Page 69 - Tropic Magazine Issue 20
P. 69

TROPIC  •  LIFESTYLE

             TATTOOED SAILOR
             Oliver James

              BACKGROUND BRIEF
              A well-travelled coffee competition
              judge and former owner of
              Caffiend, Oliver was inspired
              to start roasting after a trip to
              Ethiopia. With business partner
              Ian, they opened Tattooed Sailor
              on Newell St in 2016, combining a
              cafe with their roasting operation.

             What is the difference between
             freshly roasted coffee and coffee   place that it is! Coffee growers on the
             that is sold in supermarkets?  Tablelands grow nearly 70% of the
             There are two main differences. The   coffee grown in Australia. It’s right on
             first is carbon dioxide, a roasting   our doorstep and we’re not telling all
             by-product gas that is trapped   our customers! The flavours we’ve been
             within the physical honeycomb-  creating with new and experimental
             like internal structure of roasted   processing methods at Skybury is   RANSOM COFFEE
             coffee and provides the silky texture   super exciting - our roaster James   Kirby Koopman
             to the crema (foamy and oily bit   will be competing in the Brewers Cup
             on top) of espresso coffee. It takes   competition in Brisbane with it!  BACKGROUND BRIEF
             between 1 and 3 months for coffee                                   Coffee lovers from way back, Ransom
             to fully de-gas, depending on how   Your top advice for coffee lovers?  started in 2013 with the owners
             it was roasted, packed and stored,                                  wanting to do something in life that
             and the one-way valve in the coffee   1  Shop around, buy from different   was enjoyable and challenging - coffee
             bag (some release carbon dioxide   roasters, drink different origins   roasting provided both.
             quickly, some slowly).  The second   and blends. Each roaster is like a
             difference is the oxidation and    cuisine - sometimes I feel like Thai   What’s the difference between freshly
             degeneration of the oils in the    or Italian or Japanese or Korean or   roasted coffee and coffee that has been
             roasted coffee. These oils, over time,   sometimes a BBQ. As each roaster   roasted months or years ago, like you’ll
             migrate to the outside of the roasted   uses a different machine and   find in supermarkets?
             coffee bean and slowly go rancid.   different origins, you’ll get a unique   There is literally no comparison.
             This leads to bitterness like an old,   perspective on coffee and what they   Everything sold in a supermarket is
             rancid oil flavour in the coffee. It   want to showcase.           stale and quite frankly revolting. We
             takes about four weeks for this to   Drink all the coffee, from filters and   conduct barista training and buy a
             start to happen, again depending   2  espresso to milky varieties.  supermarket bag so people can literally
             on roasting, packing and storing                                   smell the difference. Coffee should be
             variables.                      3  Engage with your barista, ask them   used within six weeks of roasting.
                                                about the origin of the coffee and
             What does the future coffee scene in   what fun flavours you might find in   Where do you source your green beans
             Cairns look like?                  the coffee.                     from?
             I think it’s exciting, particularly                                We use 4 importers as they all have
             with the planned 2020 Cairns Coffee   MORE: tattooedsailor.com.au  their specialty regions, then have it
             Festival. I think we will see more                                 shipped by the pallet.  We use high
             collaboration between growers,                                     altitude specialty grade coffee from
             roasters and cafes to really promote                               Colombia, Ethiopia, Papua New
             our region for the unique coffee                                   Guinea, Costa Rica, Guatemala,
                                                                                Mexico, Brazil and Honduras.

                                                                                What is your most sage piece of advice
                                                                                for coffee lovers?
                                                                                Great coffee doesn’t need sugar - we’ve
                                                                                personally managed to get a lot of
                                                                                people off sugar. However, coffee is
                                                                                subjective so have it the way you like it
                                                                                but be open to suggestions. And no: a
                                                                                caramel hazelnut café latte isn’t coffee,
                                                                                it’s a warm milkshake.


                                                                                 MORE: ransomcoffee.com




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