It was never a secret that the West End of town was overdue for renewal but nowadays, for better of worse, some of it is unrecognisable. Yet the emergence of impressive high rises in the area has barely disguised the fact that, down here on the ground, we have all changed a little bit, too. We are now an infamously fussy bunch of coffee drinkers. We want it expertly poured and delivered into a keep cup crafted out of repurposed coffee husks. Preferably before the next tram departs.
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So the next question to be asked in our urban evolution, from bland and burnt mugacinos to single origin, nitrogen-infused cold brew, is a clear and simple one: where can I get a good coffee in our newest of neighbourhoods? Does working or living or just exploring in the West End mean we have to adjust our attitudes and lower our espresso expectations? Yes and no and sometimes. Like any other suburb of Newcastle, new or established, it all depends on the time that you take and the places that you look.
The Foodary
Newcastle Interchange Concourse, Beresford Lane Stay with me. This convenience store, located right on the concourse at the Interchange, serves an espresso that has come a long way in a short time. I strongly doubt that you would have found yourself lining up in here to order a takeaway coffee a year ago. Nowadays it's busy.
Whilst spinning milk and locking in shots, the barista tells me that Vittoria roasters are preparing a South and Central American Arabican blend especially for The Foodary. I didn't expect to hear that. But then again, the coffee does taste so much better than it did a year ago. Fast service and a medium-bodied coffee poured at the right temperature.
Cafe Pippi
12 Stewart Ave, Newcastle This relative newcomer boasts three of the great cafe essentials: space, location and a room with a view. It is the best among a small selection of West End espresso spots cosily ensconced into the foyer of the development above them. Whether any of the others will be positioned as handily as this one is unlikely.
Above and beside this cafe is the new headquarters for the City of Newcastle and Crosbie Accounting. Many office workers will order and wait for their coffees at Pippi. Some will do so out of convenience. Others might opt for more rounded espressos elsewhere, in places that are less easy to access but easier to be passionate about.
Pippi pours a Peruvian, Colombian, Costa Rican and Guatamalan combination roasted by Seven Miles and presented as their Gusto blend.
Transient
Cambridge Hotel Carpark, Wood St. Hamilton East What's in a name? Hopefully more of a philosophy than a prophecy. This establishment had better be anything but transient. It delivers a different style of simplicity altogether - excellent espresso, under a tarpaulin, from the back of a van. It's harder to find but it's also much easier to be passionate about.
Leaving aside the quality of the blend for just a second, there are obviously so many things that are quintessentially West End about drinking a coffee, in a carpark, on a milk crate, out the back of the Cambridge Hotel. If you can forget about the location, it's only because barista and operator Tony Langford has been creative enough to design it that way.
Amidst pot plants and under an entanglement of vines, this is an uncommon coffee experience to be enjoying in this neighbourhood. The blend is a unique - a combination of Typica and Caturra varietals from the Popoyan co-operative of small farms in Colombia. A well balanced, chocolatey and sweetly fruited espresso.
Coffee & Keys
17 Charles St. Wickham Over on the Wickham side of the Newcastle Interchange is a small but swanky embodiment of the young and the new in the West End.
Operated by Jules Thomas, this unusual cafe is one part corporate showroom and another part espresso spot. Cascading indoor plants decorate a circular bar designed to instate a communal but somehow modish and architectural atmosphere.
Thomas has enlisted Newcastle roasters Darks to build her a custom blend that she has labelled the Lil' P. If that name sounds a little cutesy then the coffee certainly doesn't taste that way. The blend is a silver medal-winning combination of Brazilian, Indonesian, Colombian and Nicaraguan origins. It's a heavy hitter of a brew, packed with complex flavours and body.
Estratto
792 Hunter St. Newcastle Here is a destination that largely stands alone in the burgeoning little coffee scene that surrounds it. It's now a well-known West End cafe with a smart and modern menu that focuses heavily on expertly roasted espresso.
Readers will already recognise Estratto as the fresh incarnation of what was once Umami Bar. The interior, flanked on one side by slickly designed booths, is largely the same. The coffee, more importantly, has switched sides and changed for the better.
Barista Alistair Ewin heads the team in here. He is a friendly, knowledgeable and fast man at the handles. Of all the baristas in the West End, those who can hand you a quality concoction within a few hundred metres of the Interchange, he's probably your man.
Currently pouring at Estratto is a locally-roasted brew from Remedy, a dark and caramel tinged blend that is rich and delightfully full-bodied.
It's a West End espresso that, all in all, in this reborn neighbourhood, is a little hard to walk past.
