Cartel Coffee – Introduction

Cartel Brew Bar is our ‘go-to’ place in Geelong (and now also in Melbourne) for excellent coffee. Under the leadership of Nathan Johnston the staff are very passionate about their coffee here and always have a freshly roasted single origin variety available. They also serve tasty snacks during the day. Coffee classes are available in the early evenings by arrangement.

You will find them in Little Malop St just a few doors along from the Hot Chicken Project which is another venue heralding the revitalisation of this area of Geelong.

There are some outside benches and tables and then inside benches in the window and shared spaces with high metal stools where you can sit and read your Iphone while waiting for your single origin shot which is served on a small wooden platter along with a shot of mineral water.

We tried a single origin, high grown, expertly made coffee from Burundi which was beautifully creamy with lovely citrus and chocolate notes.

Cartel is not only a café, it is also a roaster and importer of beans. They are linked up with coffee growers in Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Colombia, India & Indonesia which gives them access to a broad spectrum of coffee styles.

We are very eager to try a relatively recent import from the Riverdale Estate in southern India from producer Prakesh Balaraman. The coffee which is made from two clones of the Arabica bean, has been processed using the familiar wine process of carbonic maceration. It will be interesting to see the result.

You can find more information about Cartel Coffee on their Web site:

Cartel Coffee

Their Melbourne outlet is just off Little Bourke Street in 19 Somerset Place which is just near Elizabeth St. They are open from 8am during the week and at 8:30am on Saturday and 11am on Sunday.