The Gourmet Farmer
Matthew Evans blames Melbourne for his coffee habits. For three years he worked as a café reviewer for The Age, critiquing, drinking and writing about the city’s must-visit and must-avoid coffee haunts.
At each venue he went through the same routine: look at the empty cups of other customers to see how much milk foam was left on the insides of the cup, observe the brand of coffee and the interaction of staff with customers.
“If I was reviewing a café, I ordered two cups of coffee to make sure they were consistent. People were relying on me to disclose the ‘10 best cafés in Melbourne’, or where to find ‘the best coffee in the suburbs’, so high consumption was just part of the job,” Matthew says. “I went from zero coffees a day to 10 with a corresponding tachycardia and panic attacks due to the increase in caffeine.”
Matthew soon learnt that drinking plenty of water and slowly building his caffeine intake were essential to the job. “But when your eye balls start to
