Star Crossed Coffee Lovers in Daylesford – PART 1

Coffee has been the constant love in my life for the last 20 years. Now suddenly we are being torn apart to live on separate sides of the table … the last instructions from my hot surgeon as he turned to walk into the sunset. To help work through the grieving process, I organised a farewell Tribute to Coffee; sipping moorish espressos and lattes one last time at my favourite cafes around town. I wore black.  

I was first introduced to espresso in my late 20’s when working for illy caffe in New Zealand. After years of marketing Jif, Handy Andy, Vegemite and Philadelphia Cream, it was like stepping off the pavements onto the catwalk. Everyone was Italian, with lots of arm waving, crazy Vespa driving, impeccable style and always an espresso cup in hand. Every espresso had to be perfect, no matter who it was for. Optimum temperature, tamper level, grind, extraction time, crema depth, cup temperature and height to the millimeter. If not, “throw it away!” Unsurprisingly I picked up this contagious obsessive love for coffee perfection. To this day, if the coffee isn’t right, “send it back!” Friends and family have been driven under the table with my constant round robin of coffees. But coffee is such a lovely experience, why waste the moment? ...Read more...

Chocolate, Sex and the City and vintage Barbie

Once upon a time in Daylesford, back when stilettos were only fitted on horses, a handful of Swiss were busy making chocolate almost as valuable as the nearby discoveries of gold and mineral water. To this day, Daylesford and Chocolate seem to quietly fit just like Sarah Jessica Parker and vintage Prada or Barbie and Ken. I’ll admit to having a slightly wicked childhood when it comes to chocolate; hiding every Christmas and Easter chocolate ever received, then four months later, selling them to Gerry for highly inflated prices or slavery for a day. A marketer even then!

Sweet Decandence... my secret hideaway

Despite deep reverence for a Free Market approach to supply and demand of chocolate in my immediate world, “product samples” have always been kept aside, for market research purposes of course. A good marketer needs to truly love their product to be able to get others to love it...Read more...