20 hours Ago By Dani Valent
Cafe $ $$$ You can get coffee anywhere but did you know one of Melbourne’s most interesting places for ethically sourced, house-roasted beans and sublime specialty beverages is wedged between the Maroondah Highway and the railway line in outer-suburban Ringwood? Saazaa is a three-year-old business owned by David Juma, a Kenyan-born entrepreneur who sources most of his beans from his dad’s farm in Africa and roasts them in a large factory space. The caffeination opportunities are many and varied. Swing past for a takeaway flat white or coffee beans for home.
Sit on the patio with dog, pram or bike – the Box Hill to Ringwood rail trail is a short pedal away. Inside, there’s a coffee station sectioned off from the large area out the back: this is where the magic happens. Hessian sacks of green beans are racked on one wall.
A compact roaster tumbles in fragrant percussion. Retail shelves are stocked with coffee scrubs and candles made with excess product and there is a peaceful lounge area. A new eight-seat espresso bar is the place to explore beans, blends and roasts across multiple brewing methods.
Want a macchiato made with a smooth blend of Kenyan and El Salvadorean beans? Coming right up. Follow with a drip coffee made with Burundi single origin heady with passionfruit notes? No worries. Curious about cold brew redolent of red grape? Sure! And if you want them all, contemplate a coffee tasting board ($15).
Coffee is a pastime as well as a drink so there are also elaborate concoctions that play coffee as a base spirit, just as a mixologist would do with gin. The cold Nairobi Tonic tops double espresso with tonic and agave; the weird but wonderful Persian Delight layers espresso with salted yoghurt foam and orange blossom syrup. Juma grew up in Kenya where his father farms tea, sugar cane and coffee, before moving to Australia where he mostly worked in warehousing and logistics, a practical background for Saazaa, which aims to control its supply chain to ensure consistent quality and fair deals for farmers.
As wholesale and retail develop, Juma plans to give back to communities in Kenya, particularly the nomadic Maasai. The ultimate aim is to fund education that helps prevent the circumcision of girls, also called female genital mutilation. Selling coffee in Ringwood is local but it can also have far-reaching purpose.
There’s no kitchen but Saazaa sells pastries and presses toasties. Buzzing after four very different coffees, reading a geeky book about coffee-making apparatus, I felt a little jittery, but also informed and excited. Melbourne may not grow the beans but there’s nowhere else that supports such a fertile coffee culture.
The low-down Specialty drinks: $6.50-$8.50; coffee flight $15; sandwiches $12-$19 Verdict: Considered coffee.
