Forth Brother - Glenhuntly Road, Caulfield. (Crompton Road blend).

The cafe: A colleague of mine recently told me about a new-ish cafe in Caulfield that apparently made decent coffee. Now, Caulfield is a great place to live but it ain't no place for good coffee... Intrigued, I made my way to Forth Brother for a quick bite with my parents the other day... This was a big step for me because I really don't like Glenhuntly Road... It separates Caulfield South and Caulfield North and in this case, I'm definitely a north of the border boy! A bit of eavesdropping enabled me to find out that three brothers and one other close friend own the cafe...hence the name. There is a picture of all four of them in the bathroom...albeit when at least two of them were a little less hipster than now... I'm not sure which two of the four were working this day but there was a little bit of Dom and Adrian from Bondi Hipsters going on... The place is tiny and has a succinct menu. Almost all of which is on display. The main meals tend to have a bit of a Mexican bias. I had the smoked salmon tortilla...pretty tastey with a nice kick of wasabi. Retro tables and chairs inside and a few tables on the footpath. Forth Brother doesn't shoot the lights out but I don't think its aim is to do that anyway... Definitely a welcome addition to the street.

The coffee: Not only do you get to see two photos of the owners when you visit the bathroom but you also get to read about the Crompton Road blend they use... 60% Brasil, 20% India and 20% Bali. I'm not sure whether they thought I said 'short black' instead of short mac (not uncommon) because I'm still not sure if there was any milk atop the crema... If there was, then it was a tiny little amount and that's fine with me! A structurally correct short mac with strong green aromas and hints of honey and chocolate mousse. A very racey, citrus palate with a good kick of acid. Quite spicy too with traces of nuts and honey. The chocolate mousse was there again on the finish. Great temperature and balance. I was wrong, they do make good coffee in Caulfield! Price: $3.50. Score 8/10.