Mmm coffee…
Passion. Pure and simple. That is the word that comes to mind after talking to Josh Hockey the owner of soon to be opened cafe C.R.E.A.M (Coffee Rules Everything Around Me).
After assisting with the fit out of the Curious Squire where he was Bar Manager, and then Pure Boutique Coffee Bar where he was the Venue Manager, Josh figured it was time to step out on his own. And by the sounds of what he has planned, we are SO glad he did!
Now Josh may only be 25 but don’t let the age fool you… With eleven years of hospitality experience, they basically don’t come any more qualified than this guy! Starting off in bars, his passion for bartending, ‘flairing’ and mixology turned into a passion for coffee making in the most unlikely of ways. It seems like an odd change over and apparently so considering there is an industry rivalry between bartenders and baristas (we learn something new everyday). But, when Josh was in an unfortunate scooter accident and he tore a ligament in his knee (ouch) he was put on to light duties while working at Pure. Light duties in a cafe equals standing behind the coffee machine and pumping out coffees. At first he hated it. But that hate soon turned into a love for learning something new and in less than a year he had developed a strong passion for coffee, along with an amazing skill set.
A work in progress…
Behind the man behind the coffee is another man. They call him L.T but his name is actually Hu Liu. Basically C.R.E.A.M is happening because of this guy! Not your average Chinese migrant, Josh was quick to say that he gets some strange looks from other Chinese people because he is over 6ft and has tattoos. Just standing out from the crowd!
Josh and L.T met at Pure when L.T would regularly venture in for a coffee and life chats with Josh (how deep). It just so happened that one day they got to chatting about business and Josh mentioned that he had been meeting with potential investors for funding to open his dream cafe. In steps L.T…
Initially refusing his offer of the money, after several ‘man dates’, multiple beers and some very manly chats, Josh agreed to do business with him. And thank god really, all of these things combined are bringing us one epic sounding cafe!
Josh’s coffee making baby ready to be put together.
So why will it be so epic we hear you asking… Well where do we begin? How about we start with the fact that the whole fit out of C.R.E.A.M is totally custom designed by Josh himself. From the chairs, to the tables, the bar and even the all important coffee machine. Nothing has gotten past Josh when it comes to making this place look exactly the way he envisions.
Great coffee will be completed and complimented by great food. The food/coffee standard of the Melbourne cafe scene will be brought to Adelaide, with all day breakfast and lunch/brunch of the highest quality. This place will be more than just bacon and eggs on a plate.
Setting up on Jetty Road in Brighton has meant that there are no competing vendors: “I chose Brighton as there is no competition for specialty coffee and fine food. There was a fantastic opportunity and I had to take that. That, and I love being beach side, I don’t think I could be away from it!”
On top of that, Josh is the only flair bartender and latte artist in Adelaide, so on top of having mad skills, they are basically unrivalled. I can’t believe I just used the term mad skills in a story but it seemed the only way to describe Josh’s very specific skill set!
When we had a chat to Josh we just couldn’t go past asking about the name. Where the heck did he come up with that one!
An homage to his all time favourite band, Wu-Tang.
“I wanted the name to have some personality about it, something that meant something to me. I am a huge Wu-Tang fan and CREAM is their acronym/and a song title which stands for Cash Rules Everything Around Me. It was an easy way to pay homage to them by simply changing the meaning of the C.”
Originally Josh had wanted to call the cafe Chamber 36 as a tribute to Wu-Tang’s first album (of course…), but they actually have that copyrighted so he couldn’t use it. Personally, we love C.R.E.A.M so we are glad he went with that!
With plans to open up three or four more venues in the next three to five years, Josh and L.T. are set to make waves in the cafe world in Adelaide! Look out for them opening (hopefully) in the first week of September! We will be hitting C.R.E.A.M as soon as its doors open (hello coffee).
Check out the C.R.E.A.M Facebook page.
Shop 4 Jetty Road, Brighton
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