Sydney's best Coffee

Starbucks have all but shut up shop here because Sydney's sophisticated café culture cannot be chained. Time Out reveals the top 10 places to drink black velvet

First published on 20 Aug 2008. Updated on 17 Apr 2012.

10 Bill & Toni's

Bill Chiappini learnt to make coffee in Kings Cross after emigrating to Sydney from Sicily in 1957. When his boss lost his café in a high-stakes poker game, Bill was unemployed until Luigi Coluzzi offered him a job and soon, the means to buy Bill & Toni's (then San Siro) in 1964. Almost half a century on - and less than a month after Bill's death aged 78 - you can taste that classic Sydney story in every coffee: strength, tradition, charm... and no bitterness.

East Sydney

9 Deus Ex Machina

Deus ex Machina is Latin for ‘God is the machine'. At this café/bike shop, the coffee machine is god. A mix of industrial design and cool art (the owner is Mambo founder Dare Jennings), Deus is more order-and-pay than silver service but the table runners are super nice and the Walsh Bay-roasted Di Lorenzo bean is ace. It's right on Parra Rd so attracts overflow from nearby Newtown, Sydney Uni, the hospital and heaps of fringe businesses.

Camperdown

8 Vella Nero

Vella Nero's coffee credentials are immediate the moment you walk in. They come in the form of ‘Bella' who stands sentry at their Clarence Street headquarters - she's big, broad, strong-smelling, hard grinding and sparkling with lascivious intent... she's Velluto's on-premises roaster. From Bella's guts spring six Arabica-dominated blends but our pick is their award-winning, super-smooth, soft-punching Signature Blend.

Sydney

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