Perth’s finest espresso? Mount Hawthorn cafe Nu Noir sells $100 cup – and it’s not the primary

To place this in perspective, Carciotto mentioned most cafe blends have been across the 75-80 mark. “Specialty” cafes offered coffees graded 82-plus.

Nu Noir’s home mix, 2 Keys, is an 84-point mix offered for round $5 a cup.

The cafe has many worth factors, be it that or $7-$8 or $50-$60. Carciotto mentioned many selected the home mix for a each day cup and would possibly deal with themselves to one thing particular as soon as per week, simply as a wine drinker would, or a whiskey or gin aficionado at a specialty bar.

The person who lately dropped the C-note was a part of a bunch of what Carciotto affectionately calls “espresso nerds”.

They get collectively in Perth for “cupping” tasting occasions and this specific nerd heard of Nu Noir by Carciotto’s enterprise companion, a well-known espresso specialist.

He got here in, tasted a number of of Nu Noir’s choices after which mentioned he needed to style the Geisha from the cafe’s uncommon classic lever-style machine.

Carciotto mentioned the client was “extraordinarily glad” and got here again inside days.

“From a enterprise perspective I knew we’d must do nicely with on a regular basis espresso and it will likely be a sluggish factor with the specialty espresso,” he mentioned.

“However we’ve truly had individuals catch on fast and be interested by why, and that’s the query all people’s asking, why is it price a lot, how do you justify it?”

The cafe has a flavour wheel exhibiting all of the flavours you would get in espresso, akin to cherry, pomegranate, cinnamon, nutmeg and jasmine, and the upper the grade, the clearer and extra identifiable these flavours are, Carciotto mentioned.

“You’re getting super-sweet lovely flavours and you’ll sip and benefit from the aftertaste that’s pretty much as good because the preliminary style,” he mentioned.

“Just lately we had one with a coconut tradition launched within the fermentation section that tasted similar to a pina colada, and we made it for a buyer, it was $9 they usually mentioned it was the most effective espresso they ever had.”

Requested if flat white drinkers are scorned, Carciotto says no. He’ll solely attempt to make them the most effective flat white doable.

He says espresso must be approachable and whereas everybody has an opinion on worth, he thinks customers want schooling on worth.

“The gear, the procedures; we spend quite a bit in comparison with others charging the identical worth with a 3rd of the expense,” he mentioned.

“I feel our $5 espresso is price $7 or $8, however $5 is what the general public is ready to pay.

“We freshly grind our decaf which lots of people don’t do. I’ve a $4000 grinder for decaf. That’s respecting your beverage.”

Nice issues are available small batches and that was Carciotto’s final cup of Black Jaguar on the market.

However there’s extra in retailer.

One other providing is the espresso Columbia’s barista champion is rumoured to have chosen to be used in approaching world titles. A tasting on September 17 will use the beans featured on the Australian championships, made as brief macchiatos with frozen distilled milk, a serving approach used within the final world titles and in October the cafe will obtain new coffees awarded within the Better of Panama 2022.

However their finest cup of all just isn’t on the market: Nuguo Fermented, which positioned first on the Greatest in Panama 2021, with solely 45 kilograms produced, purchased by a Chinese language firm for greater than $US2500 a pound.

“That one I’m saving for my espresso companion’s youngster being born,” Carciotto mentioned.

I joke his companion will in all probability want the caffeine, however he doesn’t snigger.

“It’s for a celebration,” he mentioned. “I don’t need espresso to be a drugs or an vitality drink. It’s for the wonder it may give you.”