Elixir Coffee HQ @ Stafford, Brisbane

It is wonderful how a casual chat with a local about coffee lead me to this place. With the owners' mother being the first person in Brisbane to open a coffee roasting house yonks ago, it smelled of serious business. Being so excited, we decided to venture to the Northern suburbs one Saturday morning.


Speaking of the North, we realised that we have never ventured North before, with most of our meals / hang out spots pretty much in Central Brisbane and our Asian cravings down South. Just last week, we visited another promising breakfast spot in the area too, so look out North, I can't wait to see what you got to offer.


Elixir is unlike the pretentious, quirky or soothing cafes we have been visiting so far, situated in a warehouse in an industrial area. With lots of industrial equipment, probably part and parcel of the roasting business, we stepped into the casual cafe, bustling with people.

The first place that we been to that offered tasting cards was Dandelion & Driftwood, Elixir is the second. At the counter, you should also see a vast display of different coffee beans on offer to buy back too.

The verdict? One of the best coffees we had this year. Worth the journey up, just for this or maybe the Zambian beans was right up our taste buds.

Foodwise, the menu is ! rather s imple and basic with Italian elements.

Technically under the Lunch Menu, we ordered the Arancini which was pre-made and heated in the Micro-oven on order. Disappointing because you lose all the hot, crispy batter you expect but dig deep into the filling and it is quite satisfying.

We have been very "healthy" in the sense that we stay away from white bread. Although, it does say sour dough on the menu, it tasted pretty much like white bread and we loved it, especially with that vanilla bean ricotta spread and that home made raspberry jam.

Elixir is a serious place for coffee but similar to Dandelion and Driftwood, the food menu is not their forte. However, if you think about the location being in an industrial area, the food menu is satisfying but should be less refined and lack finesse (no offence to the industrial workers), it all pans out. In any case, it shouldn't distract one to visit for the ultimate purposes; the coffee.

Address and contact details:

! Verdict: 4 stars out of 5 stars. At this rate I am sniffing out the good coffee places, I can actually console myself that I can get as good of a coffee than Melbourne, even though if it means I have to drive a distance for some of them.