Waitersfriend

If you were to accuse Ian Callahan - owner of Adelaide’s’ Bar 9 -  of being a coffee geek, he’d probably take a quick internal look at himself and reply with a grin, ‘fair enough!’ 

Neither geeky nor nerdy, Ian is an absolute genius when it comes to coffee.  Waitersfriend did however have to ask, “do you ever find yourself spending a little too much time surfing coffee websites?” - to which came a rather sheepish reply of, “yes, but my wife Sarah kicks me off when she thinks I’ve had my daily intake.”

Expert or technician is probably a better way to describe Ian’s aptitude for all things coffee and Waitersfriend wanted to find out what sparked his passion and what drove him to gather up as much knowledge as he has.  An inquisitive mind was all it took.  Ian became interested in the writings of Robert T Kiyosaki and was adamant he would one day have his own business.  At the time, you guessed it, he was working in hospitality.  With his mind fully stimulated Ian began to question more and more about what he was being told and what tools were provided by café owners and franchises to produce good coffee.  Ian wasn’t just interested in making good coffee he wanted every single one of them to be fantastic, and so it began.  Like any expert in their field, Ian acquired the knowledge and built around him a network of likeminded people, resulting in him being totally in tune with the world of coffee.

It had become clear to Ian that the only way he could truly be happy making coffee was to buy his own equipment and open up his own shop.  Amidst family life and working two jobs in hospitality and also playing coffee rep around Adelaide for Western Australian based roaster 5 Senses, Ian managed to find time to do battle with property managers, local councils and utility companies and even hand craft furniture to fit out his shop ready for opening day.  When the day finally came, Ian didn’t quite have everything exactly how he wanted it, but says, ”…if we didn’t open when we did it would never have happened”.

Bar 9’s focus and philosophy is on producing the finest coffee whilst listening to what the market is interested in.  Ian admits, “coffee making and arrogance for some reason just seem to go hand in hand.  I wanted to make sure we didn’t go down that road and it’s something we regularly have to keep a check on.” 

Bar 9 also has some great food which they outsource to a couple of reputable suppliers, allowing the team to maintain focus on the core of the business - making GREAT COFFEE.

There’s far more depth to the Bar 9 experience than just your favourite espresso based coffee.  At this point Ian jumps behind the counter and puts me through an amazing tasting.  First up he starts with a siphon brewed coffee, this form of coffee brewing was invented by the Germans then taken on and perfected by the Japanese.  It produces a very clean tasting coffee totally different to anything coming out of an espresso machine.  There are some amazing flavours and as the temperature drops they are even more pronounced, deceptively hitting you with an intense hit of caffeine.  There’s also a couple of old Italians hanging around at Bar 9, namely Mario and Luigi and they both produce fantastic shots of luscious espresso.  Mario is a 1970 Rancilio Z8 and Luigi is a 1974 Z9 -  both are lever piston machines and Ian has an amazing knowledge and respect for the internal workings of the two Italian chaps.  To round out the tasting he also set me up with a shot of cold drip coffee.  This is produced from another fine piece of Japanese equipment that drips cold water at a rate of one drop per second onto ground coffee allowing a long, cold extraction that again puts a totally different spin on coffee as we know it.

Standing at the counter watching Ian working his equipment and talking about the different coffees and their flavours was a wonderful experience.  It’s brilliant to see someone who harbours so much passion have his own outlet in which to practice his craft.  The ability to get outside the box and enthusiastically bring to his adoring public a product that showcases great machinery and produce is truly commendable.  Waitersfriend loves everything that Bar 9 stands for and will be regular visitors to the Glen Osmond Rd coffee boutique.

Check out the Bar 9 website and check the blog for all the latest news on Ian’s world of coffee.

Bar 9 proudly uses 5 Senses coffee

If you’re in Adelaide stop in to 91 Glen Osmond Rd Eastwood 5063

Bar 9 is open Monday to Friday 7.30am till 5.30pm

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