library. I would take a seat by the window and arrange my books in a uniform manner on the desk. I was ready for the hours of study ahead of me. Well at least I would look like I was studying hard, more often than not my mind would wander to what I was going to have for lunch or why the pigeon on the ledge looks like it only has one eye.

The state library is a lovely place to go for peace, quiet and books…lots of them. The internet is also freely available. You can hop on to an express terminal or make a booking if you need longer than 15 minutes. The library even offers a free wifi system that you can connect to. What I think is really cool is that even when the library is closed on public holidays, you will often find people lined outside with their laptops, frantically finishing essays or setting up Facebook events. How many places can offer you a free service even when they are closed?

I love that you can borrow books; all for FREE. It’s free to join if you are a WA resident, all you need is proof of identity and current residential address. You can take home a bunch of goodies and the only restraint is that you will have to return them at some point. So once you read the book you can give it back and it gets passed on to another punter. But what you get to keep is the story, the ideas or that little piece of information that you didn’t know before. Even if you manage to somehow get nothing from the items you borrowed, as long as you return them on time, it won’t cost you a thing.

If the state library is a little too far out of the way for you, maybe you can pop down to your local library? Just as good, only smaller.

Where: 25 Francis Street
Perth Cultural Centre, Perth (a short walk from Perth train station)

When: Monday – Thursday    9.00am – 8.00pm
Friday    9.00am – 5.30pm
Saturday – Sunday    10.00am – 5.30pm
Closed on all Public Holidays from July 1, 2009

Link: http://slwa.wa.gov.au/


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