Café de Bathúrst

energy fiend

2007-08-20T09:11:00.000+10:00

my new favourite blog is energy fiend.

there is an awesome caffeine database.

and there is a story about a girl overdosing on caffeine.

check it out.

this guy puts café de bathúrst to shame...

2007-08-14T09:58:00.000+10:00

Instead of kisses we get kicked...

2007-06-18T15:15:00.000+10:00

What better way to celebrate the end of Cafe de Bathurst's hibernation period with a trip to the local ice creamery... Annie's.

Prior to this adventure I had no intentions of leaving the house because it was cold and I was not prepared to leave the house. Ben from Delaware came down the driveway and said that he was going to Annie's to try the very famous ice cream. Laura and I said we didn't feel like going... he left defeated and then came back to say that if I went, Ken would pay for my coffee. Who can say no to an offer like that?

We took our place at the largest booth inside Annie's which had just recently been populated by teenage girls. It was a cozy seating arrangement with Hollie, Ken, Me, Laura, Liam, Ben & Mel in attendance. Way to knock over a bunch of new quests (Hollie, Ben & Mel) as well as bringing back a good quality favourite (Laura).

I ordered a cappucino in a mug and Ken stayed true to his word like real men do and paid for it. At first the coffee wasn't all that nice. I'd actually had coffee from Annie's before and it was nothing spectacular... which I think is what is to be expected from such a tacky, one trick pony, kind of establishment. Thus I was not feeling particularly happy or upset at my coffee... I'll say content.

The ice cream came and it was delicious and sickening... I think there is a reason why people don't normally consume 12 different flavours of ice cream in one sitting. But somehow, the amazing ice cream transformed the taste of my coffee and actually made it taste better. This is pretty unusual given that usually eating sweet things makes the coffee taste less sweet and therefore less tasty.

All in all it was good times... a bit of social awkwardness that does not need to be resurfaced but mostly icey, creamy, garnished-with-paper-umbrellas good times were had by all. In other news: I got ice cream on the beverage boar and accidentally left him in Laura's vehicle... he is still sitting in there. Sorry piggy.

A tasty treat...

2007-06-15T13:17:00.000+10:00

So, it has been quite a while since our last adventure but we have finally crossed another cafe off our list of places to visit.

Yesterday we visited Annie's Ice Cream, a lovely "mom and pop" style ice cream pa lour, in attendance besides the usual suspects (Kat, Liam and myself), were Hollie, Mel, Laura and a friend of Liam's who was visiting on his was back home to the USA from New Zealand, Ben.

As I write this blog post, it dawns on me that we didn't have a formal "topic of conversation". In the past Liam has come prepared with set topics to discuss however this time he must have forgotten.

Onto the coffee...Definitely not the worst so far on the trip however, as Liam will most likely comment on the froth was quite lacking. The taste of the coffee was acceptable however nothing outstanding.

Since Annie's Ice Cream is quite famed out here in Bathurst we also ate ice cream. We ordered a massive 12 scoops between us all and it was quite interesting eating it as one group from one big cup.

All in all, a fun day had by everyone,

Until next time...

while i am at it

2006-12-19T21:04:00.000+11:00

Or should I say...because Liam did I can.

This is an unofficial post...I am please to announce that dna coffee has officially opened in Bathurst! For those of you who do not know of dna coffee you will have to visit either Bathurst or Orange...

I've had coffee at both places and must say that personally I do quite enjoy the coffee and the entire dining experience, with one exception. They have way way way way too many tv screens (kind of like how I used way way way too many instances of the word way...way).

A recent expedition was undertaken by myself, kat, and beth the other day, (the other day being Sunday) I splashed and tried something new...a latte (shhh I know what you are thinking), I enjoyed my coffee, kat, beth and dave all tried something weird kind of like an iced coffee with cream but not quite like that.

The decor is quite interesting although I must admit I felt a little cramped.

All in all quite a nice place to hang out.

unofficial: late night celebrations...

2006-12-15T06:52:00.000+11:00

it was a cool, june evening and a little event, where the final has more viewers than the olympics, known as the world cup had just begun.

most who know me would know that i am fairly enthusiastic about my international football (and, of course, by football i mean soccer), so i was rather excited when australia had the opportunity to play this year.

so after ken and i watched superman with some friends in anticipation of superman returns, kathryn joined us at the clulow's (who were in europe (but not at the football!)) to watch australia play against japan on their nice widescreen television.

if you do not know how that game ended up i do not want to talk to you.

unfortunately cameron had to work his graveyard shift at the twenty-four hour coles express petrol station so he was unable to come and watch with us.

so we decided to go celebrate by dropping in to visit him at 2a, after the game!

the reason why this post is unofficial is because, for some reason kenneth and kathryn were not so keen on getting coffee in the early morning, so they satisfied themselves with chocolate, while i indulged in caffeinated goodness.

as you can see, the coffee was of a very high quality.

anyway, it was quite fun to visit camo at work.

i think kathryn agreed...

fun times...

Coles Express

an update of blogical proportions...

2006-12-14T04:50:00.000+11:00

greetings from the united states!

just a few updates of a technical nature.

firstly, café de bathúrst now has a picasa web album, here, as well as an email address at: cafedebathurst@gmail.com.

i am quite excited about this development as i do not care to admit how long the whole process of uploading photos four at a time to the sister blog, café de bathúrst - a magical journey of photos, and then copying and pasting thumbnails with links to images and making sure they were centered and blah, blah, blah...took.

anyway, the important thing is that i should now be able to write posts much quicker. once i have caught up i think i will also go back through my old posts to remove the insidious (that's right: insidious) links to the picture blog.

meanwhile, because i am the biggest google fanboy i know, you all should have web albums and add us as a favourite and stuff like that.

in addition, i may put in some unofficial posts on some american coffee experiences i have over here.

and now i am going to go eat frozen frosted blueberry poptarts....

...goodness...

And so this is how everything will end...

2006-12-08T15:48:00.000+11:00

What better way to end the first year of Cafe de Bathurst than have a poorly organised but relatively massive outing of coffee-loving loved ones.

Guest list was as follows:
Liam
Ken
Kat
Bethany
Dave
Nadine
Cameron
in addition to this, Rowan was invited but couldnt make it as he was engaged with a helicopter.

We had planned to go to the Cobblestone Lane cafe, but it was closed so we moved on to Elie's Cafe. We seated indoors at a long table however both front and back outdoor options are available. The place was not very busy and pretty nice really.

We ordered. Bonus points to special guest Nadine who was the only adventurous one who ordered something I wont attempt to spell. It was a small amount of black coffee in a pot, served next to a sundae glass of ice cream. Minus points for Cameron who was the only one who didnt order a coffee based beverage.

We were informed that the girl making the coffee was new to the cafe and was relatively new to the craft of making a good coffee... skepticism crept in but I was very pleased with the taste and temperature of my double shot latte. It was served in a pretty little frosted latte glass and (as is the custom at Elie's) was accompanied by a small biscuit.

Overall, good times were had by all. What a year! Until next time Cafe de Bathurst... I will miss you greatly. I am left wondering if perhaps 3 months is long enough for my lazy, male, business partners to get their act together and post. Don't hold your breath.

Isn't it ironic, don't you think?...

2006-12-08T15:17:00.000+11:00

Dictionary.Com defines 'al dente' as...
"(esp. of pasta) cooked so as not to be too soft; firm to the bite"

If you consider for a moment that coffee could be described as 'al dente'... I believe it would be 'heated so as not to be burnt'... the coffee I puchased at Al Dente was in actuallity, not al dente.

I had high expectations of this cafe (which may have been considered an immediate failure) and whilst it was nice to chill out with Liam, Ken & special guest Kate in the gender balanced, outdoor environment under the oversized umbrella... the coffee was, I would say, the worst to date of the competition.

Don't get me wrong... I've had much worse coffee in my life... but usually it comes from cheap, take-away vendors such as staff room coffee machines or the take-away place at uni. I was able to drink the coffee... but didnt enjoy it. My tongue was left with that icky scladed feeling about it.

On the upside, I was kept entertained by the outdoors with the passing cattle/sheep trucks and the flock of hairdressers drinking coffee at the other table. Perhaps the only thing more entertaining would be if the cows and sheep were drinking coffee and the hairdressers were locked up in mass-transport vehicles.

If this blog were a child, DoCS would be all over us...

2006-11-28T12:08:00.000+11:00

So neglectful... so, so neglectful.

A long time ago in the days of cold weather Ken, Liam and I went for coffee at The Vanilla Bean with special guest Lauren. This place had a huge reputation and I think it stacked up pretty well.

The decore is the clear marketing point for this place and it screams expensive wood and Thailand... which is lovely in my books.

I ordered something quite out of the ordinary this day... I ordered a Vienna coffee which, from memory, is kind of just like a coffee with no milk but rather just cream sitting on top. I think it was alright... but clearly not nice enough for me to have ordered again since.

I remember wishing that I had had more money to purchase something to eat... eg. cake... but you can't win them all and there is only so much moolah the beverage boar can hold.

Unfortunately I dont remember anything else as it was such a long time ago. I just thought it was important to catch up as it seems Cafe de Bathurst has been cranked up again and I wouldnt want the hypothetical DoCS to take my hypothetical baby from me due to actual neglect.

First Post wooooo

2006-09-13T11:55:00.000+10:00

Ahah! All it takes is a little motivation, and it would seem that it came yesterday when Kathryn proposed (not to marry her!) that if I updated and posted about each place that we had visited by the time we went out for coffee next that she would purchase my next four (4) coffees. So here is my mega long post on each of the places that we have visited!

1. McDonalds Coffee
A long time back I think around March this year, we decided to start this crazy little (big) adventure and we decided that since Macca's coffee generally sucked that this would be a great place to start, as it could only get better from here...
Our day started early and I remember ordering some sort of Deli Choice junk for breakfast, ordered my coffee and sat down with Liam, Kathryn and Shane who was our honoured guest for this first adventure.
As it was so long ago I can barely remember the lines of our conversation. In fact, however many months later, the only thing that I am able to remember is how AWEFULLY BAD my deli choice breakfast roll junk heap was! So bad infact I sat there for a while complaining about it and much to Liam and Kathryns dismay did nothing about it except complain...For about a week or so.
Ahh fun times at Macca's, the coffee wasn't too bad tho, unfortunately since that time I have been back there for coffee and it has sucked. They must have been having a good day.

2. Treehouse!
Well, the next place we visited was the Treehouse cafe, at the time this was still a rather new cafe in town, and seemed like a nice place to take Ben and Jono.
One of the things I loved about our early adventures were the crazy conversation starters that Liam came up with. This fine day he was talking some trash about starting a new form of government system.
Now my memory isn't that great, but from what I remember it went something like this...you (the public) vote someone into government, then when it comes time to make some form of political decision, the people that voted for that candidate, each get to vote on that issue either yay or nay, then whoever wins from that vote is how the representative votes. Hrmm, at the time it sounded a lot stupider, umm perhaps one day Liam will post more on this theory...
From what I vaguely remember the music was too loud...The service was not that great, it was just us that was there, the place was quite empty.
Although it was at this expedition that we started a new tradition which was to leave at each of the establishments that we visit a napkin of our address to our blog, now we have no idea how many places just toss them out without looking at them but it would be kinda cool if they checked out our blog...

3. Carah's cakes and pies.
Today we were fortunate enough to share our coffee with one of our good neighbours, Naomi. The coffee was good, Liam had given me some "vouchers" for my birthday which entitled me to free coffees, ie he was paying :) We also had cake, which was nice, I remember that Kathryn was quite upset when I sat down and started reading the news paper...Oh well, that is life.
This was a fun day, I was able to walk down Kepple St, holding Naomi's hand :-D This was rather exciting, and from what I can remember it was her that would not let go after the joke was over :P

4. Porters Cafe
Breakfast time on an early saturday morning! To join our merry gang today we invited along Laura, Kathryns flat mate, I remember the day was quite blissful and sunny a great day to have French toast for breakfast, thats why I did. The service was rather good, although I think that this was the place that Liam wanted a muffin but they had just run out..? Not matter, I enjoyed my french toast.
We had a long conversation about one of the types of coffee that was on the menu, Kathryn even went as far as to send a message to two of her friends to try and find out...It was a fun time had by all with out any dramas from what I can recall...I could be wrong though.....

5. Bernard's Bakery.
The next trip was off to the good old fashioned Bernards bakery, since we've been here I've talked to a few (older) people that I know that went to CSU back when it was Mitchel Teachers College and there are two places in town that they speak of, one of which is the Acropole and the other is Bernard's bakery. I would agree with them when they say its a great place for a coffee, when we arrived we ordered our coffee with our guest for the day Benn, and then proceded up the stairs, we had a great view of George street, mainly the trophy place was directly opposite us. Liam bought some day old cheese and bacon rolls and proceded to eat them much to the disgust of Kathryn who couldn't possibly imagine anything worse to go with coffee. Hah, we had a sick time with Benn, coffee was also quite nice.
I'd also have to recommend the trophy place, I bought my mates 21st present there a while back and got excellent service, they even did the engraving for free! and did an excellent job!

I'll have to appologise for not remembering exactly what I've been having for coffee at these different establishments, usually my signature coffee is the classic flat white with one sugar. But I've shaken it up at some places ordering a cappucinno at times...

6. The Acropole
Today was a rather drizzly day, so it was an excellent chance to go somewhere warm and drink coffee with good friends. Today we were joined by the Canadian's - Trevor and Christine, before we get to these details something funny did happen as we were walking towards the Acropole, I just managed to get across the street before the lights went red. Kathryn on the other hand was not as fortunate. So she was standing there and I waited (like the gentleman I am) and as she was standing there she decided it would be funny to stroke her little piggy bank that she keeps her money for coffee in. The funny bit was that there was a lady pretty much standing next to her that also saw her doing this, she had a rather distasteful look on her face, but then the little man went green so Kathryn crossed the road and that was the end of that.
The coffee was rather good, this time Liam and I both ordered coffee in a pot as we decided that it was cheaper and also provided more coffee than what we would have received if we had just gotten a mug. It turned out to be rather good coffee as well. :-)
The conversation was mainly based around different bands that mostly Liam knew (as well as Kathryn) that the Canadian's also knew, so I was out of my depth but still had a great time.

7. The Good Catch Cafe
This was a rather nice adventure that we shared with Megan, the American chick that was living here in Bathurst during first semester this year. It was a lovely afternoon full of coffee drinking and assignment avoiding...We stayed there so long that we also decided to have dinner there. I can't exactly remember what I had to drink, or what I had to eat, or even how good it was...So I can't really be more specific, I do vaguely remember that it was raining outside for a bit of it. And I had to run to an ATM to get money to pay the person with to order dinner.

Finally, after more than an hour typing this post, I'm as far ahead as both Liam and Kathryn, and whilst my posts might not be as detailed both of theirs for each place we have visited I endevor to keep up from now on. (Although there are still a few places to blog about before we are all fully caught up...)

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment for our merry little gang!

A time capsule would have been a good idea at the time...

2006-08-20T14:58:00.000+10:00

I feel terribly upset about our lack of updates... so upset I dont even want to talk about it. I will just pretend like nothing is wrong...

So! A long long time ago before they invented the wheel, Liam, Ken and I along with an American girl I can hardly remember now set off to The Good Catch Cafe as part of their comical adventures known as Cafe de Bathurst.

I imagine I ordered some sort of coffee though I dont remember what or how much it cost. Coffee was good and the hour was late so the party decided to stay for dinner. I ordered a chicken burger of some sort and felt adventurous enough to try one of the delightful exotic sauces on the menu. It was a combination of everything I love - sweet chilli sauce, lime juice and coconut... unfortunately too many good things combined equal one gross thing.

I remember nothing else from this event as it was oh so long ago. I do remember that Liam forgot to take a photo of the shop front and there was a canoe on the roof... or maybe it was a kayak... we debated this for a while.

Weird place.

the athens of bathurst...

2006-08-10T11:18:00.000+10:00

the preface: late, late. i am not all that remorseful, however, because we have not been on any outings for quite some time, mostly due to holidays. but we are hopefully getting back into the swing of things starting this afternoon. hence, the reason for this posting (kathryn threatened me again =( ).

the date: 5 june 2006

the time: 4.17pm

the establishment: the acropole rest

the address: 68 william street, bathurst nsw 2795

the coffee: ken and i both noticed what was called 'a pot of coffee' on the menu. i was quite stumped as to what this could be. i dared myself to believe that it would be the equivalent of a pitcher of soft drink (/soda/pop/fizzy drink) at a restaurant, but not for long considering the price. either way, what we received was as follows:

essentially it was flat white coffee in a small pot, which provided two cups worth of caffeine goodness.

the coffee itself is probably some of the best flat white coffee i have ever purchased. a very good economical option for coffee in bathurst.

the price: $3. again, very much worth it.

the sugar:

the company:

trevor and kristine (unfortunately i could be spelling her name wrong, sorry), also known as "the canadians" joined us as part one of a two part series of "making sure we invited people moving ten-thousand miles away" campaign.

the other stuff:

the staff were very kind to us. in fact, they liked us so much the gave us complementary biscotti, and i like biscotti.

the conversation: it was great having "the canadians" along to reminisce about north america (despite the differences between canada and america, where i lived, it is still the next closer thing).

other canadian type things were discussed, including pronunciations of caffeinated beverages.

turns out that kristine worked at a music studio where thousand foot krutch used to record and knows them quite well. for those who don't know, thousand foot krutch is a rapcore/heavy rock Christian band from canada. i mention this because it basically means i am within two degrees of separation from pretty much the entire modern Christian music community. coolness...

very abstract (i.e. not concrete) plans were made about me possibly heading up to niagara falls for new years' when i am in the states for summer holidays to meet up with trevor and kristine, as they will be living there then.

the advertisement:

the summary: as kathryn mentioned, the strange atmosphere created through the combination of neon lights and authentic greek setting is quite strange... especially on rainy cloudy days. not sure why, but anyway... coffee was great, and the only thing better than biscotti with coffee is free biscotti.

a strong contender up against porters for best cafe so far!

the random photos:

the end:

Love thy beverage boar...

2006-07-06T13:29:00.000+10:00

Like with all good things in life, Cafe de Bathurst seems to suffer many set backs. The current set back in postings is due to the fact that Liam's laptop is in for repair. So, I thought Id give try and keep the ball rolling regardless.

We have embarked on two coffee adventures since the last post.

1. The Acropole.
Ill leave the matter-of-fact details to Liam but here is my own experience, or what I remember of it.

It was a cold and rainy day in Bathurst. I remember that I was wearing my new ugg boots and my warmest jacket. The Acropole and I go way back as it is a pretty standard place to get food with friends and family when they come to visit. I like the atmosphere, it is unpredictable. You think you know what you're in for when you spot the carpet, bronze light fittings and floral centerpieces, then you glance up and see a blue light illuminating the roof! Who doesnt love that?!

Perhaps the most embarrasing part of the outing was as I was standing at the traffic light with the Beverage Boar in my hands. I was trying to freak Ken out by kind of staring at Ken and petting the pig. Then I realised the old lady beside me was looking at me. Ken just laughed.

As I was about to order I remembered back to my first year at uni when I went for lunch with a bunch of my mountains friends. Lachie returned his coffee it was so bad... maybe twice.

I decided I would be a little adventurous with my choice of coffee and I ordered a caramel latte, my first flavoured coffee EVER! When it arrived, I didnt really think and went about adding sugar, which I normally do. The end result was sickly sweet... but it still tasted good.

A bonus to the experience was that we were given free biscotti (I cant be bothered to look up if that is the correct spelling) which was nice. And also, I greatly enjoyed the company of the Canadians.

All in all, a good experience. Except for when the waitress made comments about the Beverage Boar and how they also had a piggy bank near the cash register that had a g-string drawn on. Ewww... my poor little piggy would have died at the thought, except that he is way way way too resilient.

Mocha Mayhem...

2006-06-05T15:37:00.000+10:00

Some little hole within myself has just been plugged up by Liam's timely post. I've forgotten how nice it is to read blogs other than my own. And, on another happy note... I can finally leave you alone Liam! Hoorah!

Now, I have roughly 38min to write this post before we launch back in to the venture I have come to know and love as if it was my own caffeine addicted child.

Bernard's (from what I can remember) was a happy little outing basically chosen for it's conveinient proximity to the trophy store where I was waiting for my spoon to get engraved. Long story! So for anyone wanting to get engraving done in Bathurst, Bernard's is a nice place to have a coffee hit while you wait.

I ordered a mocha wich was reminisent of my first coffee drinking days and when it came I remembered why I stopped drinking them in the first place. This coffee, whilst passing all my tests of warmth and appearance (yes, my tests are somewhat more simple than Liam's) simply did not have a coffee taste. It tasted of chocolate and not much else. I was disappointed.

I was also pretty discusted with the number of cheese and bacon rolls being consumed with the coffee at my table. Only certain foods can be eated with coffee... small cubes of pig dipped in cheese do not qualify. Sorry. I wanted to buy a baked treat from the bakery portion... however, I remember restraining myself due to the final price of engraving the spoon.

I really don't think I have much more to say about this experience. I liked sitting outside... there was a lot of wood inside... company was good, though again very male oriented... All in all, I give it rating of a bit above mediocre... but maybe I should just give up on drinking mochas again.

good ol' bernie...

2006-06-05T11:33:00.000+10:00

the preface: so this is way late. it is just hard to motivate one's self when you know it is going to be two months before there is going to be anything new to write anyways. meanwhile, kathryn was threatening to not go today if i had not updated... i guess she has just given up on kenneth...

the date: 10 april 2006

the time: 4.42pm

the establishment: bernard's dine in bakery

the address: 81 george street, bathurst nsw 2795

the coffee: i was very happy at the froth-factor of my cappucinno, as you can see below:

as far as i am concerned, quality of the coffee itself aside, the goodness of a cappucinno can be evaluated by something i like to call the 'sugar-suspension test'. this basically involves pouring your sugar on the edge of the coffee. the coffee passes the test if you can still see the sugar crystals without them sinking to the bottom of the cup.

once completing this test, a second test can be carried out which involves slipping your teaspoon through the layer of milk at the same place that the sugar was added. the location is very important as it serves two purposes:

it pushes the sugar down into the coffee (assuming it passed the 'sugar-suspension' test).
it ensures that the milk, and cocoa, is not further disturbed.

this bit takes some practice: you have to try to stir the sugar in without disturbing the froth. i find this can be done by holding the handle of the teaspoon firmly against the edge of the cup and make some circular motions using the point that the handle touches the cup as a pivot. if you have rather large hands, such as myself, this can be done with just a wrist motion, but it may take others a more "elbow-greese" approach, so to speak.

usually if the coffee passes the first test, it will pass this second test. yet there is a third, and final, test. in fact, the conglomeration of these tests could be specified as a trial...

drink the coffee with the only contact that your mouth makes with the cup being, yet again, the same place that you inserted the sugar, and stirred the coffee.

the cappucinno gets an A grade if, by the completion of the said coffee, the cocoa and froth are left in almost exactly the same state as when you started. although, very rare, an A+ grade is given if some of the cocoa is still dry (assuming there was enough on there to begin with that bits were dry).

after all this you can finish off your coffee by scooping up the frothy-and-cocoa goodness at the end.

i believe my bernard's coffee got an A-.

the price: i don't remember! ='( if anyone goes to bernard's and gets a large cappucinno, leave me a comment to let me know.

the sugar:

the company:

benn joined us this time. what to say about benn? probably the biggest coffee connoisseur we have had on our jorney so far. benn also enjoys a good steak, a good cheese, a good wine and walks on the beach at sunset. benn is one of the most down-to-earth guys i know. it was an absolute pleasure to have him along.

the other stuff:

i was delighted to find a "special" table in the bakery with half-a-dozen cheese and bacon rolls for $2. i was thinking that i could have a tasty snack now and a scrumptious lunch tomorrow. but they were so good i ended up eating the lot (minus one that kenneth ate instead). i think kathryn was actually grossed out, but i hadn't had lunch yet or anything, and they really were good. bernard's would get my vote of confidence for the rolls alone, let alone the coffee.

the conversation: who knows...

the advertisment:

the summary: best bakery so far. both in terms of bakery-goodness and caffeinated-goodness.

the random photos:

the end:

I trust that everyone remembered to bring their permission slips...

2006-05-26T22:45:00.000+10:00

So, I have a suggestion team...

Cafe de Bathurst Sydney style... we should totally go on an excursion to the annual Aroma Coffee Festival at The Rocks in Sydney.

Thoughts?

I have one for you. POST NOW LIAM please or I will have to declare a famine regarding coffee upon my return to Bathurst this weekend.

Even cups of coffee deserve a holiday...

2006-05-05T13:45:00.000+10:00

Well yes, so it seems that the Cafe de Bathurst venture is on vacation. This is simply because I am not in Bathurst. If you refer to the rules, you will see that the cafe must be located in Bathurst and that all three members of the team must be present. Hence, the venture can not go on... at least for now.

Stay tuned though folks because we will be back better than ever soon. I promise... Esspecially seeing as I have been on prac for the last three weeks and have had access to many good and free coffee opportunities. My addiction has increased as a result.

In other news, we still owe a recap of Bernards Bakery... (hint, hint Liam). It was a long time ago and I am struggling to remember what happened. Oh dear.

Where for art thou muffin?...

2006-04-11T21:49:00.000+10:00

Although I still can't seem to shake the feeling that Cafe de Bathurst is something illegal, I really enjoyed my time at Porters on the whole.

The last time I had been here was to have lunch with visiting friends from home back in first year. It was much cooler than I remember. This was evidenced mainly be the huge number of people enjoying Saturday brunch and the artwork on the walls. Postmodern artwork always makes a place cooler in my books.

In terms of service, I was immediately impressed by the woman that cleared the table so we could sit down. She was friendly and speedy... two essential qualities I think!

We soon after ordered and I was as upset about the lack of muffins as Liam was. Kind of one of the downfalls that comes with visiting a popular place at a popular time. Anyway, I got over it pretty quickly and ordered a Tall Latte.

I was intregued that this came under it's own heading on the menu... not simply reffered to as a latte of the large variety... but a 'tall latte'. It cost me a round $4. Pricey for coffee really, but it was quite... well... tall.

This coffee was indeed very tasty, probably the best so far. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if they had done that nifty tying of the napkin around the glass as it was too hot for me to pick up.

Ken's french toast eating was making me mourn more for my misplaced muffin, but I was comforted when I saw the small size of Laura's banana smoothie. My latte was very milky and large when next to Liam's macchiato. Speaking of which, here are accurate direct quotes from the responses I got from my coffee savvy friends...

The question: Kat says: what type of coffee is a macchiato? Like what's in it?
The answers:
Mitch says: It's a short black with a tiny bit of froth.
Amy says: It's a straight shot of coffee with a little bit of creamy milk.
Lachlan says: It's just an espresso (short black) with a small amount of foamed milk spooned on top. It's in a small glass.

Well, I guess that's all I have to say on the whole experience. I can't decide if Porter's has nabbed the top spot. Maybe it's on par with the Treehouse in my books.

As an end note: If you read these blogs you should leave comments. They'd make us feel good. Maybe you can even make a suggestion about some kind of shoddy Cafe de Bathurst merchandise we should make.

a strong coffee is a good coffee...or is it?

2006-04-08T14:26:00.000+10:00

the preface: it's on time! how exciting...

the date: 8 april 2006

the time: 11.14am

the establishment: porters cafe

the address: 76 william street, bathurst nsw 2795

the coffee: this probably stood out to me more than anything else on this stage of the journey. i decided to do something a little different and purchased a large macchiato. i did not actually know what it was when i ordered it.

what i received was what looked like a latte:

upon drinking, the foam disappeared and all could be seen was black! it was like a black hole filled with burnt licorice.

and boy was it strong! i was sure it tasted like at least a double-shot coffee with no milk...

kathryn decided to message three of her coffee "savvy" friends to ask what a macchiato was. they all replied that it was black coffee with foam spooned on top. i disagreed quite strongly. there was no way that was just black coffee. i mean, i often drink strong coffee at home, but this was barely tolerable, even after adding two sugars!

my doubts were quite founded when i got home and looked it up on dictionary.com: an espresso drink with a teaspoon or two of steamed milk on top; also written macchiatto.

ahh! espresso! that explains it...

meanwhile, it was good tasting coffee... just too much tasting coffee.

well done, porters, you made a too-strong-by-nature coffee still rather enjoyable.

the price: $3.50

the sugar:

the company:

laura, kathryn's flatmate, came along today. she was quite keen to go to a proper cafe, rather than a more adventurous asian restaurant (one coming to a blog near you soon!), which is just fine. rather glad too, actually. she is just lovely, although i don't think she will be that happy about having her photo up... just based on the fact that she didn't even want me to take it...

the other stuff: i wanted a muffin for $3.50, but they just sold the last one before we were served, which was probably good because kathryn wanted one too and we would have had to fight for it, or fight to give it to each other.

instead i went to muffin break and paid way too much ($3.20) for the size of the muffin. but i love blueberry muffins.

the conversation: i forgot to bring my conversation starters again. next time!

the advertisment:

the summary: i had a good time! everything was of a high quality and, in fact, i would rate porters as my coffee establishment of choice so far on café de bathúrst. highly recommended indeed!

the random photos:

the end:

Third time's a charm... or is it?

2006-04-06T16:19:00.000+10:00

First up, yay for us being almost up to date. I feared that this blog would die very soon. Infact I actually told Liam that I would refuse to go out to coffee again until we had caught up with our blogging. So after my two cents (assuming Ken will keep up his lack of posting) we can move on to brighter, better and more highly caffeinated things.

So, Carah's staight off the bat I must admit that this was my least favourite coffee date thus far. I hope I can work through these issues in the following points...

1. Carah's and I go way back. I think it used to have a different name but maybe not. This has been my place of choice to buy small cakes and juice before getting the bus/train home until one terrible day...

One day back in my first year, I had walked about 3kms back from nursing prac, in my very uncomfortable nursing shoes to get the train home. I had a very very heavy bag containing clothes and my deathly weighted laptop. I arrived around 2 hours prior to my train leaving. I purchased juice and a slice of somesort from the now Carah's and sat outside the library drawing people with mullets.

I was very bored and very tired and very sore (re:shoes and heavy bag). So the slice and juice from this place holds negavite connotations.

2. Anyway, life goes on and I was feeling ok about entering Carah's agin. I ordered a cappuccino in a mug (I refuse to use the hybrid term mugaccino!) and a piece of hedgehog slice. I can't remember the grand total of this meal... I think it was about $5.50... standard price in my views.

3. I'd never eaten in at this place and I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the decore. Lounges were comfortable and the walls were interesting.

4. The coffee here was less than impressive. I would have preferred my own coffee at home and I'm sure it would have been cheaper too. The mug was heavy and I actually had problems lifting it. It may be my complete lack of upper body strength, or it could be serious dehydration. The slice was ok... a bit hard and rich but there was not a lot of options for me to choose from as I do not enjoy the tart as Naomi does.

Overall, this experience was mediocre at best. I guess I have no real evidence to suggest this, it was just the vibe. Could have also been the fact that the boys keep raising issues about politics that I care not about. Better luck next time hey!

the place of broken bun dreams...

2006-04-06T11:34:00.000+10:00

the preface: another late one, sorry. but i am now up to date! yay!

the date: 27 march 2006

the time: 4.40p

the establishment: carah's golden delicious cakes and pies

the address: 61 keppel street, bathurst nsw 2795

the website: http://www.carahs.com

the coffee: cappacino, mug sized; to be honest, the coffee was lacking. however, based on my sample space of three placed in bathurst it would come in the middle. better than mccafe, but not as good as the tree house. but that is not really fair, as the tree house had good coffee. this brings me to a point where i am scared that i am going to become some sort of coffee snob over the course of the project. then again, most of the time i am drinking crappy coles-brand instant coffee at home...

the price: $3.50 "including hot cross bun"

the sugar:

the company:

naomi, a resident of the group of flats in which kathryn, kenneth and i live, and in fact ken's and my neighbour. she was very excited to come along which was very nice. i certainly would not be surprised if she joined us again sometime, as i loved having her along.

the other stuff: i was delighted to find that carah's had a deal going: a coffee and a hot cross bun for $3.50. i was very excited as i am a rather big fan of hot cross buns.

we all ordered and sat down, only to have the girl come over and inform me that they have no hot cross buns left! i was bitterly disappointed. she asked me if there was something else i wanted. i was in such a mood for fruity goodness that i asked if there was anything else with sultanas and such things. she said they had scones, so i asked for one of those. it was okay. i mean i like scones, but it simply was not a hot cross bun =(.

meanwhile, it occured to me later that since i had already paid for both my coffee and my bun, i probably should have asked for something really expensive hoping that they wouldn't ask me for the difference

the service: good. the girl was quite nice about the whole "no bun for you!" moment. and the good bye on leaving is always greatly appreciated.

the conversation: unfortunately there was no main conversation for the week. kenneth tried quite valiantly at starting a conversation based on the newspaper he was reading, but unfortunately picked a politics topic, which, again, no one cared a great deal about...

the more casual conversation was just dandy though...

the advertisment:

the summary: our first bakery on the project. i only wish i had experienced the fullness of the bakery goodness. i may go again one day.

the random photos:

the end:

...

super ted's hang-out place of choice...

2006-04-05T11:24:00.000+10:00

the preface: i apologise for how late this posting is. i had a couple of assignments due and i was not quite prepared for the amount of work they required. i still managed to put aside some time to actually go get some coffee, but not quite enough to post.

the date: 23 march 2006

the time: 4.41p

the establishment: the tree house, cafe and restaurant

the address: 263 durham street, bathurst nsw 2795

the menu: (or part thereof)

the coffee: cappacino, mug sized; the coffee was good. not excellent, but good. i don't really know what else to say. sorry.

the price: $3.80

the sugar:

the company:

[stirring] jono (a.k.a. curly sue), studying nursing/paramedics double degree, second year. jono is one of my newest favourite people there is. just a pleasure to be with at pretty much all times.

[holding marshmallow] ben rolfe. all round cool guy. probably at one stage or another one of my newest favourite people there is. he shall be moving to dubbo sometime in the next x weeks. it shall be sad to see him go, but he will be going on to great things.

the service: not the greatest to be honest. given that as far as i can tell it was just our party and two ladies there was not a whole lot of reason why we weren't waited on hand-and-foot, except for maybe the fact that that would be kind of creepy...

they were nice enough to turn down the blaring music that came out when there was any.

to be fair, they were quite friendly and they were obviously in a lull-period, so were probably preparing for that evening where it may get quite busy.

the other stuff: now, i have been to the treehouse in the past for lunch with my good friend, fiona. however, we stopped at lunch (they have really good, albiet slightly pricey, sandwiches!). this time, however, the posse was there just for the coffee.

the conversation:

i attempted to start a sophisticated conversation this week (and of course i mean two weeks ago) regarding my plans to start a political party, whose purpose is solely to abolish representative government. i will not go into the details now, but you may find them one day (maybe) on my other blog: ...is overrated.

the conversation did not go so well considering none of the members of the conversation cared that much about politics. except for ken of course...

i am considering writing out a bunch of different conversation starters to bring each week...

the advertisment: kathryn decided to write our url on a napkin to leave behind as our marker for the staff at the treehouse. we have decided to do something similar during all of our visits around bathurst.

the summary: brilliant atmosphere. i kind of felt out of place in the trendy setting with my Christian rock band t-shirt on...

highly recommended if you simply want to chill out and spend time with your friends.

the random photos:

the end:

Don't be shy, get down from your treehouse in the sky...

2006-03-27T17:40:00.000+11:00

Firstly, one million points to whoever knows what song I stole the title for this post from.

I'm kind of nervous about being the first to post about this segment of the Cafe de Bathurst experience. Please be kind.

Firstly, the venue for this adventure was The Treehouse Cafe. I chose it as I thought it sounded like a step up from the well, squaller that is McCafe. I will point form the most important things that stood out to me from this venue…

1. Location.
This café was in a part of Bathurst that I rarely ever go to… this was a plus within itself. However, would not have been ideal for those without cars. Luckily, Liam had a car and it was all fun and games.

2. Decor
I really liked the style of this joint indoors and out. Kind of reminded me of Razz in Springwood. However, we must all remember that Razz in Springwood became quite bankrupt because the people were interior designers and thus the place looked awesome but the food was up the proverbial creek without a paddle… in a barbed wire boat.

Anyway, where was I, oh yes… decor. I liked the cushions but unfortunately the boys stole the cushion-laden seats and I sat on mere wood.

3. The Coffee
I ordered an iced coffee due to the fact I didn’t feel like a hot drink. I can’t remember now how much it cost. I think it was $3.90, which I guess is maybe a bit above standard price. It tasted very good and I enjoyed the ratio of cream & ice cream to actual coffee.

Overall, I enjoyed this experience very much so. This is a place I would take someone I love. I’m also wondering if maybe I could hold my 21st birthday in their outdoor cubby house.

Here piggy piggy piggy...

2006-03-20T18:22:00.000+11:00

I thought I would take this opportunity to catch up to Liam's impeccable posting record, to make Ken feel guilty for not posting yet and also to introduce another vital member of this gang.

The little fella pictured above was formally named 'The Party Pig'. He was purchased from The Apple Pot cafe in Springwood as they were closing down and were selling all their handicrafts at 70% off.

From then on he held all my silver change until there was enough to spend on some sort of party. Once the balance hit $30 I took Lauren out to Spectrum on Oxford St. Darlinghurst. He did his job quite nicely.

Now however, I feel that the financial implications of Cafe de Bathurst will hit me hard. So I have renamed the Party Pig to be.... The Beverage Boar. His silvery insides will now pay for my coffee and thus reduce my angst against portions of this project.

McMorning McCoffee

2006-03-18T11:30:00.000+11:00

Though Liam has provided a detailed round-up of the McCafe experience. I thought I should put in something small about my view of the experience.

McCafe and I are old friends. Many moments have been spent post-church at McCafe in Blaxland sampling cakes and different beverages until being kicked out at closing time. Today however, things went a little differently.

Firstly, I was not so keen on the early morning coffee. I had to wake up very early to pack my stuff for going home and was intending to eat breakfast at home as McDonalds breakfast is dangerous at best. I had no time however so upon arrival at McCafe and I ordered a latte and 2 pieces of banana and date toast.

The total of this meal came to $6.15. $3 toast, $3.15 coffee. Right from the start the price of the coffee was surprising. TheOri in Springwood provides double shot lattes for a mere $3. Was McCafe more upmarket than I had bargained on?

I saw my coffee arrive in it's disposable cup with plastic travel lid (even though I told them I was eating in... sorry environment) and realised no, this joint was as classless as I thought.

The coffee was maybe a little bit hotter than I would have liked. My toast was late and as a consequence was cold when it arrived.

That's pretty much all I have to say on the matter. My verdict: McCafe is a let down, but everyone already knows this and keeps going anyway. I am one of those people.

the giant monstrosity known as the big m...

2006-03-16T10:24:00.000+11:00

the date: 16 march 2006

the time: 8.30a

the establishment: mccafé/mcdonalds the address: durham st bathurst nsw 2795

the coffee: i decided to deter from my usual caffienated beverage of a cappucino to a "caffe latte", due to the fact that i had a mcdonald's cappucino last night on my way home from orange. it was size "standard".

i have to admit that i was not overly impressed with my coffee. i have recently been quite plesantly surprised with the level of quality and taste from mccafé, but the trend certainly did not continue this morning. that is not to say that the coffee was bad it just wasn't particularly good. i am unsure about whether this is simply because i am used to that sprinkling of chocolate one gets on a cappucinno, if bathurst mcafé just isn't as good as orange's, or if perhaps it is just a once off. maybe my tastebuds just hadn't woken up yet...

overall, on a scale of one (being tastes like mud) to ten (being...uh...very good), i would give my latte a 6.5.

the price: $3.15

the sugar:

the company:

everyone's best friend, shane, came along with the team today. he may make regular appearances as he is also a big fan of coffee. it will be good to have him along.

meanwhile, sharyn and nicole from one of the flats here told us last night that they would meet us there, but they did not show up. i am going to have a stern word to them later.

the service: the girl who took my money was quite friendly. especially considering she had probably been there since some ridiculous time in the morning to open up. once my order was taken i took a seat at one of the tables near the counter next to ken and started my stopwatch timer. about three minutes later i realise that the guy had been calling (rather softly) for a short time that my coffee was ready. kathryn had previously alerted to me that perhaps my coffee was ready, but that, oh wait, someone else is taking it. turns out that guy was actually waiting for a tall latte, not a standard, but felt the need to take my coffee anyway. one of apologised to the other when i went to take my coffee. all's well that ends well...

the other stuff: i also got a bacon and egg deli choice sandwich thing from the main part of mcdonald's. despite what ken is probably going to post about his sandwich, i rather enjoyed mine. i am a big fan of barbeque sauce.

the summary: not the best coffee in the world, but what do you really expect from mcdonalds? then again, i have come to expect good coffee... the coffee was rather quick though, which is a plus. service was average.

all in all, the best coffee place we have gone yet! unfortunately it is also the first.

t-minus eight hours and counting...

2006-03-16T00:27:00.000+11:00

hello again,

so tomorrow it begins...

kenneth and i decided that we would start with a nice easy place that we could be assured would be open early in the morning as kathryn has university from 9.3a onwards and then is heading home.

therefore, we are starting with...

mccafe.

yeah, mcdonald's...

i won't elaborate too much on my thoughts of our decision until visiting there tomorrow morning.

in fact, i think i shall leave it at that.

seeya on the other side...

The voices in my head

2006-03-15T17:05:00.000+11:00

So, it's about to start and I must say I am having some preliminary feelings of apprehension about this mission...

I am so commited to Operation Cityrail that I fear undertaking another large scale venture such as Cafe de Bathurst might detract from my ultimate life long goal of visiting every town on the Cityrail map.

Many a person has mocked the idea of Operation Cityrail. I thought seeing as Cafe de Bathurst is much smaller (ie. 53 venues as opposed to 326 towns, 2 years as opposed to lifetime) it would be more widely accepted.

I was wrong... here is a re-enactment of a conversation I had with my friend Mitch last night.

Kat says: some friends and I are starting a new mission. Over the next 2 years we are going to go to every cafe and resteraunt (that serves coffee) in the Bathurst area.

Mitch says: you love those crazy missions
hahahaha. u loser

I fear greater backlash from members of the public. Possibly involving physical slapping.

However, as I write this, I have realised something. I love coffee. It is most certainly my beverage of choice in many situations.
I hate tea, milkshakes give you a milk belly and I find hot chocolates to be often sickly sweet.

I also love Ken & Liam. They are 2 of my very favourite people to spend time with in Bathurst. Without them I almost certainly would not have made it through the coutless boring and angst filled times that Bathurst provides.

So... To all you cynics out there I say. Screw you! Viva la cafe de Bathurst!

update: new criteria for establishments

2006-03-14T23:36:00.000+11:00

greetings.

due to the fact that i have already found two establishments that clearly belong on the list however are not found under "cafe" or "restaurant" in the yellow pages i have decided that the yellow pages...is overrated as a source of information that is coffee-related.

thereby, the yellow pages listing shall be used as a starting point, however establishments can be added upon review of their cafe and/or restaurant status.

unfortunately i cannot remember the name of the two previous mentioned places. i shall add them later.

meanwhile, the first phase of the project should be completed on thursday...

the beginning...

2006-03-14T14:09:00.000+11:00

hiya folks!

this here website is dedicated to log (or "blog" as the "trendy" like to say) a journey through a small town in the central midlands of new south wales, australia.

there will be laughter,
there will be tears,
there will be a whole lot of caffeine consumed.

the project, known as 'Café de Bathúrst', is simply to have coffee at (almost) every coffee-serving establishment in bathurst. i say "almost" because more specifically the places of interest to the project are just those categorised as either 'cafes' or 'restaurants' as per the australian yellow pages website. this is contrast to other food-establishments that sell coffee, such as fast food shops and wedding reception venues?

the aim will be to go to one establishment about once a week.

the list is currently at a rounded fifty(-one) [presented here in alphabetical order]:

Absolutely Delicious
Acropole Restaurant, The
Al Dente Gourmet To Go
Banjo's Retreat
Bathurst Golf Club Restaurant
Bathurst R.S.L. Club Ltd
Benjarong Thai Restaurant
Bernard's Dine In Bakery
Cafe Pandora
Cafe Sofala
Cafe Soho
Chinese Inn Restaurant
Cobblestone Lane Brasserie
Continental Restaurant
Cougar Spur Bathurst Panthers
Country Coffee
Country Comfort Bathurst
Crepes Royale
Crowded House Cafe/Restaurant
Elie's Cafe
Fortuna Chinese Restaurant
Golden Paradise
Golden Yan Chinese Restaurant
Good Catch Cafe
Great Wall, The
GT Angus Bar & Grill
Guan Yin Vegetarian
Heritage Royal Coffee House & Restaurant
The Royal Hotel
Kelso Hotel/Motel
Knickerbocker Bistro
Korea Palace
La Porchetta
Lamplighters Restaurant
Maalouf's Restaurant
Marigold Garden Chinese Restaurant
9inety 2wo
O'Connell Cafe & Deli
Perfect Timing Family Restaurant
Porters Cafe
Rangoli Indian Restaurant
Rockley Bank Tea Rooms
Rose Garden Chinese Restaurant
Sasha's
Sofala Sweet Retreat
Sundowner
Thai Highway
The Carrington
The Mount Restaurant
The Tree House Cafe & Restaurant
Wing Heung

for the time being at least, this is an authoritive list, and will not be changed, added to nor will any items be removed. that is, with the exception of if any of these restaurants do not serve coffee, which may well be possible, especially with the asian cuisine restaurants.

joining me on my journey will be kathryn and kenneth.

kathryn hails from the blue mountains and has a similar (much larger-scale and long-term) project involving going to every town/suburb etc on sydney's cityrail map. she enjoys coffee. she is also simply one of my favourite people.

kenneth also hails from the blue mountains, and in fact went to the same highschool as kathryn for three years, but never realised it until about four months after kenneth moved to bathurst, despite the fact that they both know about fifty of the same people. ken also likes coffee. he is my flatmate and is good value.

i (and hopefully my cohorts) will be posting to this blog our thoughts of specific coffee establishments and also of how we think the project is going in general.

so, if you live in/near bathurst and enjoy coffee, please enjoy and learn something of what it has to offer.