Brother Baba Budan - Spreading A Revolution
Extremely popular hipster joint which makes highest standard coffee.Soul brother café to Seven Seeds and de Clieu. Spreading a revolution.
For those that know their coffee history, it was infamous revolutionary Brother Baba who in the 17th C smuggled seven seeds of coffee out of Yemen and into India where the plants thrived. This started a global coffee revolution which has culminated in the sensational coffee scene we see here in Melbourne. BBB is passionate about coffee and in particular specialty coffee.
Look inside the window from Little Bourke and invariably see wall to wall people, some at the communal table reading but many lined up for some of the best coffee in town. Single origins, filters and awesome blends. It always looks like a cool party. Took my friend from Dubai here and he had to concede that Melbourne has such an awesome coffee culture.
A talking piece is always the curious montage of chairs hanging from the ceiling (spectacular but really hard to photograph). I asked a barista if it was ok to photograph and he said a lot of people photograph the ceiling chairs – so I felt better.Limited room in here for many to enjoy a sit down experience – there are a few tables with stools. Most people gravitate to the communal table by the window or indeed the communal table behind the baristas with a selection of cakes and biscuits above.
The star of the show is the coffee. The default is the Seven Seeds blend which is awesome. A smart drinker will order the Coffee of the Day single origin. It makes sense as it is only slightly more expensive.
The food options consist of pastries from Brioche by Philip. A tasty almond croissant. Or how about a ham and cheese croissant for breakfast? Or a gourmet cake? While impressive it's really all about the coffee at BBB and the baristas are on fire here working over the Synesso. They are super friendly (everything is amplified in a small café)! I noticed four staff working hard one morning (two guys and two girls) and had the evil thought that they might actually be Abba seeing the two guys were bearded. My coffee was so creamy with nutty characteristics. So good! You can also purchase Seven Seeds coffee here…
Cool having a mounted ipad playing music selections. The barista decided while I was there one morning to change to the sunshine collection (blend). I thought it might be Mow town but it wasn’t. There's also a retail section here where you can pick up your Aeropress. One of the best!