Port Adelaide caffeine fiends vote Nikki best in the state
Port Adelaide has plenty of great cafes – so good that one has taken out the best barista vote. See where to get SA’s best brew and our top five baristas.
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Creating ‘science-based’ coffees has led Port Adelaide barista Nikki Palombi to take the win in the vote on who makes South Australia’s best brew.
Our latest best-of poll drew hundreds of nominations and votes for baristas from right across Adelaide.
It was a tightly fought race to be named the best, with Ms Palombi pulling in 11.5 per cent of the vote.
Ms Palombi runs the Second Shot Espresso Bar on Lipson St in Port Adelaide.
Her mother Liz McCaskill owns the building where Second Shot is located and she runs her own psychic reading business in the neighbouring portion of the premises.
“Mum bought the building 14 years ago because she just loved the history of the Port,” Ms Palombi said.
Ms McCaskill originally opened up her own cafe after purchasing the building, with her daughter acting as the manager, while she concentrated on psychic readings.
But when her mum eventually closed the cafe, Ms Palombi set up her own brewing business on St Vincent St.
“I had built up a lot of customers from running the cafe as a manager, so I thought I may as well go out and set up my own business,” Ms Palombi said.
Ms Palombi closed the St Vincent St cafe in 2016 and set out to become a police officer.
“(Being so close to the Port Adelaide police station) I was serving a lot of police officers all the time and was always chatting with them,” she said.
This sparked a desire to enter the force but when that plan didn’t pan out, Ms Palombi moved back into her mum’s building and set up Second Shot Espresso Bar in 2018.
“I had a lot of established customers who came back, even though I was gone for two years,” she said.
“People are very loyal when it comes to their coffee.”
The business went through a major change following last year’s long Covid-19 lockdown from March. While it was formerly a full food service cafe, Ms Palombi’s focus shifted after reopening.
“Seeing the empty tables was depressing so I moved the tables out and moved into giftware instead,” she said.
Homewares and plants now take up plenty of floor space in the cafe.
“I try to find other small businesses to support (with the homewares stocked),” she said.
Running the cafe by herself, the move allows Ms Palombi to concentrate on creating the perfect brew and she uses Amanti brand coffee to achieve it.
“My coffee is science based, I have certain parameters and use scales so the result is consistent every time,” she said.
SA’s top 5 baristas:
1. Nikki Palombi, Second Shot Espresso Bar, Port Adelaide
2. Vincent Clancy, Gang Gang, Parkside
3. Stefan Daniel Iannace, Cheeky Grin Coffee, Firle
4. Jacob Booth, Mistress Mabel, Adelaide
5. Genna Liambis, 303 By The Sea, Henley Beach
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