Our Story
To be honest, I never thought that coffee would have such a big impact on my life – when I was young(er), it was nothing more than a customary post-lunch thing you’d make on a moka pot, with off-the shelf coffee and super hard tap water. However a chain of unrelated events ended up changing my life (and the ones around me) forever.
The beginning – Cherishing a memory.
I think it all started when I was 7 or 8 years old; it was an unremarkable weekday as any other, where I had just come back from school and all I wanted to do was fire up my Sega Mega Drive and play Sonic & Knuckles for the Nth time. However, out of the blue, my parents had asked me to make them a coffee with the caffettiera (moka pot). At first I was taken aback as they were very particular with their coffee (they always had it steaming hot, black, in an espresso cup with 1 sugar cube) and I wasn’t in the mood of being scolded or upsetting them, but having seen them make it time and time again, all I had as reference where my observation skills. I went ahead and made the coffee like I thought it was supposed to be made, and to my surprise, on my first attempt they ended up loving it. I can’t tell whether it was the act of service, the care in making it, or the beans that were used, but all I cared was that were very happy with the result. I think that my interest in coffee started from that moment, and our logo represents the primordial origin of our current journey.
As I started high school, by that point coffee had basically become my breakfast. I would wake up at 7am to immediately make myself a café au lait, which would sustain me until lunch time. No toasted bread, no cereals, no nothing. Funnily enough, perhaps due to my Italian roots, I couldn’t fathom the idea that my Eastern European classmates were going crazy about iced coffee: in mid 2000s that was a big no-no in my books and never dared to try it until 2015! When I think about it, it’s ironic how cold brew was one of the first drinks we ever made for the public as K3, and is now one of our specialties, haha.
While I cared for coffee and its taste from my mid teens, the urge to do more stuff with this seed (yes, you heard that right, coffee is not a bean!) really started to kick off in the mid 2010s. More on this later.
Unusual Inspirations
On the surface, some of my hobbies and passions may seem unrelated to the development of K3, but they all have that X-Factor that catalyzed my pursuit of coffee at a professional level.
If you’re a gamer, you probably heard of Persona 5. I won’t go into details about the game itself, but the main settings mostly take place is a kissaten (Japanese coffee shop) and to progress certain aspects of the game, you had to answer specialty coffee-related questions!
Needless to say, researching the answers and being exposed to so much information on specialty coffee further piqued my interest in the topic.
It was but a matter of time for the big G search engine to figure out my new interest and eventually suggest a James Hoffman video… and from there the rabbit hole got deeper!
My other coffee inspiration was, and still is, music creation; when you think about it, the 2 are more alike than you’d think: both require a clear process, an understanding of math and an abundant dose of creativity! Just like a soundtrack may sound nice to a general consumer, an enthusiast will probably pick it apart in its design, composition, mixing… the list goes on! The same philosophy applies to a cup of coffee, in my eyes.
My other significant inspiration is my car tuner! I won’t make names, but this workshop is well known for excellent workmanship, mind-blowing engine tuning and top-notch reliability. They aren’t afraid to take on complex jobs and are a delight to work with. Their approach and ethos taught me about exceeding client expectations, continuously strive to become better and always be on top of things to expand my skillset. Thanks again Mr Tuner, you know who you are!
Building on a Dream – The Early Days of K3
Throughout the years, whenever coffee was mentioned my now wife saw something lit up in my eyes. Since she saw that this was more than a mere obsession or ‘just another hobby’, she jumped on board to make the dream come true together. I couldn’t have been more ecstatic to start something with the person I trust the most!
It didn’t take long for us to perform in-depth research on any instrument that could make our favorite hickory-colored drink, and we ended up acquiring more coffee paraphernalia than we could fit in our modest home: examples include the traditional Turkish cevze, French press and Vietnamese Phin to the more obscure Kamira pot, coffee syphon, and manual espresso levers, the number of devices wasn’t stopping! After trying almost every coffee tool that was under the Sun, we finally decided to dedicate our focus on pour over coffee.
After becoming more proficient with this simple to learn, hard to master brewing method, we delved into the magical and complex world of specialty coffee. To date, we have travelled around the world for coffee, visited hundreds of coffee shops, and tasted thousands (no, it’s not an exaggeration!) of different coffee beans. This is all so that when we opened our first shop, our clients could have accessed a selection of really good coffee with the convenience of a weekend drive to our shop.
We also want to support the many independent farms around the world, as their coffee is amazing also from their expertise, so we will always supply single origin coffee and blends that can be clearly identified, down to the individual coffee farmer!
Roadblocks and Hardships
So far, the biggest challenges that we’ve had were to 1) have the confidence to start, since we didn’t have much moral support at first, and 2) building a general interest around specialty and filter coffee, as Australia has a strong espresso-based coffee culture. There have been many situations that would have warranted a white flag, however our perseverance, passion, and support from new and existing connections lead to rekindle the flame of our dream. So many good things have sparked from this venture that listing them all would take a couple of coffees to digest it all. We wouldn’t be where we are today without your support; we are truly grateful.
And as closure, we pledge to always practice self-awareness, strive to improve at every occasion, and constantly adopt the philosophy of the shokunin. We value our client base and wish to provide stellar coffee knowing that it’s been sourced ethically, sustainably, roasted with precision and brewed with care! Thank you for reading through, and hope to see you at our little coffee shop!
Kenji - K3 Artisan Coffee
Our Commitment
Manual style Brewing
Our focus is on providing an exceptional sensory experience with each, carefully crafted, cup of coffee. We have diverged our attention from the traditional espresso machines, so that we can expand our knowledge and focus our expertise on alternative brewing methods, such as pour over coffee and cold brew. We have honed our manual brewing techniques and experimented with many different coffee beans to provide a remarkable and enjoyable experience.
Specialty Coffee
Our coffee will always use beans that have an origin that can be tracked down to the exact farm, because we want to make sure that our beans are identifiable as the real deal. We specifically hand-pick exceptional coffee from reputable sources so that you can enjoy a cup of coffee that is not only exceptionally delicious, but also sustainable and sourced under fair trade.
Eco-Friendly
Having a small ecological footprint is really important to us, which is why we source our coffee in small batches or on demand to avoid waste. All of our consumables are biodegradable and repurposed (did you know that you can make a great coffee liqueur from ground coffee?). We do our best to avoid putting stuff in the red bins!
Our Partners
Mane Espresso - Horse Float Mobile Cafe