Spotlight on Ballarat Cafes serving locally roasted coffee

Spotlight on Ballarat Cafes serving locally roasted coffee

Freshly roasted Coffee and cake anyone?

When was the last time you had a piece of cake without a cup of coffee?

I’m guessing never because that would just be weird.

Every Saturday morning our friends at The Smythesdale Local serve up some of the best home baked cakes, breads, pastries and slices in the Western Region. Knowing all too well that cake must be served with coffee, store owners Bart and Alicia set out to find a brew to accompany the tasty treats and keep customers smiling.

“We first heard about Karon Farm Coffee from the owner of our IGA. They stock the coffee beans and we thought it made sense to tie in with the local supermarket.

“We also liked that Karon Farm itself is local. So, we gave Luke a call and things went from there.”

Needless to say we were very happy to get the call from Bart. We love when a café chooses to serve our blends, because it gives people something we can’t do directly – a chance to taste it. Not many people like to order a kilo of beans without trying it first, so to have it served at cafés is a really great thing.

As a coffee drinker himself, Bart knew the type of blend he was looking for.

“Personally, I like a dark, rich coffee and that’s what I wanted for my customers, so we serve the Mount Buninyong in the store and people love it. We get a lot of compliments on our coffee.”

The Mount Buninyong blend is for coffee fans who want a little more depth. It’s a blend of beans from Colombia and Brazil, and you might taste chocolate, berries and stewed fruit.

This blend has received several awards, most recently a Gold Medal at the 2022 Royal Tasmanian Fine Food Awards.

While we’re proud of the flavour blends we’ve developed, we like to think we offer a little more to our commercial customers than just coffee beans.

“Karon Farm has made it so easy for us to be a customer. Luke helped with sourcing and supplying our coffee machine, grinder and PUQ press, also the initial set up of the machine and dialing in the grinder and he is always happy to come by if we need help. He’s generous with his time and nothing is ever too much trouble.

“Working with Luke, you can tell how passionate he is about his coffee and that’s a great sign when in business. When a supplier cares that much about his work, you know you will always receive a top-quality product.”

We’re grateful to Bart and his family at Smythesdale Local for choosing to work with us. Small businesses supporting each other is what we love to see, and we think their products are great too.

We highly recommend you head out to Smythesdale Local and treat yourself to a piece of cake or baked treat, some bread from Bellsprout, and a cup of coffee too of course.

If you’d like advice on brewing, grinds, devices or choosing the right coffee bean for you at home or your workplace, drop us a line. We love to talk all things coffee.

Happy caffeinating!

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