Is the future of specialty coffee automation? Coffee is all about people, memorable encounters, and human relationships. John and I first met in 2019 in El Salvador during the Cup of Excellence competition. We connected well, and John invited me after the COE award ceremony to do a farm trip to see Emilio Lopez Diaz. It was an amazing experience to meet Emilio and I have learnt so much about modern coffee farming: the use of machines to prune the coffee trees and the latest innovation when it comes to post harvesting processing. John and I stayed in touch, and I promised him to come to Australia one day. Then came covid, but I finally made it to Sydney, and we had a great chat over a few tasty coffees. I visited the origin of Campos Coffee, where their story started with a roastery and an espresso bar. The baristas were extremely friendly. They knew that I was coming and even greeted me by my first name. I enjoyed a juicy Kenyan filter coffee and a delicious cinnamon bun. While enjoying my morning treat, I watched the baristas moving swiftly behind the bar. I was amazed by the young female barista who kept texturing milk nonstop at the speed of light; one jug after another. Otherwise the team used several tools to speed up the workflow through automation: Marco SP9 filter coffee brewer, PuqPress, and Acaia Orion Bean Doser. Thank you to the entire team for the amazing hospitality, the tasty coffees, and the delicious cinnamon bun.

The best affogato I’ve ever had. They sell some merch as well. The nice little cup was cute. A great spot to chill in the Newtown area.