Perth Coffee Blog


Perth Coffee Blog, a digest of sorts, covers on goings, some thought and info from across Perth's burgeoning coffee landscape and further abroad.

Ristretto is both a coffee roaster and specialist retailer focused on quality and "goodness" from seed to cup. We're open early from 6:30am M-F at three inner-city Perth locations:

---> Ristretto Coffee Roasters walk up espresso, coffee and fresh roasted bean retail@ 160 Central Arcade, 160 St Georges Terrace, Perth

---> Howard Street Coffee by Ristretto@ 22 Howard Street (rear of 89 St Georges Terrace), Perth

---> ROASTING IN NORTHBRIDGE! July 2012: Our Aberdeen Street "Coffee Wall" opens SOON for Retail!@ rear 53 Aberdeen St, near William

Newsletter SIGNUP


Google Maps page for Ristretto location


Ristretto Home page

News: Quality New Season Brazil Coffees

Here’s a link to an Article in the WSJ with some comment around the appeal of new season high grown and Cup of Excellence Brazils. We’re expecting the first new season Brazils to arrive shortly and a whole swag more to follow for you to enjoy at Ristretto Coffee Roasters and Howard Street Coffee, Perth.Brazil Coffee and Espresso Perth 2012

There’s a couple of points we will comment on; Penut is not really a flavour we look for in Brazils (other nutty flavours - for sure, absolutely). Penut is hit and miss and usually from lower grown lots and sometimes reflects poor quality) and we disagree that bright coffees are not (never) suitable for espresso (some of our favourite coffees we love for their brightness and expressiveness).

We have an upcoming announcement in March about Brazillian Coffees in Perth!

Espresso/ Coffee Lab Courses, Perth - commencing March 2012

EatDrinkPerth barista coffee school

Update 4/3/12: There are two (2) spots in this Saturdays (10/3/12) class, and six (5) spots for the second class held Saturday (24/3/12). Mention the EatDrinkPerth offer at time of booking and fee is just $90! 

We are pleased to announce that Ristretto Coffee Roasters new series of Espresso/ Coffee Lab Courses will commence on Saturday March 10th and be followed with another Saturday March 24th from 9:30-11:30am (2 hrs) at Howard Street Coffee by Ristretto. 

These are aimed at new home/ office baristas or as a skill building exercise for working baristas. You may be working with coffee, contemplating purchasing a home/ office/ cafe coffee machine or simply want to know more about the drink you savour and enjoy!

The morning focuses on the short history of espresso and coffee, the seed-to-cup story, as well as the basic science and craft behind the beverage.

Coffee creation topics include coffee sourcing and storage, espresso distribution and dosing, grind adjustment, tamping technique, proper milk texturing and temperature, beverage preparation, espresso equipment cleaning and upkeep. 

It’s informative and fun and very practicle… there’s a strong hands-on lab time component with working instructors.

We’ll cover the following:

  • Coffee seed to cup story and factors contributing to and affecting coffee quality
  • Sourcing  roasted coffee to work with and enjoy
  • Sensory appreciation of coffee
  • Storing and managing your coffee
  • Espresso - what it is
  • Espresso - creation and working with your coffee grinder
  • Milk Texturing (plus some Latte Art basics)
  • Espresso based coffee drink menu
  • Brief on other than espresso methods and what they can teach us
  • Equipment cleaning and maintenance


All coffee, milk and guided practice on commercial equipment is provided. 

Who should take this class? Baristas, coffee shop managers and owners, home enthusiasts, students and anyone who wishes to develop espresso skills.

Prerequisites: None 

Notes: Please arrive 10 mins before class time 

Date and TIme: Sat March 10th and Sat March 24th - 9:30am - 11:30am (2 hrs) 

Location: at Howard Street Coffee, by Ristretto, 22 Howard Street (rear 89 St Georges Tce), Perth WA 6000

Booking and payment in advance: $120 p.p. In Person at Howard Street Coffee or Ristretto 160 Central Arcade. Enquiries in person or to beans@ristretto.com.au

Places are limited - early registration is recommended if you are keen to attend.

This will be an Eat Drink Perth event - lookout for the special food festival offer coming up. 

New Coffees Enroute

We are expect a swag of new crop coffees to land. Most will go into a new iteration of our lurved Custom Blend. We will be maintaining its cherished profile of Berry and Chocolate notes with a good body and sweetness includes coffees from Ethiopia, Northern Brasil (really excited about brasil coffees this year - highly anticipated). Other arrivals include new crop mussasa from Rwanda, a washed Yirgacheffe from Ethiopia (blew us all away when cupping!) and some a Sumatran from a group that we visited in 2010. We will also enjoy 8 Estralles a group lot from Caranavi in Bolivia. Below, picture of farm worker at Sipanang Bolon, Sumatra. More detail in stores in the next two weeks.

Sipanang Bolon Sumatra

What a week in El Salvador! For now, will share that it was tremendous with lots of great people met and of course some outstanding coffees from really dedicated farmers and mills cupped. What’s stuck in my mind was the standard of quality and a number of coffees that were delicious, sweet and clean. Tasted fresh crop of some of the farms we enjoyed last season; San Jose, Las Mercedes and La Montana and some great contributions from a number of smaller farmers bent on improving their land and practices with tremendous result. Lots from the visit should land at Ristretto Coffee Roasters, Perth around July-August. Details to follow!

March 2012 update: Expect some photo images instore any day! We look forward to sharing some information about the experience and what it means for the coffee in your morning cup at Ristretto and Howard Street Coffee.

Supporting Coffee Kids

We are pleased to announce our support to Coffeekids.org that will see Ristretto Coffee Roasters, Perth included as a “Friend” sponsor for the organisation. This comes only as a result of our customers’ and staffs’ generosity and thought for others. Thank you to the many that contributed.

Coffee Kids, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping coffee-farming families improve the quality of their lives.

We support Coffeekids.org because we are focused on truly good coffee with the view that happy and healthy communities contribute to the availability great tasting coffee and this helps achieve a sustainable supply into the future. 

La Voz - coffeekids. org newsletter

Here’s a link to “La Voz” the Coffeekids.org newsletter. 

Sydneysidin’ in style sipping some delicious specialty coffee around Surrey Hills and Darlinghurst with a diversion off to see the Alchemist of Marrickville! Yummy. These Sydneycoffeesiders really know how to play it. No more overdosed salty espresso. Expect more juicy, flavoursome cups with a nice work out between sweetness and acidity. That’s what you can experience from coffee today.