“It’s a sensory tour”
had heard of Melbourne’s Coffee Trek, hosted by Maria Paoli for a number of years. So, when DaVinci Gourmet booked a tour to show some of their international clients and staff (who were in Melbourne for the 2013 World Barista Championships) what the Melbourne café culture had to offer, I quickly volunteered to go along as photographer.
We all met in the heart of café culture, where Maria took us through the history of espresso in Melbourne, explaining the journey from 1st wave, to 2nd wave, through to where we are today at stage three, or the 3rd wave. Maria’s passion for coffee was obvious and very contagious.
The tour I joined had ten participants, who came from all around the world, including South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Everyone had one thing in common: they had all heard about Melbourne’s famous café culture, and they were all keen to learn about it for themselves.
After our in depth history, that was accentuated by tastes and smells and an amazing platter of mignons and macaroons, it was time to explore Melbourne’s specialty cafés.
Maria led the way, taking us through city arcades and down alleys, chatting along the way and pointing out all the interesting places, cafés and brew bars that we came across. I always knew Melbourne had lots of great coffee shops, but the number of places we saw left us all amazed. Some that we were shown were large, while others were so small with room only for a couple of tables. One interesting “hole in the wall” was so tiny, customers waited outside after placing their order. The one thing all the places had in common was they were all busy, and the aroma of coffee smelled great!
Along our way we had the opportunity to stop and taste coffee at a number of specialty brew houses, where the baristas carefully and patiently explained to everyone the specialties of their coffee. They showed us different brewing methods and blends and allowed us to taste the coffees they were describing.
The tour took us a couple of hours, as we weaved in and out of Melbourne’s CBD. We thought we had lost a couple of participants from Hong Kong,’til we noticed them inside the coffee shop, enjoying an espresso. Apparently they couldn’t bring themselves to go past, as it just smelled too good!
Anyone who knows Maria will know that she is one of the most passionate coffee people in the industry. She founded Evolving Success in 2002, as she could see that there was a great skills gap in coffee training, and since then she has written training packages, reviewed café standards, run barista competitions and is an accredited national barista, barista judge, coffee trainer and tour operator.
She is an advocate of Australian roasted coffee and has dedicated her services to developing training programs to enhance the espresso making skills and knowledge of the hospitality and coffee industries.
Maria says, “My work in the industry and my involvement as a reviewer/coffee judge and trainer/consultant has allowed me to build formidable relationships in the industry and still have fun behind the machine, often jumping on where required. It’s in my blood, and I now am branded in ink.”
www.coffeetourmelbourne.com.au

Written by Annette Dutton