It’s hard to confess we have a problem. We love its ability to awaken us after a tumultuous night’s sleep, or the way it suppresses our sweet, earthy cravings. It’s an insatiable thirst. Yet today we live in an era where coffee can satisfy us further than just our primitive caffeine desires, and the Illawarra is thriving.

Words Lucy Dinn Images Taylah Cutting

Embracing this new era of coffee, The Broken Drum in Fairy Meadow has been at the forefront of this change. “When we opened we definitely brought something different to the suburbs of the Illawarra,” says owner Graeme McLuskey. “We brought a little bit of Sydney and Melbourne down here, with a bit of style and class”. Titling themselves as an espresso bar, The Broken Drum offers speciality Campos coffee through options of single origin, pour overs, cold brews as well as milk coffees, something fairly modern to the Australian market.

Yet The Broken Drum is not unique. “Standards are becoming higher and tastes are changing compared to five or 10 years ago,” Graeme explains. With more speciality cafes than ever before, we are seeing vast changes in the make-up of our cup due to our newfound coffee snobbery.

So, what does this mean for our beloved cappuccinos and lattes? “A lot of speciality places are consistent in milk froth now,” Graeme explains. “It gives a consistency of service because we can produce the same milk for all the coffee, giving them a nice creamy texture”. He explains that the Australian market is delving away from clear distinctions between lattes, flat whites and cappuccinos, rather there is now a strong focus on the quality of coffee beans.

And while milk coffees are simplifying, filter coffee is diversifying. “The Australian filter coffee market is slowly growing,” says joint owner Joanne McLuskey. She explains that Australians have reinvented batch brew, pour over and cold brew coffees through a unique level of care. “It is similar to American coffee but with really nice coffee beans from a single farm or estate, roasted specifically for its purpose,” Graeme says. “It’s been five years since the emergence of filter, and it’s slowly growing”.

Due to our changing tastes, we may see an even more modest approach to coffee drinking in the foreseeable future. Melbourne is currently reinventing consumer choice with some speciality cafes only offering black or milk coffees, with chosen variations in coffee beans.

Yet sometimes our love of coffee goes beyond the cup sitting in front of us. “Our customers have become our friends and we care about them and they care about us,” Joanne says. “That’s the whole point,” Graeme adds. “It’s the consistency of what we do; measuring, weighing, checking, watching every single coffee and the service, we’re here for the customers”.

The Broken Drum is temporarily closed due to COVID-19. However, they are still doing online orders for beans and equipment via www.thebrokendrumcafe.com, plus check out their Instagram for some tutorials on how-to make that perfect cup at home here.
And we look forward to establishments like this getting back into business ASAP, however different that maybe!