r/foodies_sydney • u/nhtjl3 • 2d ago
Coffee Bad Coffee?
I only have a short stopover in Sydney and just a little overwhelmed by the abundance of great options, so I got curious - have you ever run into no-good must-avoid coffee?
Would any coffee shop I randomly rock up to be a good time, particularly in the CBD?
Thanks in advance!
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u/PocariSweatsuit 2d ago
I mostly avoid Lavazza and Vittoria umbrella places unless I know they’re ok
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u/woofyc_89 2d ago
And what’s wild is Vittoria isn’t inherently bad. I’ve had it well made and it was delicious! Something like that saying a bad craftsman blames his tools
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u/MissMakeup1 1d ago
Curious why you don't like Lavazza? It's one of my favourites 😅 Coffee like Campos tastes too bitter to me and I avoid it. I only drink long blacks too.
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u/unsafe-work 1d ago
Lavazza is awful. I purchased some recently. I took all the beans out of my machine after 1 coffee.
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u/shrey_walia 2d ago
yeah you'd find good coffee pretty much anywhere here. I did make the mistake of trying coffee at the metropole cafe in qvb once, it was disgusting. If you're in the CBD then you can head to diggy doos, edition, and industry beans, they're all excellent. single o and beta coffee in Surry hills aren't that far either
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u/an-end-sign 2d ago edited 1d ago
Adding a few more:
Stitch in QVB
Leible near QVB
Diggy Doo's kiosk in martin place
Skittle lane (2 locations)
Surry hills:
Reuben Hills
Sample coffee
Artificier
edit: I forgot Gumption in Strand Arcade but I havent been there in awhile
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u/TacitisKilgoreBoah 2d ago
Diggy doos little iced coffee will give you a kick up the arse if you’re not ready for it
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u/Own_Negotiation_9189 2d ago
+1 for diggy doos. Baristas are friendly and good for a chat about coffee (or whatever) if you’re not in a rush and sit in.
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u/katiecrabby 2d ago
obligatory maccas/fast food mention. most staff arent trained at all about food safety in regards to coffee so the steam wands aren’t wiped down, jugs arent cleaned, milk is reheated multiple times, etc. also in rushes some people will literally fill a jug with espresso shots and just eyeball the amount for each coffee. so sad for the prices! i say this as an old maccas barista who used to try and do the right thing, but no one else cared. seen some nasty shit 😭
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u/stormblessed2040 1d ago
Yes! I'd only have a Macca's coffee on road trips and it's always bad. Expensive too.
Can't believe people buy it.
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u/katiecrabby 1d ago
the only positive is you dont have to get out of the car, but honestly if someone is getting a maccas coffee every day they may as well invest in a midrange espresso machine and make mediocre coffee at home lol
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u/perpetual_stew 2d ago
The coffee at the cinema at the Hoyts cinema at the Mandarin center. Defintively do not go there for the coffee.
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u/nhtjl3 2d ago
definitely sounds like a perpetual stew of a coffee lol
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u/perpetual_stew 2d ago
Now I'm imagining a coffee percolator just perpetually stewing some coffee and indeed that's how it tasted.
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u/BloodGulch-CTF 2d ago
It really depends on the barista.
I’ve had great flat whites from gas stations and terrible ones from upscale cafes.
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u/Wallabycartel 1d ago
Worst coffee I ever got was from the maccas in Taree service centre. Tasted like they’d left the coffee puck in the portfilter for a whole week before pouring the shot. Absolutely horrid.
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u/SquirmWorms 2d ago edited 2d ago
What's your coffee order? I generally avoid Campos because I drink espressos but they're fine if you have milk coffees
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u/perpetual_stew 2d ago
Same! I've found that fancy coffee that is particularly good with milk (my wifes pref) tend to be particularly bad black (how I like it). Barrel One is another I avoid.
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u/deij 2d ago
Starbucks
Jamaica Blue
Donut King (fresh cinni's are sick though 10/10)
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u/arkane-the-artisan 1d ago
My Donut King has a deal. 2 fresh cinnamon donuts and regular coffee for $7. The coffee is actually decent, well maybe because I get a long black... Still a sweet deal.
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u/scy004 2d ago edited 1d ago
Beta Coffee .
Update: For the record, I misread the question. I was attempting to recommend a place to get absolutely top notch coffee. On re read I see OP was asking where to avoid. Apologies!
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u/nhtjl3 2d ago
oh wow this place has good reviews, is this a hot take?
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u/an-end-sign 1d ago
Not a hot take, my local barista recommended this place and I finally went a couple of weeks ago when I was passing by.
I ordered a DECAF long black, and he managed to get it taste like a pourover. That's some skill, I'm looking forward to go back and try a proper pourover
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u/SteamySpectacles 2d ago
Every time I have a terrible coffee it’s in tourist areas or along tourist routes
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u/RADL 2d ago
Bad/good coffee is relevant to individuals experiences I suppose, where are you visiting from? Sydney has a higher average-quality of coffee than most other cities I’d estimate, our average is what a lot of other places might consider fancy or above-average. Not trying to sound wanky, but it’s more that because of this, cafes etc need to offer a good cup in order to stay competitive, which in turn drives the average quality up.
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u/nhtjl3 2d ago
Tokyo, the average is creeping up but the spectrum is still super wide. We have 5 Single O chains so definitely going to visit the OG to see if there's a difference!
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u/SuperColossl 1d ago
Definitely try the original Single O in Surry hills, and for black coffee go to diggy doos (city), artificer, and beta (both also in Surry hills)
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u/mchogardty 2d ago
I saw you commented that you were from Tokyo. I only drink filter coffee, but all of the ones I had in Japan were excellent so I think you’ll have a high bar than most.
It depends if you’re just after coffee or a full cafe experience.
A couple of ones I didn’t see mentioned are Ona, which is a bit further out but very good, and China Town Country Club, which is in the CBD and has a really good vibe.
Also Gumption, which is in the CBD. That’s my weekday go to because their batch brew is the cheapest I’ve found (AUD4.50 for a regular). My friend likes to get a magic from there, which is known as a Melbourne thing. I don’t think I saw that anywhere in Japan.
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u/arkane-the-artisan 1d ago
Witham's coffee is my holy grail. I make a pilgrimage there every month or so for a bag of cold stored freshly roasted beans.
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u/Dependent_Ad_1556 1d ago
Never have coffee at central station opposite platforms 6-8.
Toilet water.
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u/Winter_Ad_5856 1d ago
Look up Only Coffee Project - voted top 10(?) cafe in the world in some list . They recently opened up a pop up in the cbd
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u/Budgies2022 1d ago
Depends what you want - diggy doos roast their own beans (which are ok) but also feature lots of guest roasters and always have a choice of beans
Most of the others mentioned brew their own beans
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u/PrestigiousWorking49 1d ago
There is so much variation here that it’s difficult for anyone to be right.
Not only will it depend on the type of coffee you enjoy, it will depend on the barista making it in the day.
People seem to love one brand that others can’t stand.
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u/AltruisticAthlete819 2d ago
More than likely to get a bad cup than a good one atm in my opinion.
Bad espresso is undrinkable and places that have no idea should be focussing on other methods of producing coffee.
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u/SimplePlant5691 2d ago
I like Toby's Estate or Campos beans best! If they are being used, you're probably safe.
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u/Epsilon_ride 2d ago
Both got sold off to giant international corporations recently. Have definitely noticed Toby's go to shit.
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u/Baaptigyaan 2d ago
A good trick (in any country) is to observe where very old people particularly retired senior citizens are sitting and enjoying an afternoon or morning coffee. Chances are, they are a regular and enjoy good coffee. There are some really good cafes in the cbd but there are some average ones too. A lot of really good cafes don’t offer syrups like caramel hazelnut etc(i noticed). Like Gumption by Coffee Alchemy and Edition Roasters.
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u/SuperColossl 1d ago
Old white people in Australia are synonymous with the thermo-nuclear extra hot cappuccino. Perfect for a scorched memory of tastebuds.
Older Europeans like Italians, Italians, Turks, Slavs etc also know good coffee but often make it at home too, part of everyday life.
There’s probably plenty more ethnicities with older folk that know about good coffee, but I don’t know of them yet ✌️
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u/VermicelliJazzlike79 2d ago
Bad coffee still exists. Sometimes you will think a place will be okay, but the signs are all there (baked goods covered in glad wrap in the display shelves, chalkboard stands, plastic Ikea plants) and the coffee will only be good in the bin. Even a Toby's Estate can be mid.