A relaxed seaside cafe, 'Blank Canvas' is not quite a vegan’s refuge. The cafe offers a mostly seafood menu during lunch, while at breakfast, eggs, bacon and other processed meats make up the majority of the menu options.

While Hayley and I were on our way back from South Durras, we decided to stop into the seaside town of Batemans Bay. The township is self-sufficient, has all the amenities and shops you’d need to call home and it’s certainly a gorgeous spot to sit for a half hour and drink coffee. The town even sports it’s very own independent cinema. I’d link to it, but the website may as well be a vacant lot. It’s atrocious.

Blank Canvas is anything but blank.

Situated on the edge of the Clyde River, Blank Canvas offers views across the sparkling water where sailboats bob about and the occasional tinnie speeds past at maximum throttle. The café offers both seating inside and outside. We took advantage of the lovely crisp morning and sat in the sun. Inside, you’ll notice pop art around the place that adds some extra colour to the walls. I took notice of one wall that appeared to have been painted by a local artist. On a nearby table, a polystyrene box filled with soil and pea shoots captured the light streaming through the glass.

Marilyn Monroe adorns a wall in 'Blank Canvas' showcasing the talent of Katie Loader, one of the region's finest artists.

You can make furry friends almost anywhere.

We settled into our seats, made small talk about the décor and spied on the menu choices others had made. Within a few minutes, a couple had sat down at a nearby table. My attention was drawn to their gorgeous dog. I rushed it immediately. I asked if she was friendly, and when given the go-ahead, I was all over fluffy Olive like a rash. I am a real softie when it comes to dogs, and Olive was just a real petal. She is a Havanese, a breed of dog that is apparently native to Cuba according to her carers and the American Kennel Club. While we have had larger dogs in our care, the two most recent of mine were both Maltese, so I feel like I have a somewhat stronger connection to small dogs. I’d only wished she cuddled up to me a little more. She wasn’t the most affectionate pooch.

If you haven't taken the time to learn about veganism, you may not be aware of the problems born from the consumption of animals.

This café is obviously geared to the mainstream. They’re not looking to make any statements. They just want to capture a segment of society who aren’t really thinking much about their diet or have considered the issues associated with what they’re eating. While I cannot comment on the quality of the animal-based products they sell, it’s certainly worth mentioning that I do not condone the needless consumption of animal bodies. Considering the harm caused to these beings, the adverse health effects (decreased life span, weight gain, poor sleep, depression, cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes) as well as how unsustainable animal foods are to produce, it might well be time to take lives – both yours as well as our fellow Earthlings, more seriously.

If you’re looking for an excellent online resource, I suggest heading to NutritionFacts.org for an unbiased presentation of the latest in the scientific literature about how to live healthfully. It’s all free except for Dr Greger’s two books of which all proceeds are donated to charity.

Thousands of isobutyl-acetyl wiggamajigs.. ah.. chemical compounds waft through your nostrils trigging that moment when your brain screams, “COFFEE!”

The small paper menu goes into detail explaining the various brews that Blank Canvas sell at the café including espresso, batch brew and cold drip coffee. To be honest, I always thought espresso was the best kind of coffee. It isn’t any wonder. Espresso is a mainstay of Australian coffee and it is hard to find any other kind. This little pamphlet challenged my understanding. Thank you for opening my eyes!

I did some research and I’m going to share it with you. You’re welcome. (You'll find my thoughts on Blank Canvas' coffee further down.)

Espresso. Essentially a coffee shot.

This is the coffee preparation that requires that big silver machine. Near boiling water is pushed through skilfully compacted roasted, ground beans capturing the liquidised flavours of the coffee beans. A few micro solids and some of the oils are also dragged through, however, despite what some may say, oils don’t dissolve in water no matter what you do to them. It’s merely a form of suspension. An addition of different quantities of mylk and mylk foams to the espresso base form a cappuccino or flat white. These are called pour overs.

The espresso is what is most commonly thought of as a ‘good coffee’ (as opposed to instant or brewed/drip coffee). In Australia, the large migrant influx from Italy has meant cities like Melbourne and Sydney are synonymous with consistently high quality espresso coffee. However, as I’ve been reading from experts, apparently espresso coffees can vary wildly in their quality based on the variables involved in the making of each individual cup, including but not limited to the grind, compression of the grounds and how clean the machine is.

Batch Brewed Coffee. It may well be time to rethink espresso as the King of Coffee.

I’m not a coffee expert at all. I drink it and enjoy it despite missing many of the nuanced flavours that baristas and experts tell us are there. Berries and honey? Seriously.

The only time I’ve not liked a coffee is when it’s served to me cold or inadvertently made on cow’s milk. Gross. There is a burgeoning group of coffee lovers in Australia who are pushing us back to the origins of coffee. A time without all the complex machinery.

Batch brewed coffee is simply a large quantity of coffee made at once. Typically, no more than two litres of coffee is made at a time and percolated through a paper filter after water is sprayed over a bed of coffee grounds through carefully engineered spray heads. The goal is even water distribution ensuring uniform flavour extraction. Scott Rao, the author of The Professional Barista’s Handbook stresses that batches should be consumed within thirty minutes of brewing. Treating batch brews with the same care as the more hands-on method of espresso coffee ensures coffee of high integrity and robustness.

Brrrr. It’s cold in here. Cold drip vs cold brew.

After reading a few articles, I thought I understood cold coffee. Until I realised there are two ways to produced even cold coffee. Come on!

Contraptions and glassware redolent of year nine science lessons appear to go hand in hand with cold drip coffee. The first time I took a look at the bulbous, stacked flasks and spiral glass tubes, I instantly thought distillation. However, if you take more than a cursory look, it’s just a gravity-powered dripping machine. The process takes hours, as individual drops of coffee-infused water collect in the bottom flask. The whole process is apparently so forgiving, you can use old beans and you can refrigerate it for two weeks without losing richness of flavour.

While the first drop of cold drip coffee compared to the last drip vary in their compound concentration (the first being far weaker), an entire batch of coffee using the cold brew method is steeped in cold water for the same amount of time. The result, experts 1, 2 and 3 claim, is that cold drip coffee is relatively faster, taking up to six hours, while cold brew coffee is a much longer process, generally taking up to eighteen hours to extract sufficient flavour from the grounds. Furthermore, it's recognised that the faster cold drip method produces a more visually appealing result, although I suppose that depends on whether you think a lighter coloured brew looks better, right? Beauty is impossible to quantify.

The best part about both of these brews is that you can actually heat them. Cold brew. Hot. It seems absolutely bizarre. Maybe someone out there has tried all these side by side, discussed their nuanced flavours and scribbled their thoughts down. If you can tell the difference between them and have a preference, I'd love to hear about it.

Now that we've had our crash course in coffee, what of Blank Canvas' coffee?

Hayley ordered a latte on soy and I, a flat white on soy. As you should expect, they were creamy and nutty. If you're going to drink a pour over, soy mylk produces a lovely, thick body. By now, you'd know these coffees are an elaborate espresso. You'll enjoy them, but if you like your coffee hot, ask for extra hot.

Considering cold drip coffee is probably the least hands-on preparation method, I am confused as to why it is so expensive. The price of cold drip coffee at Blank Canvas graces stratospheric heights at $7.50 (USD $5.50), while again, bizarrely, the most hands-on coffee (an espresso) is the cheapest at $4.

I did some research on the matter and from what I gleaned, Starbucks justified their up to 66% increase in price of an iced coffee over it's hot counterpart due to the price of ice, plastic cups, straws and the claim that it requires more coffee to produce to same amount of finished product as hot coffee. Really?

Blank Canvas. The Verdict.

If you want to try something different and don't mind paying a bit more for an unusual coffee, order a cold drip coffee. But please watch the process. Get that extra value from your experience and tell me if you noticed any difference from steeping room temperature coffee overnight in your French press.

And don't order the bacon and eggs. Avoid it for the sake of the pigs and your arteries.

Find Blank Canvas here.

All the best,

Nick.

Please UPVOTE this post if travel articles inspire you. Your vote keeps me writing my best content.

All content is original and belongs to @nickmorphew. [9 July 2018]

Disclosure: This article was not a paid promotion and was not self-upvoted. Nor were there any affiliate links.

I’m looking for an artist to cover my work on my fantasy saga, Adventures in Elowyn Glade. Click the link!

More Gobbling reviews:

[100% VEGAN] Shift Eatery Surry Hills

[100% VEGAN] Matcha Mylkbar, St. Kilda

[100% VEGAN] Lentil as Anything, Newtown

Da Orlando Wood Fire Pizzeria, Wollongong

Kürtősh, Wollongong

Nan Tien Temple, Wollongong

Do you enjoy gory mystery-thrillers?

Two devious, psychopathic minds go head-to-head trying to out-kill one another. Who will die at the hands of the two and how far will it go until the entire state is on the hunt for the duplicitous duo.

Check out The Coroner. Part 1 and Part 2 are linked.