When you live in a city that is widely regarded as the Mecca of specialty coffee, then you must surely be pretty spoiled for choice. Entrepreneurs in other cities often used some of Melbourne’s finest third wave coffee shops and roasters as a blueprint for their own ventures and that became obvious in small details like ‘smashed avocado on toast’ or being the first to feature a ‘flat white’ on the menu.

Sadly, for many of us, Melbourne is so far away that a visit to Australia’s second city would involve at least a three week holiday down under, so to bring a slice of the city’s famed coffee scene to our customers, we are teaming up with our first ever Australian coffee roaster this month.

Padre Coffee is synonymous with Melbourne’s advanced coffee scene and one of the leading specialty coffee businesses in the city. One of their roasters is Mr. Matty de Angelis. Here’s our interview:

The Coffeevine: Hey Matty, happy new year! What did you get up to last night?

Matty de Angelis: Happy New Year to you! I didn’t really get up to much this year. We went to watch the Rousey vs Nunez UFC fight, which was underwhelming to say the least. Then we headed to a house party.

TCV: Did you make any crazy coffee cocktails for your friends and family?

MDA: I actually did. My last day at work I made a Cold Drip Negroni which turned out a treat. I used our Ethiopian Shakiso Natural and added Gin and Campari through the drip. Super low extraction. It was delicious. The Padre Coffee team loved it. I’ll throw the recipe up on my blog soon.

TCV: Tell us, how did you get into coffee? What was your Eureka moment?

MDA: I was always surrounded by coffee. My parents had a great little coffee bar in inner city Melbourne. Then I think my trip to London in 2012 where I worked at Climpson and Sons started my real passion for specialty coffee.

TCV: When did you discover that roasting coffee was your calling?

MDA: I think it was more the people I’ve worked with that ignited my passion for roasting.

TCV: Do you ever listen to music while roasting? And if yes, what’s your favourite tune?

MDA: Do I ever! Music is a roaster’s dream. You don’t get many workplaces where you can crank out your favourite tunes. My playlist consists of Disclosure, Wiz Khalifa, Drake, DJ Khaled, Jay Z, Kanye, Maceo Plex, Frank Ocean, Schoolboy Q, The Weekend, YG, Bruno Mars, Nina Kraviz and my boys Feenixpawl.

TCV: You’ve been with Padre for a couple of years now. What makes Padre such a great place to work?

MDA: Yeah that’s right. Padre Coffee has a great feel to it. The people are awesome and we have a lot of cool coffee stuff at our disposal. Padre Coffee strives to be the best and that’s something that I love. If you’re going to do something you need to try and be the best, while keeping it cool and humble. Padre balance this very well.

TCV: Have you ever gone on any origin trips and if so, which one was your favourite and why?

MDA: I haven’t unfortunately. It’s something that I hope to do in the next couple of years.

TCV: What can you tell us about the Costa Rica Las Lajas that you will soon be roasting for our customers?

MDA: This is the second time Padre Coffee have had this coffee. It’s a coffee that blows you away on the cupping table. It’s a black honey process, which means it has 100% of the mucilage on it. This gives the bean lots of sweetness and complexity. The dark chocolate and cherry notes really make this coffee stand out for me.

TCV: You also run a widely respected blog called ‘Brewing is for everyone’. What was your motivation to start this project?

MDA: Hahaha…I’m honoured that you call it widely respected!

My motivation behind the blog was simplicity when brewing coffee. Sometimes coffee can get a little scientific and that’s good and needed in the industry, but the majority of brewers need somewhere to start. That’s where Brewing is for Everyone comes into it. It’s somewhere people can start their own journey.

“You don’t get many workplaces where you can crank out your favourite tunes.”

TCV: What’s your favourite brew method, and why?

MDA: The Hario V60 is definitely my favourite. It’s the first brewing method I started my brewing journey with. It has a sentimental value. It also produces the best cup of coffee. But I guess that could be debatable depending on who you ask.

TCV: What is your recipe for making a perfect cuppa Joe every time?

The Hario V60. 23g ground medium to coarse. 300ml filtered water. Add 69ml in 10 seconds. Let it bloom for 40 seconds. Tap the V60 to settle the grounds. Add the remainder of the water. You should aim to be finished your pour at 1:40 minutes. Let it drain until 2:30 (minimum) – 2:45 (maximum).

TCV: Have you got any new year’s resolutions?

MDA: I don’t really do resolutions. I’m more of a person that does it straight away. Let’s just say 2017 will hopefully be fun and bigger than 2016.

Cheers mate! We cannot wait to share your delicious coffee with our customers!