Sooty did a little quality control run to Inverell today and honestly… he seemed pretty impressed.
The Riverside Café has given the dog water situation a serious upgrade thanks to our legends at Alternative Dairy Co. Big bowl. Clean water. Premium hospitality. Sooty approves.
But while he was there, he also discovered something else… Riverside are pouring Walcha Coffee with Alternative Dairy and the combo is genuinely elite. Smooth, creamy, balanced and still lets the coffee shine through properly instead of tasting like someone blended cardboard into oat soup.
So if you find yourself in Inverell, drop into Riverside, grab a coffee, pat a dog if one is nearby… (and you have checked with their human to make sure it’s okay), and enjoy a café doing things properly.
Sooty gives it four paws up.
This is honestly a bit wild.
Walcha Coffee now has an official access code for the Café and Coffee Show + Food & Hospitality Week in Sydney… and it unlocks FREE tickets across every ticket tier.
Not just the standard trade pass either.
You can use our code for:
• Trade Passes
• Ultimate Access Passes
• Even the Venue Profit System workshop with Paul Ayyash
Completely free.
That’s hundreds of dollars worth of tickets available to our community.
If you work in coffee, cafés, hospitality, retail or foodservice, this show is one of the biggest weeks on the industry calendar. Suppliers, roasters, equipment companies, café owners, chefs, reps, educators, competitions, demos, networking… it’s all there.
And honestly, sometimes one good conversation at an event like this can completely change the direction of your business.
We’ll be there exhibiting across the whole event and would genuinely love to catch up with as many people as possible.
Use code: WALCHA
Get your tickets here:
Food & Hospitality Week Tickets
https://bit.ly/4uit4VR
Your Code: WALCHA
See you in Sydney.
I’ve got to be honest… if you work anywhere near hospitality, cafés, foodservice or coffee and you’ve even remotely considered going to Food & Hospitality Week in Sydney, just grab the free ticket today.
Worst case? You don’t end up going.
Best case? You walk into one of the biggest hospitality events in Australia and come back full of ideas, contacts, inspiration and probably a slightly dangerous amount of caffeine.
This is not just a coffee show either. It’s four major hospitality events under one roof at ICC Sydney in Darling Harbour — café, restaurant, foodservice, pizza, tech, equipment, suppliers, demos, competitions, speakers and basically a giant snapshot of where the industry is heading. 
As regional operators especially, it’s important we stay connected to what’s happening outside our own bubble. New products. New systems. New ideas. New people. Sometimes one conversation at an event like this changes the direction of your business for the next five years.
We’ll be down there for the Café & Coffee Show section running coffee all week and catching up with a heap of legends from across the industry.
I’ll drop the free ticket link in the comments.
At least register now so you’ve got the option later. 
Most customers never see this part…
The bags stacked around the shop might look like they belong there as part of the vibe, but they’re actually the start of the whole operation.
Every couple of weeks we unload pallets of green coffee into the roastery. Hundreds of kilos of coffee from farms all over the world arriving in a little country town in New South Wales.
Then at 12 o’clock the front doors close, the café disappears, and the real work begins.
Tables get cleared out of the way. Pallets get unpacked. Roasters fire up. Orders get packed. Test batches get cupped. Coffee starts moving everywhere from supermarket shelves to cafés to kitchen benches around Australia.
People often see the polished cup at the end.
This is the messy, heavy, dusty part that happens before it.
And honestly… we love it.
Very cold morning in Walcha today. Frost on the ground, steam in the air and absolutely no rush to leave the warmth of the house.
So I made a pour over coffee on the verandah with the kitchen kettle. Nothing technical. Nothing polished. Just fresh coffee, hot water and a few quiet minutes watching the town slowly wake up.
I think coffee gets overcomplicated sometimes. People end up worrying more about equipment than whether they are actually enjoying the cup in front of them.
Truth is, when it is freezing cold outside, a really good coffee and a warm mug in your hands solves a lot of problems pretty quickly.
Simple things done well.
#walchansw #walchacoffee #walcha #newenglandnsw #specialtycoffee
Cold mornings in Walcha. The kind where you can see your breath, the kettle takes a little longer to boil, and your hands wrap around a warm mug before your brain is fully awake.
There’s something pretty special about slowing down for a simple pour over on a freezing morning. No fancy setup today either — just the old kitchen kettle, good coffee, and a few quiet minutes watching the steam rise while the town wakes up.
People overcomplicate coffee sometimes. At its core it’s just roasted beans, hot water, and a moment to warm yourself up before the day kicks off.
Honestly, on a cold Walcha morning, there are not many better things.
What’s your go-to coffee when the temperature drops?
In a couple of weeks we’ll be heading to Food & Hospitality Week at ICC Sydney — and honestly, this thing is massive.
This isn’t just a coffee expo. It’s four major industry shows rolled into one giant hospitality event covering everything from café culture and coffee through to pizza, pasta, commercial kitchens, restaurant tech, bakery, foodservice equipment, packaging and hospitality innovation. (Food & Hospitality Week)
The scale of it is pretty wild. Thousands of hospitality professionals, buyers, suppliers, chefs, café owners and operators all in the one place talking about where the industry is heading next. (Food & Hospitality Week)
There are live competitions for chefs, pizza makers, burgers, pâtisserie and more. Big hospitality groups. Major suppliers. New technology. New products. New trends. It’s basically a full pulse check of the Australian hospitality industry under one roof. (Food & Hospitality Week)
For us, events like this matter because regional businesses don’t often get the same exposure or opportunities as big metro brands. So being there, pouring coffee alongside some of the biggest names in hospitality, is something we’re genuinely proud of.
We’ll be there with Alternative Dairy Co running coffee all day, catching up with industry legends, learning a heap and hopefully introducing a lot more people to what a small regional roastery from Walcha can do.
Hospitality is changing fast right now. Tough economy, rising costs, changing customer expectations… but there’s also a huge amount of innovation and energy in the industry at the moment too.
That’s why shows like this are important. They bring people together. See you there!
There’s something pretty special about seeing so many passionate people from the New England hospitality industry all under one roof.
Today in Armidale felt like a real snapshot of where regional hospitality is heading — suppliers, café owners, reps, food vendors, coffee people and some genuinely incredible products all being showcased together.
For us, the highlight was definitely the coffee bar. Teaming up with Caleb from ADC and pairing their milk with our coffee all day was an absolute blast. We had three blends and two single origins rolling through the espresso machine, plenty of caffeine flying around, and even better conversations happening across the bench.
One thing that stood out today is just how strong this industry still is when people genuinely care about quality, community and the craft behind what they do.
Big thanks to everyone who stopped by for a coffee and a chat.
Now we reload and head to Sydney for the Café and Coffee Show at International Convention Centre Sydney from 25–27 May. If today was anything to go by, it’s going to be a huge few weeks ahead.
We’re on the tools and ready for a big day at the Armidale Food & Hospitality Show.
Jazz and I are behind the machine, pre-batch is on tap, coffees are flowing, and the doors open at 11am.
There’s something pretty special about getting out into regional events like this. Good people, good businesses, and a whole lot of passionate hospitality operators all in one place trying to build something better.
We’ve teamed up with Alternative Dairy Co today, so you already know the milk is going to be good. We’ll be pouring our award-winning blends all day and talking coffee with anyone who’ll listen long enough.
If you’re anywhere near Armidale today, come say hello at the Ex-Services Club. Even if it’s just for a quick caffeine-based life decision.
There’s a certain type of coffee video floating around lately where a customer stirs a latte art coffee and the barista reacts like their entire bloodline has been dishonoured.
But honestly… if someone enjoys sugar in their coffee, or gives it a stir before drinking it, that’s completely fine.
Latte art isn’t there to make customers nervous about touching their drink. It’s not some sacred object. It’s just one small sign that the person making your coffee has spent time learning their craft and paying attention to the details.
At the end of the day, coffee is hospitality.
Our job is to serve people well — not judge how they enjoy their drink.
Some people want single origin filter coffee with tasting notes explained in detail. Some people want two sugars in a large cappuccino while wrangling three kids and surviving on four hours sleep.
Both are welcome here.
Drink your coffee however makes your day better.
