Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Address: 15 Hope Street, Brunswick, VIC 3056
Tel: 03 9388 1004
Mobile: 0411 34 32 30
Fax: 03 9388 1005
Email: serenacoffee@hotmail.com

* Winner Silver Medal, Espresso black coffee, Fine Foods Award at the Royal Melbourne Show 2012,

* Winner 2 bronze Medals for plunger coffee and milk based coffee at the Australian International Coffee Awards, 2013.



The last place you’d expect to find one of Melbourne’s best coffee destinations is in the thick of Brunswick’s busy industrial district. Anyone familiar with Hope Street in Brunswick will know it’s a frenetic hub of cars, trucks and buses. Serena Coffee itself is next to a car garage, and it’s not an uncommon sight to see mechanics jumping the Serena Coffee cordon to its outdoor seating area in search of a top cup of coffee.


Shop proprietor Nader Nader (that’s no misprint, his first name and surname are the same) left his native Lebanon at the age of 17, spent ten years in Sweden and finally migrated to Australia in his late twenties.


He has been running this mix of coffee roasting house and café for over ten years. Previously he ran San Remo coffee in Puckle Street Moonee Ponds, before moving to Brunswick where he’s been trading for the past three years. He’s also worked for Grinders Coffee.

"I was one of the first to be running a café where the beans are also roasted inhouse," says Nader. "Now everyone is doing it."


Serena Coffee’s café front can be deceiving. Out the back is where all the real action is, where Nader runs a full throttle coffee roasting factory. The huge coffee roaster is industrial size.

“The café is only one part of it,’ explains Nader. “Eighty percent of the business is in roasting coffee beans. I’m basically a coffee manufacturer and wholesaler.”


Indeed, out the back I was shown large wheelie bins filled with freshly roasted beans. Nader flipped the top of one bin, waved a hand over the beans and told me to inhale the aroma. Delicious!



Creating a café environment amidst the bustle of Hope Street is no easy task, but Serena Coffee has a nicely laid back atmosphere. There’s plenty of tasteful seating and spare copies of newspapers scattered about to read. The big front windows bathe the shop in natural sunlight. The clientele is a mixed bag of local blue-collar workers, occasional suits and mums taking a breather before picking up the kids from school. It’s the perfect drop in place to take a break from the world.


Serena Coffee also sells a range of coffee machines and accoutrements. Plus there’s a lovely array of cup and saucer sets. While waiting for your cappuccino or bag of coffee to be ground, you can browse the wide range of percolators, plungers and coffee machines, or simply find that knick-knack you didn’t realise you needed.


Serena Coffee imports from all over the world and will mesmerise you its broad range of delicious aromas. Experienced, first hand advice is always on hand from the man who lovingly roasts the beans himself. Any questions on flavour, quality or storage and Nader is always ready to answer.

On my first trip I gave an outline of the sort of flavour I was after: not too bitter, with a sweet, chocolaty top note. Moments later Nader introduced me to my perfect coffee match. Since buying Serena’s Colombian coffee, I have never looked back.

This is one of the best features of Serena Coffee. First class service mixed with an intimate knowledge of how good coffee is made.

Mention should also be made of Nader’s fine barista skills. He makes a mean cappuccino – full bodied, rich and delicious. It’s a treat that has to be savoured.

So, if you’re ever on the north side of town, or in the Sydney Road area, treat yourself to a delicious flat white or cappuccino. Then let Nader fix you up with a bag of coffee to take home. The best coffee it turns out is not in Lygon Street, it’s in Hope Street Brunswick!

This is a business you’ll want to support.