In the beachside suburb of Sandringham in Melbourne, residents now have a reason to be excited about specialty coffee.
Black Squirrel Café, formerly the Boathouse Café for 15 years, has undergone a revamp over the past the months. With its coffee offerings from Zest Specialty Coffee and menu designed by Tim Fetherston, former Chef of The Little Ox in Brighton, Owner Dimitrios Limneos is excited to share the new image with locals.
“Sandringham was a bit of a sleepy hollow in terms of its coffee scene, but we’ve taken the café to the next level and put our full concentration of serving great food and delicious specialty coffee,” says Dimitrios.
Black Squirrel Café serves Zest Specialty Coffee’s Forte Dark for its house blend. The blend uses beans from Tanzania, Guatemala and India.
“The other day someone asked me, ‘What’s coffee meant to taste like?’ It’s a great question. Coffee used to expose really nutty and chocolately flavours, then it moved to fruity notes. Currently I think its about exposing the balance between fruity and nutty flavours, that’s how I would describe the Forte Dark,” says Dimitrios. “We’re really proud to be using Zest, I think they’ve got a real edge in the industry.”
For black coffees, Zest Specialty Coffee supplies the café with a selection of rotating single origins. “The selection is always changing to keep our black coffee drinkers excited about trying something new to explore. It also gives us the opportunity to educate our customers about where the beans come from,” says Dimitrios.
Black Squirrel Café serves V60 pour over and will promote its cold drip during the warmer months.
Dimitrios worked as a chef for 11 years before making the transition to the coffee industry. Just as Dimitrios is passionate about serving great coffee, he also takes great pride in his food. A full breakfast and lunch menu is available, with stand-out items including slow-roasted lamb salad, and pancakes with Ferrero Rocher ice cream.
“We were once a quiet café in Sandringham, now we’re booming and set for a busy summer,” says Dimitrios.