There are beautifully designed and tasty blends on the market and we certainly design seasonal blends for our wholesale customers on request. This, for Monk Bodhi Dharma’s bar however, no longer fits in with what we want to do and where we want to be

Something we have recently decided to do at Monk Bodhi Dharma is to completely remove any mention of “blend” or “blends” on our board. We have opted to serve single estate coffees only. Yes, traditionalists or conservative individuals may indeed raise their eye brows. In my humble opinion, there will be a time when this ethos will infiltrate more and more venues. What is the point in hiding amazing, fresh and gorgeous coffees behind the generic label of a “blend” for the purposes of feeding long held beliefs.

It is akin to House Wine being served in restaurants in an unmarked carafe. I dare say that, the wine industry has progressed quite a bit from this in the last few decades where restaurants have invested ample resources to know each and every wine estate that they use.

With the availability of more and more amazing seasonal green coffee and awesome roasters, the importance given to blends and blending will surely diminish. The farmer and their land should always remain the hero and the best way to showcase them, their hard-working staff and their terroir is by serving estate coffees on their own.

My call to us, as a small coffee roastery is to lift the veil and be as transparent as we can be.

See you for a coffee,

Marwin

I am so glad to know that we as a coffee city in Melbourne and our coffee roastery are bringing in fresher, higher grade and generally better coffee than ever. What it comes down to at the end of the day is the raw product that we get in Coffee will never be as good as what it was when it was inside its coffee cherry. As such, the less we do to it during roasting, brewing, packaging and transportation the better.

Currently we have some amazing Kenyans (Gachami AA and Thithi AA) and Guatemalans including the Small Producers of Atitlan, Entre Volcanes and Las Nubes. The El Salvadorian coffees are tasting awesome too including the El Carmen, San Cayetano and El Timbo.  We also have a lot of lovely Brazils including the Cup of Excellence #9 Serra Dos Crioulos and the sweet Cambara.

see you at the bar

Marwin

The breakfast will consist of four courses and will be served with a syphon, pourover, chai or specialty tea.

Bookings essential (min 2 people), $30 per person.

To make a booking, email us on [email protected]

* Fully vegan option available

Breakfast degustation

The name is derived from Bodhidharma, who was a 5th century Indian monk to whom history has credited the introduction of Zen Buddhism to China and Japan. During a silent, nine-year cave meditation retreat, he fell asleep and being so frustrated on his failure to stay awake he cut off his eyelids to ward off sleep. According to the legend, the world’s first tea plants sprouted from the place upon which his eyelids fell. Thereafter, tea was taken as a stimulant during meditation. Tea is also known to be called “Bodhidharma’s eye lids”.

It is still not exactly known how coffee and tea evolved and their exact relationship in history. One theory is that when Admiral Cheng Ho removed tea supply to the Arabic Peninsula, their people turned to coffee which then spread through Europe and the rest of the world.

Monk Bodhi Dharma roasts specialty coffee on-site and rotates coffees from other specialty coffee roasters. Monk Bodhidharma uses a reserve range of teas and precise infusion methods.

On the food side, Monk Bodhidharma serves a global menu that will feed the weary traveler.