THE ARCHIES!

The Archibald has been announced! You were waiting on the edge of your seats weren’t you? Me too. Even though each time I feel like it comes around quicker than the paint’s had to dry. Very much like tax time. Nevertheless, it’s a welcome headline in the newspaper. Arts and Culture section. Which I’m sure […]

FIKA: JUNE EDITION

Happy June everyone! Please enjoy these crisp mornings, the few more minutes snuggled under the doona, the steaming cups of coffee in the morning, the hot soups and crunchy bread, the clear blue winter skies and the smell of firewood kindled merrily on your walk home from work. And also these four things to make […]

April Fika coffee and skating

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 […]

COFFEE IN (SKATE) CULTURE

When I was nineteen I moved to Canberra for uni, and made the decision that I was going to be cool.  I’d thought about being cool before this, but I was in high school, and it’s hard to change your identity to be cool when everyone already knows you aren’t. But as nobody knew me […]

Fika autumn halloumi salad

FIKA: GOOD THINGS FOR MARCH

Hello! It’s Autumn! What a time to be alive. It’s a season I like to think of as cool and crunchy. The early mornings will become crispy, and the summer balmy evenings will become chilly, but right now, in early March – it’s still warm and glorious! It’s like the bonus round on Letters and […]

agua de sapo

FIKA: FEBRUARY EDITION

We’re taking stimulus from Central America this Febrary Fika. They make good food, good music, and good coffee. In my mind that more than qualifies them to expert fika status. EAT Arepas! I’ve been going to town on this Colombian staple. My Colombian friends say they live off a diet of coffee and arepas, and […]

book and coffee

COFFEE AND CULTURE: LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY

My mum recommended me this book, saying she thought it was the best one her bookclub read all year. She needed to insert that caveat as to not offend me and the book I gave her for her birthday. Which I notice is creeping ever down in her book pile, its ears’ mockingly un-dogged. Lessons […]

FIKA: PARTY TIME

A reliable source (a customer who’s friend read something on the internet) told me that La Nina is departing earlier than expected. Slinking away from the party like a trollied wedding guest who just embarrassed themselves on the dance floor. We look forward to seeing the back of you Ms Nina. In celebration of this […]

BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD

It is one of life’s simple, great, God given pleasures to spend an hour or two with a good book and a good cup of coffee. And when I say good, it’s not because I’ve run out of adjectives (or adverbs? I never learnt this at school [sub parentheses – but I do run out […]

Coffee (art) History: Laurette’s Head With A Coffee Cup

I’ve been thinking about the influence of coffee in art history recently. Not just its obvious influence of powering many late night painting sessions, and that maybe some works of Jackson Pollock could be explained by one too many cups of coffee. But what about coffee as the subject? Have artists through the ages appreciated […]

CAFE OFFICE ETIQUETTE

Even though people are returning to the office, many of you were able to swing a few WFH days, which you have cleverly converted to WFTC (work from the cafe) days. If you are one of these clever ones, you’ll already have a grasp of what is acceptable practice. But for those who are looking […]

FIKA: FESTIVAL EDITION!

April is the month of public holidays. The month of which immersing oneself into the minutiae of time management, reviewing of pay slips, improving schedule efficiency, dissecting interstate migration patterns and corresponding financial fluctuations brings joy and exhilaration to millions of Australians across the land as they find the perfect combination of maximum time off, […]