Coffee and cake

So, 2 more events in the Wellington on a Plate food festival attended on Thursday and Friday.

Continuing on the coffee them we went on a tour and tasting at the new Mojo ‘Coffee Central’ roastery and retail outlet on the waterfront on Thursday. One of the old wharf sheds near their Kumutoto cafe has been transformed into a roastery, offices, retail and training/showcasing space. It was pretty cool.

The cupping part of the tour was just like what we did at Supreme but I don’t know whether I’m so tainted by my loyalty or so disappointed in Mojo coffee in cafes that I thought that the taste of Mojo’s single origin beans was definitely not as nice as Supreme’s beans. At that stage in the process when beans are cupped they’re  essentially just a bean that’s been roasted … what could go wrong. However at Mojo we learnt a lot about how the shipping and transit storage of beans can have an impact on the end result so who knows, perhaps that’s something to do with it.

It was quite cool seeing the roaster working and listening to his stories about his techniques and how he’s grown up with coffee – including a story about his mum roasting coffee on their open fire and him as a little boy turning the roasting canister on a split-like device to keep the roast even.

Then it was off to Floridita’s bakery on Friday. A tiny almost windowless space in a dark alley way off Cuba Street. They used to go by the name Comtessa so we’re really familiar with their baked goods having sampled several from Moore Wilson’s. And when they say everything is handmade using only ingredients you can get yourself as a home baker from the supermarket, they’re absolutely right. We saw Emily the head baker making pastry “don’t be afraid of the pastry” was her advice and she was so swift and confident with it and her pastry cases just perfect. She also make a chocolate brownie using the same chocolate bits that you can get from the supermarket, a tray of hand cracked eggs and the final mixing was by hand, up to her elbows in chocolate! Gross.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to see or sample the date cake with caramel icing that we so love and have been inspired by in our own attempts at home but we did come away with some great tips and advice and enjoyed a delicious white chocolate, macadamia and orange cookie.