Passport Specialty Coffee — Restaurant in Brisbane City

One of the best specialty coffee and filter coffee experiences I have ever had. I went to Passport Specialty Coffee, and was greeted by an incredibly aesthetic and well thought out cafe design. I asked what filter options they had. Claudia, their barista, offered me the most extensive filter coffee list I had ever seen (including filter coffee flights so you can try more), as well as directing me to their batch brew (batchy) options. I had a Colombian Las Flores Yeast Fermented Thermal Shocked Sidra. The filter menu explained the origins and methods of their filter options with the perfect balance of expansion and brevity. Afterwards, I ordered a double espresso on one of their house blends - The Departure blend. When I ordered this espresso, I was served by the owner, Aaron. He was amazing knowledgeable and passionate, without being overwhelming or rude. It was a privilege to talk to him. I could easily have spent the day picking his brain. I work in coffee, and learned loads. He kindly showed me their roastery and introduced me to their roaster, Chris. The whole team was amazing. I've never been welcomed into a roastery as a customer before - unless it was a tour. Truly unique. They're passionate, happy to be there, and happy to talk to you. Their search for quality coffee beans is obvious in their product too. It's what specialty coffee should be. The espresso was amazing. If you're not normally an espresso drinker, give it a go. They kindly let me sample one of their Ethiopian and one of their Burundi single origin batch brews. There is home made sweets available too. I had a dark chocolate and walnut cookie. It paired fantastically with the sweet strawberry and mango notes of the Ethiopian single origin. Lest I forget, they also have an incredibly extensive range of coffee beans for purchase, their very own cold brew coffee and cold brew soft serve ice cream, and coffee gear/equipment for the home enthusiast. I can't say enough nice things about Passport. I will definitely be back. I want to try their Ekka Holiday Filter Experience. Whether you're fresh to coffee, an enthusiast, or a specialty veteran, you'll have an...

My second stop in Brisbane was at Passport Specialty Coffee.

Passport was established in 2018 by Aaron McKenzie and Jason Joffe as a place to make high scoring, sustainable coffees accessible to everyone, not just coffee people. I was lucky enough to meet them both in their espresso bar & roastery.

The menu was clearly too looooooong for me and followed my usual procedure when I do not want to read an extended menu: go for the recommendation of the boss (it turned out to be the best idea) and this is what happened.

We were first served two vintage coffees from Ethiopia 🇪🇹 as Hario V60 pour overs. They were both harvested years ago, underwent an experimental post-harvesting processing method, got freshly roasted after their arrival in Brisbane, rest for the desired time and were then put to sleep in a deep freezer to stop the chemical and physical aging processes. They were both very intense in flavors, came with a bold body, a silky and coated texture and had a long-lasting sweetness.

Next was another experimental lot from Rwanda 🇷🇼 or Burundi 🇧🇮(help please!): the espresso also had intense flavors, and a powerful body. We were told that the coffee tastes amazing as a black option, but did not at all fit a milk beverage. Maybe, this coffee would work with a freeze distilled milk, which 50% of the WBC competitors used during their championship in Milan last year.

Then came an espresso from Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬 – Baroida. I already enjoyed this coffee at Patricia’s in Melbourne and enjoyed it once more (we will become good friends I guess 😀). Then we moved to the milk beverage and tried a flat white with both house blends: Arrival and Departure. Of course, they cut well through the super sweet milk: Aussie style 🇦🇺❤️.

To make sure we leave well caffeinated, I enjoyed the cold brew soft serve, after having having visited the roastery behind the espresso bar. I would call that a very typical specialty coffee tasting flight!

Thank you so much for the outstanding hospitality, the time you took to serve us and talk us through and of course the chat about driving in a BMW 1 series over Stelvio...

On a whim from a reddit post recommendation, I crossed the great brown snake of Brisbane to simply have a takeaway coffee. Two and a bit hours later with the Owner Aaron, I walked away with one of the more memorable coffee experiences of my life.

Aaron and the team at Passport are making something special, and the coffee alone is only part of the story.

The coffee is of course, excellent. Expertly made - from green selection to import process to roasting to storing to brew. Whilst every coffee cannot possibly be the best you've ever had - one of them has a high chance of taking that prize.

But the discussion ranging from the importance of water, the impact of pressure profiling on the industry to the specifics of the Ethiopian regions the coffee was sourced from, along with their respective traits and flavour differences - was what elevated the experience from a number of back to back exceptional coffees, to that of a lasting memory.

To round everything off, we are then surprised with a dessert. A non-dairy soft serve made from their cold brew - just the thing to bring a wave of freshness to your palate and leave you with a...