Chippenburg owner Mehran Granfar hails from Hamburg, Germany; it’s the northernmost place he has lived. Chippendale is the southernmost. In between, his passport and his tamping skills have been flexed in Berlin, Haifa, Hong Kong, Shanghai and San Francisco. And it was during his time in the US that he noticed the growing fixation with cold brew and cold-drip coffee, and became inspired.
At his small (22-seat) basement café, Granfar uses a rotation of five single origin beans – a Brazilian Rainforest Alliance coffee one week, an Ethiopian Limu the next – and the cold-drip process can take 12 hours. They also sell it by the bottle – a fatigue-busting dose of seven concentrated shots – that you can also get via subscription service.
If you plan to get some sleep in the near future, skip the bottle and ask for two shots with ice – a splash of milk is optional. The coffee is incredibly smooth, mildly acidic, and actually quite sweet, so it’s a good gateway drink if you’re considering ditching the dairy.
Of course, there’s also espresso, made with Allpress (a relationship inherited from the previous café in this location, Little Queen), which produces a solid long black or a macchiato with a full-bodied finish and nice crema. Filter coffee is on its way; expect pour-over and batch brews in the future.
Caffeine is not the only way this café is getting people wired. Granfar has a background in tech start-ups (Maven News) and the creative industries (Maker Design), so he’s powered up his café to be freelance-friendly. Hello, free Wi-Fi and laptop-friendly fixtures. It makes a good escape hatch from your office cubicle or lounge room’s distractions.
There are nifty sandwiches coming out of the tiny kitchen – a smart take on the Reuben, made with American cheddar and roast beef, and the Save the Planet, a flat-packed veggie delivery of char-grilled eggplant, hummus, olives, cream cheese and lemon on Brasserie Bread rye.
A new chef, Ben Sneddon (from Raw Espresso on the Gold Coast) is starting to rework the menu, which has extended to poached eggs and maple-glazed bacon on Saturdays. Hopefully he doesn’t mess with the muffins – the passionfruit and ricotta one is excellent.
Chippenburg is a handy spot for a coffee break, but make it your office for the day and see just how much work you can get done on seven adrenalin-spiking shots of coffee. We’re banking on it being a lot.