Pacific Highlander

Blackstar Cafe Opening in West End

Blackstar Coffee, Brisbane’s first 100% certified fairtrade coffee company, is opening its doors to the public on Monday the 19th of May. Having been roasting for several months from its (until now) hidden location, behind the Moreton Bay figs at Davies Park, Blackstar Coffee is ready to launch its espresso bar.

BLACKSTAR has developed an almost ‘cult-like’ following down at the West End Greenflea markets selling its range of organic coffee beans and boutique iced cold pressed coffee. It’s with excitement that Blackstar now opens its roastery doors to the public where it can finally offer espresso beverages as well as its full range of single origin coffees.

Blackstar was started by Marty Richards and Evonne Andrews, a married couple who have invested heavily in social enterprise in the West End suburb. Marty and Evonne, in partnership with Ali Baba and Mailka Karimi, began roasting fair trade beans in the Souths Logan Magpies rugby league club rooms at Davies Park, West End. They expanded with a coffee cart in the Brisbane City Council Green Square complex in Fortitude Valley.

Blackstar was inspired by and continues to be supported by Matthew Lamason, one of New Zealand’s most experienced fairtrade roasting personalities, director of Peoples Coffee, a Wellington based Fairtrade roastery.

“It’s great to see boutique coffee taking root in Brisbane. The quality of a good cup of coffee is enhanced further through fairer trade initiatives like that of Fairtrade. Blackstar plays an important role as a local leader in the area of speciality roasted fairtrade coffee here in Brisbane”, says Lamason.

Customers can expect to taste a consistently high standard of speciality espresso drinks, cold pressed coffees as well as a full range of single origin coffees, and blended brews. Nestled in amongst a working, coffee roasting environment, coffee fiends can grab their favorite espresso while chatting to the roaster about the best range of coffee to suit their home brewing needs.

While excellent coffee is at the front of everything at Blackstar, the business has the interesting and unique aspect of being a social enterprise. It has been a participant in the Brisbane Social Enterprise Hub, a joint initiative of BCC, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, and Social Ventures Australia (SVA).

The Espresso bar is open 6 days from 6am to midday, and is situated across the road from 115 Jane st, just off Montague road, West End.

For more information, or to make fresh coffee orders, visit www.blackstarcoffee.com.au, or join up with the Blackstar Facebook Group.

Tags: Brisbane, coffee, social enterprise

Posted in Dining, Social Justice | No Comments »

Pop Culture at Brisbane Supanova

I spent yesterday wandering through the Supanova pop culture expo in Brisbane, my third year there. It was an interesting exercise in anthropology.

First thing I noticed was the groups of people heading towards the venue, many of whom were dressed as characters from comics, movies, games and television series. Jack Sparrow, Batman, Ty3 the Tasmanian Tiger, and Star Wars storm troopers and rebels.

Major shopping chains EB Games and JB Hi Fi were there in force, supplemented by a range of comic shops and gaming studios. There’s a thriving gaming industry in Brisbane, fueled by the local QUT and Griffith courses on animation, computing, sound and music.

For the dull moments we had entertainment laid on by the Australian Wrestling Federation Pro Wrestling, the vocal skills of Michael Winslow of Police Academy, and of course table games for the dedicated.

The Supanova crowd came in all shapes and sizes - with more variety than you’ll ever see in the beautiful people collections found on the ski fields and beaches. Symmetrical faces with tanned and toned bodies count for nothing in a culture that revels in the fantastic.

Tags: Brisbane, pop culture, Supanova

Posted in Culture | 1 Comment »