Best of the Gold Coast: The top places for coffee on the Coast
Coffee is the most important meal of the day and no one knows that better than Gold Coasters. After collecting the votes from our reader poll, Amber Macpherson can reveal the top 10 haunts that deal caffeine the way we like (or need) it.
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Coffee is the most important meal of the day and no one knows that better than Gold Coasters. After collecting the votes from our reader poll, Amber Macpherson can reveal the top 10 haunts that deal caffeine the way we like (or need) it.
Jekyll and Hyde Coffee Lab
Mudgeeraba
You read it here first — the Gold Coast’s best cup of coffee is brewed at a hidden gem in the hinterland, proving just how many undiscovered delights reside outside the city. Newcomers to the coffee block, Jekyll and Hyde Coffee Lab opened 10 months ago and has since made a name for itself as a great place for a cup-of-joe. “As each month goes past, it gets busier and busier,” co-owner Georgina Clothier says.
“We’ve just sprung up from nowhere. It’s very small, I didn’t think we would stand up against the other cafes, but just because you’re small doesn’t mean you can’t have success.” The cafe uses a Toby’s Estate coffee blend called Broadway, described as having flavours of praline, toffee, thyme and berry. But Georgina says a quality roast is only half the recipe. “It comes down to making sure the machine is clean, the grind is right, making sure the barista is trained,” Georgina says. “Making sure every step is the same every time.” Long time Mudgeeraba locals, Georgina and her husband Lachlan Tom quit their days jobs to launch the hospitality venture in the town they love. “My husband was in the tiling industry, I was a manager of a petrol station. We’ve always had good customer service, people have said that to us. We have people sit and linger forever. We’re family run, both of our daughters work with us.”
Lakeview Espresso
Burleigh Waters
Last year’s best coffee winners Lakeview Espresso know if the formula works, there’s no need to change it. Owner Dylan Rackley has maintained his unique blend from Double or Nothing Coffee Alchemists since concocting the roast years ago, described as a full bodied flavour with hints of creamy butterscotch. “The blend hits the demographic that is Burleigh Heads well. It’s not too far into the specialty realm that the average joe can’t enjoy it,” Dylan says. Since winning Best of the Gold Coast 2018, Dylan has hired a new barista that he says appreciates the art of a carefully prepared coffee. “It’s another set of tastebuds to make sure everything tastes amazing. We bounce back and forth off each other.”
Le Vintage Boutique Cafe
Worongary
Stepping into Le Vintage Boutique on a pleasant Saturday, you could be mistaken for thinking you’ve stumbled across a big garden party. “We seat about 200 people in our garden area,” owner Joel Aston says. “On Saturday and Sunday it’s chockers for hours.” Le Vintage uses Merlo Coffee in its espresso brews, a tried and true Australian brand of bean.
“We’ve been doing what we do, and obviously everyone’s happy. We’ve got a great local following and so many new customers. We do matcha and turmeric lattes, the bullet proof coffee. If anybody comes in and asks for something we’ll always try to make it available.”
Tap and Grind
Southport
It’s hard not to leave Tap and Grind in a good mood when the staff are as warm as the coffee. Owner Vanessa Rubini says her team are there to cure your Monday-it is with a cup of Seven Miles Number Five and a smile. “We’re here to make your morning, and wake you up,” Vanessa says. The Number Five roast is a smooth-tasting coffee with hints of caramel and chocolate. While there’s plenty of nearby cafes with nicer views, Vanessa says customers come back to the shopping centre nook for the tasty drinks and treats. “We have heaps of regulars who make the effort to come here. We’re not in the usual Burleigh, or Nobby’s or Broadbeach (area), so that’s really nice to know.”
Blackboard Coffee
Varsity Lakes
Where do baristas go for coffee? To Blackboard in Varsity Lakes. The cafe adjacent to Bond University works closely with farmers in Brazil and Ethiopia to import specially selected beans that are hand-roasted in the Blackboard warehouse in Burleigh Heads, before being ground, dripped, blended with milk and handed over the counter into your longing paws.
Owner Marc Kinvig says the house blend changes every season, and the black coffee blend is renewed every fortnight. “We only ever use coffee that’s consistent,” Marc says. “The house blend (tastes like) chocolate. And we have a bit more fun with our limited release coffee. We create it so it suits everyone’s palate.”
Daymaker Espresso
Miami
Another fresh offering in the Coast’s coffee club, Daymaker Espresso opened in April last year but has already made its way into our top 10 — no mean feat when there’s literally hundreds of cafes in the region.
The duo behind
the trendy Miami eatery Dylan Nesbit and Andrew Madgwick have had long careers in some of the Coast’s best restaurants and their debut venue illustrates this with quality food and, of course, coffee. Daymaker uses Axil Coffee Roasters’ beans from Melbourne, featuring notes of citrus, chocolate and caramel. A blend that pairs perfectly with smashed avocado, a poached egg and salmon on sour dough, or a nutella and hazelnut filled croissant.
Papercup Coffee
Labrador
You wouldn’t go to a bar that only sells one range of alcohol, so why should coffee be any different? Papercup Coffee sells two varieties of beans to its customers — locally roasted Blackboard Coffee, and Brisbane-based Supreme Coffee. “We like to cater for different people,” Papercup Coffee owner Zoe Hordern says. “We love Blackboard, we love Supreme.” While the house roast is the seasonal Blackboard Coffee blend, Supreme offers serious a different sipping experience with flavours of milk chocolate and citrus. “Blackboard is our house blend. For our regular customers, we ask if they want to try something different. We want to be able to cater to them.”
Frigg Cafe
Labrador
A switch in coffee suppliers could be the secret to Frigg Cafe’s inauguration in our best coffee vote. The Labrador cafe swapped to eclectic Brisbane bean roasters Fonzie Abbott, and have had customers venturing in specifically for the special brew. “We use Fonzie Abbott — or sweet FA as some people know it,” co-owner Toula Scott laughs. “We started using their coffee about a year ago. It’s a smooth, but modern blend. You’ve got coffee connoisseurs that know this brand, they say ‘we only stop for Fonzie Abbott’.” Pouring a cup of Fonzie Abbott comes with stringent guidelines in its preparation, including the lease of a $25,000 coffee machine and the exact numbers for coffee ground weight, pour time and milk temperature.
Bam Bam Bakehouse
Mermaid Beach
If the Coast’s hospitality industry were a classroom, Bam Bam would be the teacher’s pet. Not only do they bake incredible pastries and serve unique breakfast and lunch dishes, the bakery’s cups of Single O round out an overall excellent dining experience. Manager Anthony Hughes says the house blend pairs with the food beautifully. “We use Reservoir blend Single O,” Anthony says. “It’s a beautiful sweet coffee for milk. It goes with our pastries so fantastic.” Bam Bam also offers a black coffee roasted by Marvell St in Byron Bay, as well as its famous Barbie pink hot chocolate and a blue mermaid latte made from matcha chai. “A lot of our pastries came and go but the coffee stays the same,” Anthony says.
Frankie Espresso
Burleigh Heads
Early risers, rejoice — resourceful Frankie Espresso serves its coffee from 5am, because in all honesty, no one is naturally wide awake at that time of morning. The Burleigh Heads cafe is a pop up venue, making clever use of the California Tacos restaurant space left vacant in the morning before opening for lunch at 11am. Co-owner Tammy Marsters considers herself a coffee aficionado and swears by the house blend from Botero Roastery, a boutique coffee company found in Maclean, Northern Rivers. It’s described as a heavily bodied coffee with caramel flavours and a spiced finish.
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