Tell us about your background and what led you to becoming a producer on the Central Coast
I first got the taste for a potential love of coffee in 2009, as I frequented a great spot on King Street in the city by Mecca coffee, realising my love of this beverage, I Sat down with the owner one day and was pointed in a direction to begin my journey in the coffee roasting world, with no café experience, I carved out a path to immerse myself amongst some of the best baristas and roasters of the day and begun my journey. Fast forward 10 years, 2 continents and several roasteries with roles from barista, to roaster, to sales and trainer, It all finally clicked, I love the central coast, where I’ve been coming for holidays my whole life to my parents beach shack, and was quick to see that no one had brought a fresh coffee perspective to the Cenny Coast for almost 10 years, so I bit the bullet, quit my job, and begun the search for the home of Legend.
On the search I continued to fall more in love with the coast, just the people and the general vibe was so much more enticing that the Sydney rat-race, fully aware that there were too many people trying to do the same thing in Sydney, I was certain that bringing world class coffee, roasted lighter and brighter was what the coast wanted and needed, so that brings us to today.
What do you enjoy most about connecting with visitors to your business?
I just love how easy going and relaxed our customers are, they truly appreciate the effort that we put into every roast and every cup of this mystical bean juice. It’s clear to me through our café and the diverse customers (from hipsters to tradies, soccer mums and oldies), that the idea of progressing the coffee scene on the coast was a good idea.
What makes your products unique?
We work with a very select group of importers, who can actively ensure us that our green coffee is coming through a supply chain which ultimately leads back to the farmers getting paid well. It was always my view that the most important factor outside of careful and intentional roasting, was to source coffee from farmers who truly care about the crops they produce, the better the farming and processing at origin, the better the flavour in the cup will be.
Aside from that, we take an approach to roast our coffee light, some would call it more of a Nordic style, especially our single origin or filter coffee beans, where we look to roast the coffee as light as possible, while achieving perfect flavour development. Even in our blends we try to hold the roast back from getting to much of the ‘cooking’ characteristics, which leaves a cup profile always carrying rich or bright fruity flavours amongst the sweet chocolates and caramels you’d hope to find from a blend.
We often have customers tell us how easily our café could be mistaken for something you’d find in Sydney’s inner west or Melbourne’s inner suburbs, but we’d hope it could carbon copy itself into Scandinavian life and tick all the boxes for the Nordic brewer!
What should people expect when they visit your venue?
An excellent cup of coffee, but we are flavour enthusiasts, so be prepared to have limited options on alternative milks, we promise, you’ll have a smile after tasting what we love! There is a simple menu focussed on just doing a few things exceptionally, expect a toastie that will set the bar for life moving forward, and a bacon egg roll (aka the bae) that will melt your heart. And of course consistently fantastic coffee, from espresso based to the filter options.
On top of this, come between 8-12 Thurs-Saturday and experience our slow bar upstairs, where we make pour-over filter coffee, roasted by us and a select group of roasters from around the world, from New York to Oslo, we hunt down the best and bring them in simply because we can. Hover around and see the open planned roastery, ask some questions and find out more about what and why we love what we do.
Are you able to give us a preview of any innovative projects (e.g., new products, experiences, promotions or collaborations) that you are working on?
At the moment the innovative side of things is full of pipe dreams, that we will tackle the list as time goes on. First on the list is to begin public cuppings where you can book in to have a bit of a coffee experience, and join our team as they taste the coffees we’ve been roasting as well as the odd other special bean from our global roasting partners who supply us with beans for the specialty brew bar upstairs.
What do you think makes the Central Coast such a great place for people to establish a food or beverage business?
I see the Central Coast as a growing region, becoming more and more a part of the greater Sydney area, but with an easier going and relaxed crowd. We all love the locals who put their livelihood on the line to do what they love, watching people who’ve crafted a unique skill dive in and create businesses in all industries.
When it comes to food and beverages, it’s the same thing, people on the coast love the creative expression and quality of a great space serving excellent products.
What do you think is the best kept secret on the Central Coast?
Must tries in my opinion are Like Minds in Avoca, an amazing little community focussed café knocking out delicious food sourcing for the most part from local producers. If you like what we do at the roastery, but don’t like our lack of alternative milks, South End Social do everything they can to replicate our approach to coffee, but with many more options on the milk front!
Then there’s beer.. we love a visit to Bay Road brewery, and are super excited to see the Tim from Flour & Co in Toowoon bay open up a brewery in the near future under their recently launched brewing company Goons Brewing.
Best kept secret, Rise artisan Bakery in Ettalong could make that list for a killer croissant, or for a sugary treat in Gossy the good bits bakery (recent expansion of their café) makes a solid Cruffin filled with glory. Or if your after a solid, traditional wood fired pizza, look up Nero’s in Woy Woy, Mitch is the most passionate pizza chef we’ve ever met.
When you’re not making awesome food / drink, what do you love doing in your spare time?
I’d love to say surfing, but time is poor and swells are hard to pick! I’m always keen to kick a soccer ball in whatever comps are happening with my mates, and outside of that, just kicking back and relaxing with a West Coast IPA from one many Australian brewers, Oldfield Cellars and Upstairs Wines keep the search for these very simple and their cool rooms very well stocked.