Essence of Coffee is a small batch artisan coffee roaster dedicated to bringing out the very essence of our hand-selected beans.
With a clear objective to provide “great coffee in a casual atmosphere”, our family business began with Café 54, in East Perth, in 2007. Our passion for specialty coffee demanded a commitment to knowledge and skills that ultimately led us to roasting. Michael and Dale Fewson, father and son in partnership, travelled to the USA to learn all they could about roasting and with professional training by a leading specialty coffee roaster and Q-grader, Mané Alves, began roasting in earnest.
As any world-class chefs will tell you, a culinary masterpiece begins with the quality and freshness of ingredients. At Essence of Coffee we source only Arabica varietals, grown in the most exacting conditions. We predominantly choose micro-lot coffees featuring exceptional taste profiles identified by Q-grade standards to be higher than 85.
In February 2011 we opened The Roastery in Southern River to house our expanding roasting facility in an open warehouse style café. The roasters are out on the shop floor so as to showcase our dedication to our craft. This unique style of wholesale roasting in the middle of a rustic café has been extremely popular – it’s proving to be a go to place in the southern suburbs of Perth.
Our hands-on experience with running our own cafés and espresso bars gives our wholesale partners the advantage of accessing our experience with products and processes that help them stand out from the crowd, giving a competitive edge.
Our gold medal winning Ethiopian, Yirgacheffe is a great example of our roasting process and ideals. When asked to comment about this particular coffee, Dale said, “Last year’s crop tasted of sweet berries and had a beautiful elderflower aroma, but this season’s crop has gone one better. As soon as we drop the roast into the cooling bin, the air is filled with amazing floral aromas. In the cup are intense grape flavours with a nice hint of chocolate … This is what makes our job the best job in the world.”
