May 13, 2015
Science, meet my tongue.
If you know coffee in Melbourne, there’s no doubt you’ve experienced Sensory Lab. Nestled under David Jones in the city’s heart, Sensory Lab was one of the first to lead coffee experiences toward a more scientific expedition of brewing, flavours and roasting.
Like good scientists, the whole concept behind Sensory Lab is to discover the coffee that fits your palate - the coffee that you want to drink every day. That’s no small feat.
Headed up by the St Ali group, they have put a lot of effort into working out the best ways to buy, roast and brew coffee so customers are always getting the best result. A key difference however is their research and development team is constantly experimenting and pushing the industry forward.
“We don’t believe that we can ever have all the answers; this sense of experimentation and play from our R&D focus is in everything we do.”
It’s clear there’s been a lot of thought around the Seamless blend you’re getting today. Seamless is their seasonal blend. Whereas most blends are constructed to remain fairly consistent in terms of flavour profiles and style, Seamless is designed to embrace and showcase the freshest and best crops available at any given time. Because of this approach the blend can change often depending on harvest sizes and seasonal demands.
This allows them to offer a constantly evolving and dynamic blend for the true specialty coffee fan. Seamless is sweet and creamy with budding floral aromas. Further divings sees you hitting crisp red apples, lemon curd and caramels with this unique lingering liqueur-like finish. Smash it with milk and you get a sense of chocolate and caramels are paired with soft fruit flavours. Not a bad way to begin a morning. Have a sip now - can you taste it?
After spending a few days with the crew, it’s clear these guys are a unique and eclectic bunch of people. Outside of coffee they are bakers, artists, photographers, musicians, fighters, and footballers. They are people who love life, and using that life experience in determining coffee profiles for their audience. They all come together to test and learn until they crack the next big thing.
