{"id":4168,"date":"2018-11-06T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2018-11-06T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=4168"},"modified":"2018-11-04T22:20:45","modified_gmt":"2018-11-05T04:20:45","slug":"review-sensory-lab-steadfast-blend-melbourne-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=4168","title":{"rendered":"Review: Sensory Lab Steadfast Blend (Melbourne, Australia)"},"content":{"rendered":"

My second stop on my Australia coffee tour was to Sensory Lab on Bourke Street<\/a> in Melbourne. This was like no other coffee shop I’d ever seen; it shared space with a David Jones retailer (looked to me like a department store?) and the space really did feel more like I had walked into some sort of upscale space than sells cashmere and leather wallets as opposed to a cafe. The packaging was clever, with a nod to the periodic table of elements (in keeping with the \u201clab\u201d theme), but as a musician, I really have to question who thought \u201cdrum machine\u201d would be better than simply \u201cdrums\u201d?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This particular bag didn’t make mention of whether it was meant for drip or for espresso, but it did note that it was a blend of two coffee origins: Colombia Tolima and Brazil Sertaozinho. Since the bag wasn’t specific, I opted to try these beans as drip.<\/p>\n

Whole bean: Dark chocolate and apple.<\/p>\n

French press: Clean and super subtle flavors. Hint of chocolate, but more strongly tasted of the classic \u201ccoffee\u201d flavor that so many people are after.<\/p>\n

Chemex: Sweet flavors of chocolate-covered almonds. I wrote \u201cdamn good\u201d in my notes; this coffee blend was obviously geared toward balance, sweetness, and classic crowd-pleasing flavors, and I think it succeeds admirably.<\/p>\n

AeroPress: Similar to the French press cup, this preparation method yielded a \u201cclassic\u201d cup of coffee. No bitterness or burnt flavors \u2013 just a rich, slightly sweet, balanced cup. It had the sort of flavor that people would like in a coffee candy (minus sugar).<\/p>\n

V60: Similar to the Chemex cup but less sweet.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/strong>: Blends are a great option if you find light-roasted single origins to be hit-and-miss for your taste. Brazilian coffees are particularly known for their chocolaty and nutty notes, so this blend ticks all the boxes for anyone looking for a coffee that is not sour or bitter, but has a good balance. I liked this best brewed in the Chemex because I felt this method brought the inherent sweetness out of the beans the most effectively, but it really was good in all four methods. I didn’t get to try this as espresso, but I suspect it would have been excellent that way as well. (And as I was typing up this review, I went to the roaster’s website and found that this IS meant as an espresso blend after all. Oh well! I’m not sorry to have tried these beans as drip though, as the result was pretty stellar.)<\/p>\n

From the roaster: Red apple jam. Chocolate fudge. Balanced.<\/p>\n

Sensory Lab Coffee Steadfast Espresso<\/a><\/p>\n

Review conducted 11-12 days post-roast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My second stop on my Australia coffee tour was to Sensory Lab on Bourke Street in Melbourne. This was like no other coffee shop I’d ever seen; it shared space with a David Jones retailer (looked to me like a department store?) and the space really did feel more like I had walked into some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"You don't need an espresso machine to enjoy an espresso roast at home; in fact, this coffee is a perfect example of how some coffee can be enjoyed in any preparation method.","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[158,87,156,8,159,155,3,154,10],"tags":[96,125,18,36],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG-4390-e1541188689650.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4174,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=4174","url_meta":{"origin":4168,"position":0},"title":"Review: Single O Killerbee (Sydney, Australia)","date":"November 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This was the second bag I bought from my visit to Single O. Most of the other beans I was bringing home from Australia seemed to be designed for drip (realized too late about the Sensory Lab Steadfast Blend, oops!), so I was excited to get my hands on an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG-4387-e1541190949775.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6670,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6670","url_meta":{"origin":4168,"position":1},"title":"Review: Cherry Coffee Co. Hang Around Espresso Blend (Fort Worth, Texas)","date":"April 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I attended the inaugural Dallas Coffee Festival earlier this month and had a good time exploring the booths of many local roasters, about half of which I'd not yet heard of. Novel Coffee Roasters is a Dallas-area roaster I've enjoyed many times, and I was intrigued to see they were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0179-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2352,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2352","url_meta":{"origin":4168,"position":2},"title":"Review: Batdorf and Bronson Dancing Goats Blend (Atlanta, Georgia)","date":"December 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Before I started this blog, I had asked my Facebook friends to recommend some coffees to try out, and one of those coffees mentioned was this one - Batdorf and Bronson's Dancing Goats Blend (thanks, Sara!). It took me close to two years to get around to trying it, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/tn_IMG_5547-e1476634859516.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2504,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2504","url_meta":{"origin":4168,"position":3},"title":"Review: Eiland Coffee Roasters Espresso X (Richardson, Texas)","date":"February 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\"How do you decide what coffee to buy?\" I wish I could say that I have a system for this, but I really don't! Coffee isn't my day job, so contrary to popular belief, I don't spend all day thinking about it or making plans for where to get my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Espresso"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/tn_IMG_5415-e1484610300501.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4170,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=4170","url_meta":{"origin":4168,"position":4},"title":"Review: Patricia Coffee Roasters Guatemala Santa Isabel (Melbourne, Australia)","date":"November 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This was my third and final stop for coffee beans in Melbourne, but my first for actually consuming any coffee at a cafe. I had been on a short audition-related coffee hiatus and the coffee I had at Patricia Coffee Roasters was the first coffee I had had in about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG-4389-e1541189114226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5844,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=5844","url_meta":{"origin":4168,"position":5},"title":"Review: 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters Old School Espresso (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)","date":"July 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Of the seven bags of coffee I purchased during my time in Vancouver, I'd say this bag from 49th Parallel was the only one specifically marketed as espresso (the Matchstick Catalogue No. 39 was described as being fine for both espresso and coffee), so I was pretty excited to see\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AeroPress"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG-6893-e1560373215585.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5QIia-15e","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4168"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5059,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4168\/revisions\/5059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}