Padre Coffee (South Melbourne Market)

Along one of the rows of shops in South Melbourne Market is Padre Coffee. Padre was highly recommended to me by Miss XS, whose friend would cram his luggage with their coffee beans on every visit without fail. 

I love their beans now, but I have to admit, my initial impression of Padre was not very favourable. We ordered their Flat White and Magic, and left disappointed. The coffees had a slightly sour taste, like they have left the beans out in the open for too long. 

But then a few weeks after my first visit, when we found ourselves at South Melbourne Market again. Because Miss XS's friend was with us, we gave Padre another shot. 

Pun intended. You're welcome. Too easy.

This time, we didn't linger around the cafe and just bought the beans. On Miss XS's friend's recommendation, we ordered the same beans as him: the Columbia Inca. I asked mine to be grinded to a Moka pot's consistency, which they obliged. I opened it a few days later to a strong fruity aroma.

  

Yes, I hear that ground coffee beans are best used within 3 minutes of grinding before they lose their flavours. But I'm a coffee novice, and also quite a prolific procrastinator. 

It's common to hear advice from coffee aficionados that coffee grounds should never be bought in supermarkets, where they would have spent weeks sitting around in transport, storage and on shelves. Instead, they advice coffee drinkers to source their coffee beans from a local roastery, and to use the grounded beans as soon as possible.

Up until now, I have relied on Lavazza, Segafredo and Illy ground coffee from supermarkets. Aside from the freshness issue, I find that their grind, which being designed for espresso machines, were much more finely grounded than the grind recommended for moka pots. Using them often left a sludge in the bottom of the pot. So it's with some surprise that I opened Padre's bag to find a much rougher consistency than what I expected. 

My moka pot hard at work. Burn baby burn.

Oh wow. Just... Wow. It was fruity and strongly-flavoured, with no trace of sourness. This is one of the best coffee I had, and I now understand what the hype is all about. It was simply incredible. Baaaa, call me a sheep, because now I'm a total convert. 

Homemade Vanilla Affogato. 1) Shape the ice cream in a cup, and return the cup to the freezer and chill thoroughly. 2) Add a shot of espresso whenever you're ready to serve. 3) Smack your friend's hands whenever they try to stir the ice cream into the coffee to "make it melt faster'. Those little scamps. Just kidding. Love you guys. 

Check out my Affogato recipe variation