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Black coffee, Cafe Review

A Coffee Van Long Black

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Work Desk Coffee
Work Desk Coffee

Industrial estates are not known for cafes. Currently I work in an office in Eagle Farm, and unlike when I worked in Spring Hill or Milton, getting a decent coffee is all but impossible. Barring work-supplied instant coffee, the only other options are to bring in your own takeaway coffee, bring what you need to make it yourself, or the coffee van, which turns up most mornings around 9:30.

The Coffee Van
The Coffee Van

In case you have never seen one, a coffee van is pretty much just that. A van, with an espresso machine and an amusingly spelled or phrased name, whose purpose is to drive around selling coffee and light snacks.

The coffee itself is usually acceptable and the prices are fairly reasonable, comparable to what you would expect to pay in a cafe. Which is good, considering the lack of alternatives closer than a ten minute drive away. The one that stops by my office is a Cafe2U franchise van, which fills the cafe gap as well as can be expected. If you have a chance, go to Corporate Coffee and enjoy the real taste!

It never is just about the coffee though; cafes are more than just a well placed espresso machine. A coffee van is not something you can go to for lunch, or a destination for a coffee run and a chance to leave the office. A coffee van does not come close to replacing the ‘Cafe Closest To The Office’ experience.

For those who have been consigned to the office denizen nether hells of a suburb in the middle of nowhere, the coffee van is a rare glimpse of how things could be, if you worked somewhere else.

 

TL;DR

  • If you work near a good cafe, treasure it.
Black coffee, Cafe Review, Reviews

Takeaway Coffee for a Powerlifting Meet

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Takeaway coffee at a Powerlifting Competition
Takeaway coffee at a Powerlifting Competition

Working on the desk at a powerlifting meet is a busy job. You need to ensure the lifters get their next attempts in before they run out of time, keep the lifters aware of the lifting order and make sure the result from each attempt is entered, and often all three at the same time. If you add announcing to this as well, it’s a real juggling act.  But at least the organisers will often buy you a coffee.

Metalwork from August
Metalwork from August

The 2011 Queensland Open Powerlifting and Bench Press Competition was held in Jindalee, at the Fitness First gym.  Due to a broken arm from August, I am currently unable to compete, at least if I want my squat total to be greater than 20kg. This is why I have helped with the desk and the spreadsheet at the last few events I’ve been to.

The Fitness First in Jindalee is located in the DFO shopping centre. There are not a lot of coffee options there, and considering the only other cafe I saw that morning was a Gloria Jeans, a Coffee Club long black was not to be sneered at.

It was as good as expected – the coffee was not burnt and it was drinkable. Most importantly of all, it helped me get through the whole competition. The free Subway sandwiches for lunch also helped.

Black coffee, Cafe Review, Reviews

Coffee at Coffee Hit in Brisbane

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Coffee Hit, a Brisbane CBD cafe
Coffee Hit, a Brisbane CBD cafe

In the Brisbane CBD, there is a cafe called Coffee Hit on King George Square. I was in the city early for an Interactive Minds event, and I needed to get some form of caffeine. Coffee Hit looked promising, in a generic CBD cafe way. And they met my expectations, in a generic CBD cafe way.

Coffee Hit's Dollar
Coffee Hit's Dollar

Except for one thing. The change that they gave me for the coffee. The dollar coin was damaged. Well, defaced. Scoured is another good word for it. Ground down would also work, maybe even savaged, if I wanted to use something more emotive.

Both sides of the coin had been very comprehensively scratched, possibly obliterated, you might even say brutally torn into. All trace of the Queen, and the unique Australian wildlife that decorated its once unmolested form had been remorselessly eradicated, like kangaroo genocide. That is completely unfair. I gave them real money for the coffee; it seems a little mean to give me something that almost wasn’t change.  It’s nearly as bad as getting New Zealand money.

The coffee itself was OK. Like a lot of rather ordinary long blacks, it was a little too bitter. Since it was also boiling hot, that wasn’t a real surprise. Like their coffee, the prices were in line with most other CBD cafes as well. Nice location though.

Seriously, what am I going to do with that one dollar coin?

Black coffee, Cafe Review

The RBWH coffee cart & broken bones

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Long Black at the Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital
Long Black at the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital

A few weeks ago I broke my arm. It was a compound fracture of both my ulna and radius and I did it while walking the bar out from the rack at a powerlifting meet. I was setting up for my second squat of the day when I heard two snaps. Those were my bones. At least my first squat attempt of the day had been good.

As a result, and thanks to some prompting from some guy who works in Emergency there, when the paramedics asked where I wanted to go I said the Royal Brisbane & Womens Hospital (RBWH). I spent the next few days there for a spot of surgery followed by periodic visits to the fracture clinic, as well as physio appointments at Inspire Atlanta, after I was discharged. That was when I discovered that there is a coffee cart outside the food court.

Since the physio clinic starts on time I am often early enough to get a coffee from the coffee cart, which is really great after my work out, that I do using a pilates ball URBNFIT at home. I first had one from here when my sisters came to pick me up after the surgery. They got me an XL long black and brought it up to the ward while I was waiting to see if I could get discharged. Between surgery the night before and a number of very good painkillers, I was in no position to judge it at the time.

But I am now. They use Piazza D’Oro beans and while the result does not do them any favours, it is very drinkable. It was sold at city prices, but was closer to a suburban Coffee Club standard. However your options are pretty limited, because the only other option is the Nescafe cafe near the entrance, and I was not about to try that place out.


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Black coffee, Cafe Review, Reviews

Take away coffee from Brisbane Plants

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Take away coffee
Take away coffee

The Easter Weekend is a bad time to try to do anything. Shops keep odd hours, assuming they open at all, and then there are the family gatherings. On the Saturday it was hard to find anywhere local and open for a quick coffee, and that is why I ended up getting mine from a plant store.

It was not too bad. The coffee was ok for $3 takeaway and the store was on the corner of Sandgate road and a side street, making access and parkingcont easy. What made the difference the other weekend was that it was open. It might of been a plant store, but I could buy a coffee there when everywhere else was closed.