‘All specialty’: New cafe vows to be best coffee in town

The coffee shop promises to offer a large range of specialty coffee options, quality brunch

With doors set to open in late October, Ipswich's newest cafe promises to be "specialty everything". Photo: Ebony Graveur

SOME cafes carve out an identity over time, steadily developing a reputation and vibe but others launch with an unmistakeable goal.

Though it has yet to open its doors to the public, St. Shoebill is Ipswich’s newest coffee shop – and owner Sam Lalson is willing to bet his coffee could be the best in town.

“We’re going to heavily focus on coffee, with more variety and more choice,” Sam said.

“We’ll be doing our v60 (filter) and pour over coffee as well as milk blends – and a large variety of coffee beans.”

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Situated in the space Fourthchild used to occupy at 126 Brisbane St, Ipswich, St. Shoebill will combine old world charm with modern quality sips and brunch.

St. Shoebill owner Sam Lalson said he and his wife searched for two years to find the perfect venue for their new coffee venture. Photo: Ebony Graveur

“Where the beans are sourced is really important to us – we’ll be sourcing ours from ONA Coffee, out of Canberra,” Sam said.

“They own their farms directly, which means they’re sourcing the beans from their farms and the farm workers are being paid fairly.”

Sam is determined for the cafe to embrace “specialty” in every facet and said Melbourne’s coffee scene was the inspiration driving the project.

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“It will focus on everything specialty – we will offer a large variety of Byron Bay tea and chocolate out of Melbourne,” he said.

“And everything we do will be to a high standard – we’re focusing on quality and presentation, not volume.”

After selling his first coffee shop, Hessian and Bean Boutique Espresso, in 2018, Sam spent two years hunting down the perfect venue to open a new one.

St. Shoebill will offer high quality brunch and a range of specialty coffee options. Photo: Ebony Graveur

“It’s taken us that long to find a location – it’s the building – it was built in 1871,” he said.

“We like old character, raw, natural.”

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He said he and his wife were hopeful they could capture the atmosphere they wanted at their new venue.

“(With our old coffee shop), it was quite small so you couldn’t create the feel we really wanted as we were governed by the floor plan – it was squashy,” Sam said.

“We want this place to be extremely lively – the focus is to bring the community together and create an airy, natural space.”

Sam is hoping to open the cafe in late October.

Read more news by Ebony Graveur.

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