Bean there: Five Sydney venues where emphasis is on coffee

Caffeine is the juice that keeps Sydney’s workers going. Here are five of the best brews to be found across the city.

Caffeine is the juice that keeps Sydney’s workers going. Picture: iStock

Whether sourcing beans from around the world – or sending premium blends overseas – here are five Sydney venues where the emphasis is on the coffee.

The Little Marionette

Rozelle

The Little Marionette.

What started as a tiny hole-in-the-wall cafe in Rozelle in 2010 has grown into a successful operation that sends premium beans to hundreds of venues not only across Sydney, but in the US and UK, too. Whether it’s a sustainably sourced flat white brewed at the roastery-adjacent Tasting Room, a homemade cuppa made with beans or TLM’s own coffee pods delivered through the business’ weekly, fortnightly or monthly coffee subscription service, or a cheeky glug of “Liqq” – their small-batch coffee vodka liqueur – the Little Marionette is clearly well on its way to taking over the whole coffee world.

6D Mansfield St, Rozelle

Artificer Coffee

Surry Hills

Artificer Coffee.

If you’re after a bacon and egg roll to go with your morning caffeine hit, this probably isn’t the cafe for you. The folks behind Artificer believe the world of coffee is enjoyable, complex and vast enough to hold their entire focus. By buying smaller quantities of beans and changing their roasting processes to match the flavour profile of each batch, owners Dan Yee and Shoji Sasa – who spent years honing their skills – ensure every cup is as good as it can be. Sure, you won’t find food here, but you will score a cup of expertly crafted coffee every time.

547 Bourke St, Surry Hills

Barrel One Coffee Roasters

Brookvale

Barrel One Coffee Roasters.

There might be a minimalist vibe to Barrel One’s Brookvale home – their warehouse space nested cosily in the suburb’s industrial backstreets – but there’s nothing basic about the coffee. Ethically sourced from community-run plantations around Burundi, Kenya, Brazil, Ethiopia and Colombia, Barrel One’s roasted beans bring big flavour and dynamic complexity to every cup, with tasting notes as diverse as mandarin, lemongrass and cola. And while the coffees are worth the trip alone, don’t sleep on the cafe’s stacked Reuben, pastrami, Cubano or toasted cheese sandwiches, made with the same love – and ethically-sourced ingredients – as the coffee.

22 Orchard Rd, Brookvale

Underground Coffee Roasters

Penrith

Underground Coffee Roasters.

Anyone living or working in the inner suburbs is spoiled for choice when it comes to great coffee, with craft roasters dotted throughout. Underground has staked its claim a little further out, servicing the western suburbs and Blue Mountains from a Penrith HQ. With a background in the wine industry, creator Tim Briggs and his team treat each delivery of beans as a new vintage, making subtle tweaks to their processes to bring out the best of the raw ingredients, before dispensing top-notch brews from their partner cafes and from the back of Henri: Underground’s distinctively blue, vintage-styled Citroën van.

undergroundcoffee.com.au

Edition Roasters

Haymarket

Edition Roasters.

Step into the slick, serene, charcoal-hued surrounds of this cafe and you’ll feel as though you’ve just stepped off one of Tokyo or Kyoto’s coolest streets. The venue’s Japanese-inspired, refined simplicity extends to the choice of beans – here they eschew blends and instead curate a seasonal roster of specialty coffees, each sourced from small-lot producers and showcasing unique processing methods. This omni-roasting approach means every bean’s distinct character gets to shine, whether enjoyed as an espresso, pour-over or cold brew, particularly when sipped alongside one of the venue’s deliciously wholesome Japanese breakfast plates.

60 Darling Dr, Haymarket

Originally published as Bean there: Five Sydney venues where emphasis is on coffee