The Espresso School

A beautifully warm Sunday called for a refreshing drink. Today I visited Dukes Coffee Roasters in Windsor for a quick espresso and then off to Prahran Market to have a coffee at Market Lane Coffee.

I ordered an espresso at Dukes at the bar. I was served a drink that was well over the standard 30 mL in volume and looked disappointingly pale in colour. I took my first sip and as I had suspected the brew was watery thin, as if the barista has put some hot water in the bottom of the cup. The drink was surprisingly good - although I didn't know what was served to me. Great acidity with notes of grapefruit and blackcurrant - if I had to guess, it would have to be some sort of Kenyan. It just goes to show, you can't judge a book by it's cover. Duke's is situated in the Windsor end of Chapel St close to Dandenong Rd. It has a really nice fit-out serving espresso on a La Marzocco Mistral, pourover and syphon - roasting their coffee's on site. These guys were amazingly busy, which is a trend I've noticed with a lot of places that I have been to lately!

Next stop was Market Lane Coffee, the brain child of Fleur Studd of Melbourne Coffee Merchants and roaster Jason Scheltus. This airy open space is located at the back of Prahran Market with entry via Elizabeth St. It was late afternoon by the time I had arrived and the mercury hovering a nice and warm 30 degrees. I was in need of refreshment and a pourover on ice was in order. I ordered the Kenyan Ndimaini. A few minutes later the barista had served it to me in an old school tumbler with a straw over ice. It was just what I needed - refreshingly cold! Market Lane Coffee serves espresso, pourover (hot and cold), clover and roasts amazingly good coffee on-site