Stracciatella e Macchiato

Paddington is a place not short of great coffee shops, small restaurants using organic produce and artisan bakeries offering their fresh fare. After walking past Infinity Bakery on Oxford Street one afternoon just before they closed we decided not to rush it but come back for a proper meal. So we came back for breakfast only a few days later and it was worth the return. A spacious main dining room of simple yet nice interior design is complemented by the onsite bakery which is separated by a glass/steel frame. It’s possible to watch the guys inside going after their profession.

As usual we ordered too much, but we couldn’t resist. Two cappuccinos, a muffin, a cinnamon swirl and one of their giant croissant. Talking to the barista behind the La Marzocco which he was obviously proud of, we found out that their beans are sourced from the Sydney-local roaster Gabriel Coffee. He praises the quality and the consistency of their roasts.

We also managed to catch David who manages this coffee and bakery shop and he tells us about the importance of not using coffee beans immediately after roasting but keeping beans in the sealed packaging for 10 days after the date of roasting. The valve on the bag allows the roasted beans to mature over that period. He recommends the timeframe of about 1 week after that 10 days period for using the coffee for making the perfect cup. This piece of advice correlates with what we heard from the guys at Raw Coffee in Dubai, so there is definitely something to it!

Making a great espresso or cup of coffee is an art, says David, for which he relies on visual and tasting skills to assess the water-coffee ratio required for every type of beans. A coffee refractometer or similar is not what he would use as he is not convinced about the geeky science invading coffee making. Then David draws our attention to the cold drip rack which actually was in the brewing process then. It takes 12 hours to do one run through and the result he said was fantastic. Curious we take a sip to experience coffee brewed by a slow but steady drip of cold water over a period of half a day: a very smooth taste, low acidity, intense, liquor like. Unexpected!

Fully caffeinated and happy we left Infinity Bakery for a shopping stroll through Paddington.