Every time we plan a trip, we usually start with two Google searches. The first is ‘best hot chocolate ____”. This usually doesn’t come up with anything particularly interesting, unfortunately, still today. The second, frankly more interesting search is for ‘best coffee’. Australians understand good coffee. Unlike with hot chocolates, which will get high reviews just because they have a generous heap of whip cream and a drizzle of chocolate syrup on top, coffee lovers are much more discerning. We expect that we will find at least one decent coffee a day to keep Rich going when we are on trips, no matter where we are in Australia.
Boston Bean Coffee Company was more than that. Despite the unfortunate name which in our head placed it as being in the US when actually it is named after the local Boston Bay, we loved it so much that we returned twice…in one morning. The kids even went back again to buy their T-shirt for Rich for his birthday so now we are advertising their coffee all across the west coast (you’re welcome). Boston Bean is an award willing specialty coffee brand with a shop front where you can drink and buy their beans. While we were there, many business owners were coming by to pick up trolleys worth of beans to serve and sell at their cafes, so if you visit coffee shops in the region (or beyond) you may be lucky enough to be drinking their coffee. I saw lucky enough without knowing specifics since I am not a coffee drinker, but I could tell from the look on Rich’s face that this was one good coffee.
As a chocolate lover, I got sucked into their world as well. This is the shop I would open if I were to open a chocolate focused cafe (without the coffee obviously). The whole shops screams “coffee is serious stuff, take it seriously and it will reward you”. There is a menu of the different beans on offer, all from different origins with different flavour profiles. Everything else for sale in the shop is focused on helping you be able to make a quality cup of coffee at home including books, mugs and those little appliances you never realised you needed (and still probably don’t need) until they are right in front of you (think travel frothers and grinders). One part of the cafe has a glass wall where you can watch the process, including a direct view of a screen with lots of impressive looking squiggles and numbers that reinforce the fact that roasting coffee is not like roasting marshmallows. What solidified Boston Bean though as a spot we won’t forget is that the staff were perfect. They were friendly, knowledgable, in control, it was just a well oiled coffee machine.
Funnily enough, when we find excellent coffee shops I almost always expect to have a horrible hot chocolate. Because of this, I always order tea for myself and a hot chocolate for the kids to share (one of the benefits of having little ones who will drink almost anything). Coffee shops that take their coffee seriously will often take their tea seriously too, but never their hot chocolate. At least almost never. This is changing, but slowly. Boston Bean offers Grounded Pleasures drinking chocolate WITH (and this is important) Grounded Pleasures marshmallows which are so good I consider them to be food rather than a sweet (and eat them as such). As you can learn more in this interview, Grounded Pleasures, based in Ballarat, specialises in origin drinking chocolate, sourcing their cocoa from Ghana, Tanzania, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. They have a background in coffee and one of their aims is to raise the profile of hot chocolates in places that take their coffee seriously. I’m all for that.
On top of all that, their cafe is beautiful. The setting really does make a difference. We drink Grounded Pleasures often, but it tasted best here. Port Lincoln is charming, and we’d come back again for the Fish and Chips (The Fresh Fish Place has the best fish and chips) and for Boston Bean.
Boston Bean Coffee Co is at 122 Mortlock Terrace. You can follow them on Instagram and can order their beans direct.
