Daily Ritual Armidale is a café and retail outlet that offers Armidale’s only multi-award winning coffee, and an extensive selection of over 160 loose leaf teas
Receiving a Highly Commended in the Armidale Business Chamber’s 2014 Small Business Awards, Daily Ritual is the New England’s most awarded coffee exhibitor, with 12 bronze and two silver awards. Included in this tally are Bronze awards for its Daily Ritual Signature 2350 and Mocha Supremo at this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show.
This month we celebrate the success of our very own Ross Patch, the man behind this impressive record.
Tell us a little bit about your background …
Armidale has been a part of my life for over 40 years. In my later teens I moved to a family hotel in Forbes, where I first met my wife, Cherie, some 36 years ago. After 10 years in the hotel game, I spent a number of years in horticulture, then briefly jumped back into the hotel game, running “The Coona” in Coonabarabran. After three hard years, I started a carpet cleaning business, specialising in hotel and club cleaning. Then, as fate would have it, all roads led back to Armidale, where I secured work at Berkeley Challenge. After five years I moved into yet another career, supplying cleaning and hotel supplies to pubs and clubs.
With such a varied background, how did you end up in the tea and coffee business?
I had a serious workplace accident in 2000. On one of my many trips to see doctors in Sydney, I came across a little tea shop and a specialised coffee roaster in Newtown. I saw the potential for this type of business in Armidale and opened our first store in 2007.
What is the story behind the name Daily Ritual?
We all start the day with rituals. First thing in our house, we turn on the kettle and make a cuppa, so Daily Ritual was the obvious choice. And of course, we serve all our tea in fine china cups, the only way to drink tea.
And the secret of your award-winning coffee?
I’m passionate about the provenance and quality of the coffee beans used in the Daily Ritual’s unique blends. Our blends are regularly entered for competitions such as the Golden Bean, Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE), Hobart Fine Food Show, and Sydney Royal Easter Show.
Working with Craig Sommers, a specialty coffee roaster, we have created all the multiple award-winning blends for Daily Ritual. The Signature 2350 blend, described by the international coffee roasting judges in Melbourne 2013 as “A rich, sweetness, full bodied, vanilla, almond and chocolate flavours pushing through the milk”.
I changed the profile of the Daily Ritual blend in 2015, enhancing its flavour and complexity, with the results plain to see in the outcome of this year’s competition.
You also offer an extensive array of loose leaf tea. Tell us more …
We stock seasonally sourced Silvertip teas, crafted by Daily Ritual tea taster and master blender, Clayton Pine. Clayton topped the 2015 Hobart Fine Foods Show awards with 7 gold, 9 silver, and 5 bronze. These award-winning teas are available at Daily Ritual.
At the Daily Ritual we stock 160 teas. However, if your favourite tea is not in store, let us know and we will try to source it for you.
Do you take special requests?
Over the years many customers have asked for special blends of tea or coffee. The latest is our own twist on Melbourne breakfast. This blend is comprised of the very best Golden Yunnan China black with China Keemun and the highest quality vanilla bean infused flavoured black tea, aptly named the “New England Breakfast”. We plan to enter this blend in the 2015 Hobart Fine Food Show.
What else can we find in store?
We offer the New England’s most extensive range of coffee and tea accessories: plungers, coffee machines and pods, hand-made Japanese teapots, infusers, and tea caddies. We stock the award-winning Nina’s handmade chocolate, serve tasty light meals, great cakes, and a selection of gluten free offerings.
We have a wheelchair user friendly table, ground level access, and the shop is heated and air conditioned.
Tell us about your customers?
One of the things I love most is the variety of people I get to meet in a day. A typical day will see regulars coming in for their morning coffee and the faithful replenishing their tea and coffee to enjoy at home.
We’re open ‘til 5pm mid-week, so in the afternoon we get high school students, mums on the run, and office workers just looking for a great coffee or snack.
Any characters?
One of my regulars is a 4.5 year old that takes up our full attention when she comes in. To her I’m “Mr Patch”, who has special beans (smarties); we love making any visit to our shop memorable.
What are the latest trends in coffee?
Nespresso compatible pods and Cold Drip coffee are the latest industry trends. We pack our coffee into Nespresso compatible capsules, offering three blends, including our award-winning Signature 2350. You can buy in bulk or purchase a sampler pack from $6.
Cold Drip coffee is spectacular – a tall glass science lab type unit that slowly drips coffee from the top to the bottom over 12 hours. We have three available to demonstrate in-store.
What are your latest community and business partnerships?
We are proud members of Locals 4 Locals, flying the flag for local business. We have recently partnered with Saumarez Homestead, donating our fine loose leaf teas and our award-winning coffee.
Les Davis, Property Manager Saumarez Homestead says, “For several years the Daily Ritual has been a generous donor of tea, coffee and confectionery for Saumarez Homestead Farm Fair and Mothers’ Day Hamper raffles. This sponsorship has helped Saumarez Homestead, a National Trust property near Armidale, raise much needed funds to help conserve the property and keep it open to the public.”
Our staff are trained with on-the-job hospitality training through New England Hunter Valley Group Training and TAFE.
Where do we find you?
Centrally located at Shop 52, Armidale Plaza; we’re open Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm and on Saturday 8:30am to 1pm. You can also purchase our tea, coffee, and accessories online at
www.dailyritual.com.au
Originally Published: http://newengland.focusmag.com.au/daily-ritual-award-winning-coffee/