Dead Man Espresso is made up of many talented individuals. From the 2 passionate chefs ( more on them later) , to our crackin good baristi! (is it barista's or baristi?). Below is a blog entry from one of them.. Angus Gibbs aka @blaklaquer in Tweetland. Who maybe starting up his own blog soon in preparation for his overseas trip. Angus started making coffee at Mixed Business, Clifton Hill, before learning to roast with Justin Miles of Seven Seeds before landing at Dead Man. With so much going on in Melbourne with coffee at present, it's nice to read about it from a hands on perspective. Luke

WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! And with that loud, obnoxious noise I enter ‘Blog World’.  Hello. My name is Angus. I make coffee. I do other things too. Alright enough of that, it’s business time.

            After a manic escape from work yesterday I took to the streets car in hand, well car’s steering wheel actually, determined to accomplish two things with my afternoon. 1. Make it out to Grosvenor St in time for Coffee Supreme’s 2pm cupping. 2. Listen to the latest Mos Def record, ‘The Ecstatic’. I managed to arrive only a few minutes late cutting my engine at the end of the third track. As I walk through the door the cupping is already underway but Heath is gracious enough to set up two extra cups for the coffees I had brought with me to sample.

            Already on the table is a selection of coffees Heath has acquired from a relatively new roastery in Portland Oregon by the name of  ‘Heart Roasters’ and one of there own Sumatran offerings as well. Add to that the two late arrivals from ‘49^th Parallel’ out of Burnaby, British Columbia and ‘Ecco Caffe’ from Sonoma County, California.  Now we’re staring at a neat little international table. Should be interesting.

            Here’s a List of the coffees:

COFFEE SUPREME:     Sumatra – sorry boys I can’t remember which (also I cheated and used the so called "intraweb" for the others)

HEART ROASTERS:    Brazil – Chapadao de Ferro

                                     Kenya – Muthewathi

                                     Ethiopia – Yiragcheffe

                                     Sumatra – Gayo

                                     Tanzania – Peaberry

49^th PARALLEL:            Tanzania – Songea (peaberry)

ECCO CAFFEE:              Rwanda – Kunda Kawa co-operative

To be honest everything tasted pretty amazing. All very clean, very well roasted coffees. In fear of this reading like a review, I’ll only talk about the standouts not the whole lot. I thoroughly enjoyed Hearts stuff. All very unique coffees differing greatly yet I must say I really loved the both the Kenyan and the Sumatran, Gasp, Shock, Horror. It had this crazy sweet apple note that overshone the funk.

Ok, so some coffee speak and jovial banter was had by all, and I’m grinning like a four year old. Ben and I clean up, the whole while old Fat Wreck Chords punk is playing, mainly NOFX – White trash, two heebs and a bean? (sorry if I’m wrong on that one Ben). Now it’s SLAYER time! I put through the rest of the Songea pulling some of the longest shots I have ever seen. None of it really tastes that impressive and I get the feeling that you need to spend a serious amount of time with this machine to truly learn it. By my last shot Justin shows up and dials in the Heart Sumatran so quick it is clear that he has spent vast amounts of time with the beast. It’s tasting like those awesome toffee apple candy bars it’s so sweet.

            Over all I had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Many thanks, Mad props and uber loud shout outs to the supreme boys for hosting and letting me play around in the showroom. If you haven’t been down to Grosvenor Street yet, it’s definitely worth the trip. Also Many loving thanks to Jason Sheltus of market lane fame for hooking us up with the ECCO CAFFE.

Ok I’m out.

Blaklaquer

Here's our new range of Dead Man Jam that you'll be able to take home as of next week. Just waiting on the labels. We make all our own jams here and we will be rotating often due to available produce and seasons. Currently we've got and from left to right; Raspberry; Pineapple, Ginger and Rockmelon; Grapefruit Marmalade and Mixed Berry. 

Trying out the Swiss Gold filters. So far so good. 

I'm on the hunt for teak (or similar type) wood sugar bowls. Got these ones at Chapel St Bazaar. They were the only ones there. Any folks out there have any to sell? Preferably smaller but any size would be cool. Trade you some coffee for some sugar bowls? Or do you know where I could buy any??

Saturday Morning cupping with Angus Gibbs. Went through the Seven Seeds Espresso blend and Dead Man blend as a whole and in parts. Also cupped off the singles on offer from some of the Melbourne's finest roasters. Tasting notes are for pour over(filter) coffee and compiled by Angus. Expect weekly tasting notes from our man at street level, actually more gutter level(hahaha). You can follow Angus on twitter @blaklaquer. It's good to see our dedicated chefs, Nitish and Matt embracing the cupping side of coffee. Both have excellent taste buds and it seemed they've been doing it for years. 

Loz, Michael, Angus, Nitish & Matt

Seven Seeds

Panama ‘Kayser’: 100% geisha: Fragrant, Huge fruit (berries, tropical fruits), a little milk chocolate. A very sweet, clean, complex cup with a silky mouth feel.

Ethiopia ‘Guiji’: Natural Process, Direct Trade Sidamo. Typica and bourbon : This things is nuts! And by that we mean fruity. Very bright acidity with a beautiful fragrance of peach and chocolate. In the cup expect to find a lot. Berries, stone fruit, even a little melon. Very sweet with a lot of length on the palate and a lingering cocoa finish.

Small Batch

Ethiopia Sidamo:Full bodied and sweet, with berries, milk chocolate and almonds. Think strawberry centred box chocolate.

Kenya Tinganga Estate:  A rich bitter-sweet coffee with deep red fruits, dark chocolate, earthy finish and a lot of depth.

Coffee Supreme:

 Columbian Cup Of Excellence lot #18 El Provenir: 100% Caturra, washed: A very well balanced cup showing chocolate, caramel, black cherry and sweet spice with a very clean and smooth mouth feel.

Market Lane

Guatemalan Cup Of Excellence lot #15 ‘Santa Ana’: Catuai , Bourbon, sun dried.Very clean and crisp with a creamed honey mouth feel. Walnut, cocoa and caramel dominate with subtle vanilla and honey notes. Delicate.

What a beautiful morning to taste coffee. Melbourne CBD as the backdrop.... ahhh

Monday -  Yes we are open. Public Holiday hours are 8am - 3pm. Kitchen closes at 2.30 pm.  

Friday morning cupping.  Each week we will now cup our singles & blends from Seven Seeds as well as other coffees from our local roasters, Market Lane, Coffee Supreme & Small Batch.  This morning we had all 3 components of the Dead Man blend, Ethiopian Guji, Costa Rica Cafetin and Colombian San Sebastian; the Seven Seeds Espresso blend; Dead Man blend and Market Lanes Rwanda Musasa. No guessing who the standout bean was... Guji! So sweet, absolutely delicious, fruity, good body... yumm! Weekly tasting notes by Angus coming soon.

A lazy thursday afternoon with the driving force behind the coffee, behind the Synesso, behind Dead Man Espresso. Clock wise and not necessarily more wise, Angus, Will & Nashy. (Oh... and the driving force behind Nashy and yes, necessarily more wise, Eva.) Thanks lads for caring about every little shot poured, about every degree in temperature and your overall passion and enthusiasm for coffee, food and Dead Man. It's going to be hard to fill Will's shoes when he goes abroad... quite literally, especially when he's got moves like this...

A snapshot of the new menu; 1) Toasted Muesli with Wild Lavender, seasonal poached fruit & natural yoghurt 2) Smoked salmon & zucchini on brioche w perserved lemon & goats curd 3) The crumpets from  - Crumpets w smoked salmon, mango & avocado salsa & orange sauce. Had to try them just with butter and our Pineapple, Cantelope & Ginger jam and our Citrus Curd. So bloody tasty. Think we'll put them on the menu on their own. Made by one of our passionate chef's, Matt, who did ask for a bit of time to make more, sorry Matt, cat's out of the bag... better get crackin, as tomorrow I'll definitely be having crumpets for brekky!!!

Now on to more important matters. We now have outdoor seating. Called the Butter Stool and made from recycled milk crates. Perfect we thought. Designed by these wonderful people Design by Them.Tables hopefully will be completed this week.