FIKA: APRIL EDITION

You know as specialty coffee lovers, we are different. We are nuanced, we appreciate the details, the excellence, the craft of coffee. Coffee is more than a commodity. It’s a subculture. 

And as you’ll know after reading this article, being part of a subculture is a point of connection with all other subcultures, we are the same in our differences. We know each other because we are unknown by the mainstream.

We’re paying homage to our skating friends. Some bits and pieces produced by those who live it, who look at their world as a skatepark, the landscape a line to backslide lipside noseslide alley oop.

LISTEN

Spod. A multidisciplinary artist. Including, but not limited to: musician, producer, video artist, coffee brewer, coffee reviewer, skateboarder.

WATCH

Dogtown and Z-Boys. The documentary. Chronicling the revolution of skateboarding from a kitsch toy to worldwide phenomenon through a small group of surfing enthusiasts with big ideas and an authoritarian defiant attitude. Delicious watching for a Victorian stooge like me.

READ

Monster Children. A magazine and site about surf and skate culture and its accoutrements. And often featuring a bunch of our Inner West friends.

EAT

Gutter Ramen. Simple and spicy, best eaten after a skate. Alternatively, put on your baggiest pair of jeans, studded belt, and sit near a pavement or railing for a similar sense of post-skate satisfaction. 

DRINK

A good pot of Brazil Mantiqueiro Sitio. It’s so creamy and decadently syrupy as an espresso, but today I’m having it as plunger so I can dunk my hot cross bun in it. Shivers. All those cinnamon, dried fruit, bakers spice, caramel notes all in the one mouthfeel. Can you imagine? You don’t need to. You can do it.