Humans of Extraction: Cafe Manager

Kasey Chapman

How old were you when you started at Extraction?

I was 16 when I started at Extraction. I started as a dishie and was as quiet as a mouse.

Do you remember your first day?

I remember being so anxious about starting a proper job, and how confident and knowledgeable everyone was about coffee. But then within the first hour, the older members of the team already made me feel like I fit in, and seeing how hard they all worked made me want to work my butt off as well to keep up with them all.

Tell us about your studies and how you fit this into your busy role at Extraction?

I’m doubling my studies; I’m completing my Bachelor's in Arts, focusing on history, religion, and English, alongside my Certificate III in Library and Information Services. So basically, I’m trying to be Giles from Buffy, haha. I fit this in by having a very structured week. I have specific days I study, and to prevent procrastination, I have made a week-by-week assessment breakdown. I always find ticking off a checklist satisfying, and it’s a great way to keep myself in check.

What is your current role at Extraction?

My current role at Extraction is the Cafe Manager. I’m mainly responsible for the day-to-day running of the cafe, including rosters, collaborating with our barista and kitchen teams, ordering stock, and looking after our customers and Front of House team. I feel like I’ve already learnt so much since taking on this role last year, and that I’ve come to have a better understanding through which Extraction operates.

I’ve been here so long, I feel a lot of joy in getting to give back to a business that's given me so much and helped me grow in ways I could never imagine. I especially love working as part of a leadership team that has so much genuine passion for what they do. I always gush about all the amazing handiwork and creativity that they produce, and I know the job would not be the same without them.

What goals would you like to achieve over the next four years?

Over the next four years, all of my goals revolve around learning or creating. I’m aiming to obviously complete my studies, and alongside that, I want to learn as much about the business side of the cafe operation as possible. I really love numbers, and I find it fascinating that you can look at a set of data and see customer behaviour reflected in it. Also, I want to learn how to make coffee, haha. Finally, I want to get back into my flow with creative writing. I still have a lot of friends in the industry, and I performed at my first literary event late last year. I adored the experience (even though it scared the pants off me), and I want to get back into regular writing. I’ve got a few literary magazines I’ve got my eye on to try and get published in.

How does our mission of Reaching out to Humanity influence your work?

It influences me a lot, because Extraction has a different environment than most hospitality venues. To me, hospitality means love. I’m a huge giver, and making food or drinks for people in my life is a hugely personal act. I express my love to friends and family through hosting and giving, and every day I come into work, it feels like an opportunity to do that on a professional level. Extraction has such an emphasis on building human connection in a way that nowhere else does, and it makes every opportunity an opportunity to give and make someone smile with good food or good coffee. It creates a wonderful warmth to everything we do.

 What do you enjoy most about working in hospitality?

It’s a small thing, but I get so much satisfaction out of working together with a customer to find something that they’ll enjoy. Especially when a regular decides that they want to try something different. I always get so excited, especially when they love it. Seeing people happy and enjoying their food or coffee makes me happy.

What’s a surprising fact about you that people might not expect?

If you can’t tell from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference, I am absolutely huge nerd. Especially for the horror and gothic genres. I love reading and board games, especially TTRPGS like Dungeons and Dragons and Call of Cthulhu. My Demonia collection is the most prized thing in my house. The only tattoo I have is a mixed reference to Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King, which is how I got into horror.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in hospitality?

That it’s okay to make mistakes. When I first started, I was deathly afraid to make a mistake. I was already an anxious teenager, and the thought of one of these older hospitality folk being mad at me was world-ending. But we all make mistakes or missteps because we’re all human at the end of the day. But the most important thing is to take a breath, focus on how we move forward from those mistakes, and learn for next time. The world won’t end because you made a mistake.

What’s been the most valuable lesson you've learned since working at Extraction?

The most valuable lesson I’ve learned is to trust your gut, experience and confidence. However, despite all that you’ve learnt, there is always room for growth and an opportunity to learn.

Humans of Extraction: Head Chef

jayden godwin

What inspired you to become a chef?

I originally got started in hospitality because I wasn’t enjoying school. I was working part-time washing dishes and was offered an apprenticeship. I took it as an opportunity to drop out of school and do something different. That’s where it really started for me.

At 14, as I was starting that journey, the creative part of me came alive. I started testing things, experimenting with food, and learning from those around me what food could really be—what you could do with ingredients.

Halfway through my apprenticeship, when I was about 16, my aunt took me to Aria in Brisbane for my birthday. She told them I was an apprentice chef, and I had their tasting menu. It was an incredible night—it was an experience, a journey that really altered how I thought about food.

 At the end of the meal, the maître d’ asked the kitchen if they would show me around. They agreed, and I got to walk through the kitchen, see the setup, and watch how their brigade worked together so smoothly. Seeing that level of teamwork and precision—how they created an experience for their guests—I’ve never forgotten that.

What do you like about working at Extraction Artisan Coffee?

My favourite thing about working at Extraction is the commitment across the whole café—in every role—to giving people an experience when they come through our doors. Unfortunately, that’s not as common as we might expect in hospitality, but at Extraction, that’s the focus. We love the industry, and we love what we get to give people.

What’s your favourite dish on the menu right now and why?

It’s got to be the Mushroom Forest. It’s light, full of flavour, and really lets the ingredients be what they are. It’s quite beautiful.

How do you come up with new dishes or flavor combinations?

For me, creating something new often comes out of a feeling or an experience that I want to pass on to the guests. That’s the inspiration behind where flavours come from or the direction a dish takes. The season is important to me, but behind each dish, there’s usually a starting point—something I want to give to the person enjoying the meal or the experience.

What excites you most about Bite Club?

The intimacy of nighttime food and service. It’s a completely different atmosphere compared to breakfast and lunch in the café, and that’s exciting. It’s another opportunity to host, serve, and see people connect. I believe food brings people together, and at night, it’s dates, friendships, relationships forming, groups coming together. It’s exciting to have another way to help bring people closer, to make their day a little bit better than it would have been if they hadn’t come. I love that.

Can you give us a sneak peek into any upcoming Bite Club dishes you’re working on?

Right now, I’m working on a mushroom risotto concept in little bite form—like on a cracker. That’s what I’m playing with at the moment.

What’s a surprising fact about you that people might not expect?

I was a drug addict. I was in rehab twice by the time I was 22, and I recently celebrated nine years clean.

That’s another thing I love about Extraction—our commitment to reaching out to humanity. I get to be part of a kitchen where drugs and excessive drinking are not the norm. Apprentices coming into the industry don’t have to think that’s just the way it is. I get to be part of the change I want to see.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the culinary world?

Learn how to handle the bad days well. This industry isn’t about us—it’s about the people we serve. And that gets hard some days. It’s not always going to be fun, creative, or enjoyable. It gets tough.

But if you can handle the hard days and remember it’s not about you, you can take each day as it comes. Respect the ingredient, respect the people you serve, stay a learner, and keep serving. And you’ll get to make that short moment you have in someone’s life a good one—just because you got the chance to cook for them.

The True Cost of Coffee: Why Supporting Your Local Café Matters More Than Ever

As one of the many trustworthy players in the speciality coffee industry here in Queensland, we feel a responsibility to keep you informed about the continued rise in coffee prices and how that’s going to impact farmers, importers, roasters, and customers.

The price of Arabica coffee keeps rising, reaching $4.30 per pound, the highest since the 1970s. This is, in part, due to speculation buying, supply issues, and challenging climate conditions. 

Our house-blend Gratitude is currently made up of a Brazilian bean and a Colombian bean and both regions face challenges.

It’s currently reported that there is a 4.4% drop in Brazilian coffee production to a three-year low of 51.81 million bags. (https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/coffee)

There is no doubt that a reliable coffee supply is becoming an issue but it’s not all doom and gloom.

Roasteries like us, that have forged strong partnerships with green bean importers, stand the best chance of weathering this financial storm.

Nadia Moreira from Southland Merchants says “coffee prices hitting 430c is unprecedented and shaking up the entire industry. With unpredictable weather, ongoing supply chain disruptions since 2020, tight availability and ongoing logistic challenges, everyone is feeling the pressure. The key is adaptability – finding smart ways to navigate the market while maintaining quality and truly testing the strength of relationships.”

For café owners, partnering with a knowledgeable coffee roaster can be key to handling and explaining price changes to customers. Having the support and confident to navigate a tough financial situation is so important for business owners.

Customers who love their local café, can make a big difference by being supportive and understanding that price increases help businesses survive. Historically, cafes are reluctant to pass on cost increases in the fear that customers will stay away but ultimately cafes employ local people, they support community and sporting groups, they are a meeting place and a social outlet for many people. To see independent cafes closing is to see the takeover of large corporates, a loss of individuality and creativity and surely no one wants this.

For Extraction, quality of product, personalised service and a connection to our community is paramount to our mission but unfortunately, we are not able to weather the on-going price increases without raising our prices.

As of 28th February our coffee prices will be:

·       6oz cup $5.0

·       12oz cup $7.0

·       250gram retail bag $20

·       1kg retail bag $60

·       1kg wholesale bag $36

·       6kg tin wholesale $206

We thank our coffee partners and customers for their support in helping us stay a sustainable and thriving business for future generations of coffee lovers.

For full transparency, we last raised our wholesale bean price in May 2022 and increased cup and retail bag prices in June 2024.

Extractions top 5 coffee trends for 2024

1.     Filter coffee

If you are traditionally someone who enjoys a flat white, you’ll be more likely to try a filter coffee in 2024 than ever before. Why? Because customers are becoming more conscious of the amount of dairy and non-dairy products they are consuming daily. Filter coffee is also a very different drinking experience to a long black. Filter coffee is generally a lighter, more flavourful experience, and is the perfect coffee to enjoy over an extended period, from hot to cold.

2.     Coffee cocktails

Coffee will be the shining star of bougie cocktails and mocktails. We’ve already started experimenting with these types of beverages, currently showcasing our signature drink, the Coffee Tonic, using our own tonic water, First Crack. Exploring how different coffee origins work with a variety of spirits will be fun project for us in 2024.

3.     Cold brew concentrate

Cold brew has never been more popular and with a quality product it’s never been easier to make a more satisfying coffee at home. Sales of our cold brew concentrate has grown in the last twelve months as more people discover the convenience and versatility of this product. We predict most coffee loving households will always have box of cold brew concentrate in their fridge this year.

4.     Pairing coffee with food

People understand the concept of pairing wine with food, so why not coffee? Each coffee origin, varietal and processing method offer a different and unique flavour profile, so it makes sense to explore how this can also enhance a dining experience.   This is something we hope to explore further in 2024.

5.     Roasting small batches

With the advancement in technology of small roasting machines, it’s becoming easier to purchase small quantities of high-end beans to roast in small batches for retail sale. Even though these beans will hit a higher price point for customers, they will provide a great opportunity for customers to enjoy more variety and experience quality higher point speciality beans.

Coffee prices to rise in 2022

Did you know that global coffee bean prices on average have jumped 21.6% over the past year.

We are raising our cup price by .50 cents. Why are we doing this?

In short, green beans are costing more because farms have struggled with bad weather and worker shortages due to the pandemic. Importing beans has also become more expensive due to difficulties in transportation.

For the most part, coffee roasters have worn the extra cost during 2021 but to remain sustainable into the future we must raise the price of our coffee.

If you know us and have followed our journey since day one, you'll know that we are completely transparent and honest in sharing our vulnerabilities.

We're working on ways we can minimise cost increases but at the same time we feel it's important to lead the way for other speciality coffee cafes to feel confident in knowing raising coffee prices is the right thing to do to ensure the whole speciality coffee chain remains sustainable.

Speciality coffee is difficult to grow and process well and that comes at a price but it's what we choose to serve and we're proud of that. You can be sure that every Extraction coffee bean is of the highest quality and the farmers, producers and green bean importers we work with are paid fairly and treated with the respect they deserve.

We hope you continue to support us in raising the awareness of speciality coffee in Logan City.

We're the first in the world to install the Nexus One coffee machine

Extraction Artisan Coffee in Logan City, Queensland, has become the first café in the world to install a cutting edge new Nexus One coffee machine, which revolutionise the coffee experience for barista and consumer.

Since opening its roller door in April 2016, Extraction Artisan Coffee has developed a reputation for providing quality in the coffee cup and on the plate. They have also become known as a place that prides itself on quality service with a genuine sense of care for customers.

With this in mind, the Slacks Creek café and coffee roastery has installed a brand new piece of coffee technology to enhance the customer experience: less machine, more experience!

The super slick Nexus One coffee machine designed in Netherlands and built expertly in Brisbane, under the direction of coffee engineer, Geoff Michelmore will change the way the barista interacts with the customer.

Traditionally, the wall of steel of the espresso machine separated the barista from the customer, but Extraction Artisan Coffee owner, Alex Milosevic, says all that changes with the Nexus One, which opens up that space to create a visual flow allowing full transparency of the coffee making process.

 “We are so thrilled to be the first café in the world to have the Nexus One installed and have enjoyed working with Aremde to tweak the functionality,” he says.

“It’s a piece of art, beautiful to look at but with the same competition spec technology which we have enjoyed using with the Black Eagle machine, which has served us so well. 

“Stoddarts (located on the border of Logan City and Brisbane City), has been working with them on the build, it’s a very exciting project for global new comer Aremde and makes it that much more satisfying to install. The workmanship is brilliant and we can’t wait for our customers to enjoy it.”

Extraction Artisan Coffee wins prestigious national coffee medal

We're celebrating after winning a silver medal at the prestigious 2017 Australian International Coffee Awards (AICA) for our Single Origin Ethiopian ‘Black Steel’.

We decided to enter the competition after receiving great feedback from you, our customers, about the flavoursome Ethiopian Kochere single origin coffee.

We are really excited to be a silver medallist, as it confirms that all the hard work is paying off and our products really are of a high standard.

The AICA, conducted by The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria, is Australia’s first and only international coffee awards rewarding and recognising excellence.

The awards give producers the opportunity to benchmark their produce against industry standards, seek advice from an independent panel of experts, and promote and market award-winning products using the AICA seal of quality.

One of the best ways to try this exceptional coffee is our Barista Tasting Plate which gives you an espresso, a piccolo and a cold drip.

Espresso vs Filter

We often get asked;

‘What is filter coffee?’

‘Will I like it?’

‘Is it stronger than espresso?’

This post will hopefully answer some of these questions so you’ll feel more confident in trying a filter coffee next time you come in.

So, what’s the difference?

Espresso is a big boy who packs a punch. The beans, when roasted, are caramelised, intensifying the essence of flavour. The Extraction, using high pressure through the coffee machine, helps to cut through the milk, so the aim is to end up with a well-rounded cup of coffee. If your coffee has a burnt flavour, it’s  likely the beans have been over-roasted.

Filter is a delicate soul with many layers. A lighter roast helps the origin of the bean flavour shine through. This might include floral or fruit flavours depending on what country the bean originated from. As the cup cools, you’ll experience lots of different flavours making it a very unique experience.

If you’re a tea lover, you’ll most likely enjoy the filter experience.

Comparing espresso and filter is like comparing a deep tissue massage with a relaxation massage or for wine lovers, a Cabernet Sauvignon with a Pinot Noir.

They’ll both do the job, it just depends on how you feel and want you need from your cup of coffee.

We could never pick a favourite, we love both espresso and filter equally, but if you have some time to sit back and relax then ask our baristas what’s in the filter today?

You can purchase both filter and espresso roasts from Extraction Coffee Roasters