April 06, 2016
ACOFFEE: A focused coffee
The Australian coffee scene is one where it’s evolution takes on bold jumps. From it’s first beginnings it’s focus was on creating a delicious social drink. It then progressed to focus on quality machinery to maximise the output and potential of those beans, with the Italians at the forefront of this movement. It’s next step was on natural flavours of the beans, bringing in the wave of lightly roasted coffee to bring forth the bold tastes of the varietals.
It’s evolution is now about to take it’s next natural step into artistry and design - the external layers and representation of brand philosophy instilled into the first look and feel before a single coffee has been drunk.
Three Thousand Thieves is excited to exclusively launch a new brand of coffee into the Australian coffee scene that heads up this evolution. ACOFFEE by Melbourne coffee superstar Byoung-Woo Kang (or BW as most know him by).
My very first contact to coffee is on 2005 when I got a job at Starbucks Coffee as a barista in Korea. Of course, I did not know anything about coffee and I had absolutely no idea that i was going to be ended up where i am now.
A barista in Korea, BW moved to Melbourne in 2006. One day, he stepped into St. Ali and was mesmerised by the roastery, syphons, and all this progressive coffee gear he’s never seen before.
“They are all very common now but at that time it was the only place you could see something like that in one place in Australia”.
So naturally, he got a job at St. Ali as a barista and naturally grew to learn the roasting process. After few years, BW moved to Market Lane Coffee as a coffee roaster. In that time he’s won 2014 Australian Cup Tasting championships and came 5th in World Cup Tasting Championship.
Today, you’re tasting the fruits of his own journey.
“I believe power of simplicity. To me, simpler also means more focus. I want ACOFFEE to be a focused brand with genuine care of coffee.”
“We spend a lot of time selecting raw coffees and shaping roasting profiles to make the best cup of coffee possible. Also we use coffees that are in seasons which brings more clarity and vibrancy to the cup.”
This is where this launch leaves us.
BW has prepared two types of coffee exclusively for 3tt members. For our espresso drinkers, he has chosen Adelson Vieira as Single origin espresso. This is natural processed coffee that has distinctive flavours but still makes clean cup. From this cup, you can get walnuts, oranges, milk chocolates, and dried fruit such as dates and raisins.
For our filter members, a delicious Colombia San Isidro which is a very clean all-round coffee with ripe grapes and some spices that tantalise the senses any which way you make it.
ACOFFEE’s approach to roasting is to preserve natural flavours and enhance the distinctive flavours in its own right. We asked BW where he thought speciality coffee was heading in the next few years, and he had two distinct areas of belief.
“Global warming makes me worried. This will affect the world production of quality coffee in next 5 to 10 years. This will definitely change the coffee market in many ways on how we buy, sell, and grade specialty.” BW mentions that there are active experiments on coffee processing technologies on both coffee making and roasting. While technology will continue to push the boundaries of how coffee is produced, BW is clear where his belief lies on this: “For me coffee is more about relationships rather than caffeine”.
Perfectly put.
Follow them on instagram @acoffee_melbourne
Shot by Pia Hambour for Three Thousand Thieves.
