East Brisbane by Moreton Bay is not the place you think you would find a funky warehouse styled coffee roasting business. I was delightfully surprised to visit Dramanti Coffee in Wynnum, this quaint bay side suburb of Brisbane and experienced some great coffees and café treats to match. We were there on a Saturday morning, and the crowd was already lining up in front of the espresso machine waiting for a quality brew and a seat amongst the coffee sacks.
Dramanti Artisan Roasters is the creation of Dragan Sestic, a well-known Brisbane barista and café owner. Dragan is part of a strong coffee culture and the brother of famous Canberra roaster Sasha Sestic, who owns ONA Coffee. I had heard a few stories about Dragan over the years from his brother, Sasha, all of them good and mostly about his sporting days. Both Sestic brothers were Olympian handball champions, representing Australia in the 2000 Sydney games and showing the Australian audience the skill of this popular European sport. Dragan was born in Serbia and always had a love for coffee, having fond memories of his first taste of the golden brew back in his homeland.
Dragan still also runs a busy café in the city called Dramanti Espresso, and the Roastry in Wynnum is a natural progression and journey for his love affair with coffee. He chose the site on an old railway siding, which was in a great looking old industrial building that was also close to the strip mall in Wynnum. The roasting warehouse has already made it to the top five cafés list in Brisbane on most of the hospitality review sites. The coffee business is focusing on specialty microlots, and through Dragan’s industry contacts he is putting plenty of great coffees through his roaster daily.
The café/roastery has become a popular destination for the Brisbane coffee scene, and Dragan has a great palate and is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to flavour profiles of coffee. The business conducts regular cupping sessions that the public can be involved in with some forward notice. Don’t be surprised if you get to taste some of the world’s rarest coffees in one of these sessions.
Dragan has recently been on a mission to raise money for the Still I Rise Foundation, and he and his male team are going to change sex for the day … and believe us, it won’t be pretty seeing a six foot five giant in a dress. For more info, check out the Still I Rise Facebook site and see how you can get involved.
Open: Monday to Saturday from 6:30am to 2:30pm. Sunday 7am to 1pm.
94 Tingal Road, Wynnum QLD Phone (07) 3236 3244
