FREMANTLE is home to some of the finest coffee houses in the world; a mecca for lovers of a rich and creamy brew.
Born out of the wonderful postwar influx of coffee-loving cultures, café culture has become an integral part of the port city’s identity.
From South Terrace to Market Street, Its café-lined streets create a welcoming atmosphere where people gather to connect, work, and unwind.
But it’s also a highly competitive market – who has the best brew? An intense discussion around the watercooler broke out into data collection and before you could say ‘double shot latte with oat milk’ the idea for a full-scale competition was born. This has become he inaugural Fremantle Coffee Cup.
An independent, unscientific opinion-based research project conducted by a panellist of seven Fremantle-based coffee tragics.
The cafes selected were about coffee, while those with more of a food slant are perhaps for another tournament.
The competition was conducted in a mystery shopper format late in 2024 , with a set of governing rules that gave the judges wriggle room for the things they felt were most important, such as service level or coffee style.
Judges were instructed to put aside pre-existing preferences and apply the ‘Any Given Sunday’ rule – only rating the coffee served on the day in a head-to-head format.
Separated the cafes into conferences by rough geographical locations; East and West, North and South, resulted in some tough early matchups.
The Inaugural FCC supported by Plantagenet Wines, Barefoot Media, The Age Hack and Red Rockets
It was incredibly close throughout. Winners were often separated by a single vote. Thems the apples.
Western Conference
• South End Stalwart Chalkies triumphed over Blink by a fraction of a vote. Chalkies is possibly the best brekky in the South-West while Blink was a student/teacher-favourite for the Notre Damers. Shortly after testing Blink would blink out of existence and be absorbed by (whats his name Stromboli) and spun into something something bakery – but that will have to wait till the next round. Chalkies
• Crosta and Quasis – prominent hangouts linked by longitudinal proximity. Both offer excellent focacciary type options to go with excellent coffee and cheerful service. Shortly after Quasi’s would shamble off the list of Fremantle’s cafes. This round to Crosta.
• Otis vs. Daraw – very different seating arrangement. Daraw is possibly the most ambient and relaxing café on the list, and definelty a well-kept secret. Best place to quietly study for students. It feels like it’s offer Yoga but doesn’t. Otis is relatively new at this point and the coffee was exceptional, with limited seating options. Sadly, coffee is the metric by which our contestants were judged_ this round; Otis.
• Hush and Best Wishes – battle of the titans. If you asked the average Freo coffee punters, these cafes would both be in the top three or four coffee merchants in Freo. This is an unequivable fact and only serves to highlight the injustice of this brutal head-to-head format. The fact they are matched together in round one is an absolute crime, only linked by being the Northest and Westest of the cafes eligible for selection that wasn’t a Wesley Arcade Rumble (see Round Two for this). With many tears and harsh application of the Any Given Sunday rule it’s Hush by the slimmest of margins.
Next week: Eastern Conference