Day 21: The Perfect Cup, 77 Grenfell St

By law of averages, somewhere on Grenfell must make a killer coffee. In ramshackle red, The Perfect Cup, by name, can talk the talk. Hushed in peak-hour, we've the choice of leather-look seating. We set up near the beans-for-sale, and wait for the walk. The Order: One large latte, one small flat white, and one ristretto have here. The Price: small for a finicky $3.15, ristretto at $3.00.



For starters, MMC's side-dish ristretto order meets barista incredulity. As it turns out, the sweet shorty is necessary backup. The Greeting: unlively. No outside-the-square offers of freebie-at-eight punchcards. The Service: unlively. The Perfect Cup family has seen better days, MMC thinks. The main focus of their now-daggy online sales, the Market Plaza stronghold seems to buzz, but 2006 saw Grenfell change hands and Hyde Park in liquidation. Memories of corporate law suggest that ain't so perfect a record.

Known for selling tea and coffee, MMC hunts fruitlessly for info on what we'll actually be drinking. Online, it's clearer: 'The Perfect Cup specialises in single-origin 'grands crus' coffees' of AA Grade. Their own blend? Not so much. As we discover in person, The Perfect Cup uses the similarly SA-based Altura Coffee. Aha! Altura are also 'Specialists in single-origin grands crus coffees' of AA Grade. A perfect match. Now, what do all these fancy words mean?

First, it seemeth that single-origin coffee beans cometh from just one country. Is this coffee better than a blend - a mixed-bag of countries and plantations? Au contraire, or at least not always. Similar to asking wine drinkers if riesling is 'better' than semillon sauvignon blanc, you'll get some from column A and some column B. Both coffee and wine are subjective drinks. Sometimes roasters, like winemakers, mix beans to create unique palate sensations. One view is that over single origin, a blend of beans is more likely to bring all of taste, body, mouthfeel, aftertaste and aroma. For beginner drinkers like MMC, this makes for a more exciting drink.

Second, Grands crus is a newly borrowed french wine term - grand is roughly 'great', and crus refers to 'growth places' and their produce. AA Grade is reputedly the best of the best. The Perfect Cup tell us their coffee comes from a pretty sweet spot, but we're not sure where. Altura - Spanish for 'height' - source green beans from high up places, so they're all grown between 4,000 and 6,000 feet. These are 'the world's premium coffee producing regions', apparently. How high falutin'. We just want good coffee...

The Lesson: you can judge a coffee by its label, but it's easier to taste until you find your flavour fave. Jargon aside, did The Perfect Cup match its moniker? Perhaps it was the new 'single origin' experience, but MMC and friend found the flavour unspecial. None too bodied, wan and wooded, the flat white went unfinished. The Pour: the latte had leaf art, but the flat white was pedestrian and milky.

The latte word: For an unfinished cup? 2.5 beans out of 5. Pedigree, perhaps. Perfection, no. Tomorrow is chain store day, and there's a new kid on the block serving My Morning Coffee.

Link: Barista Basics on 'Single Origin Coffees'