May 01, 2025
We’re heading to the country this month – to the town of Wangaratta in rural Victoria. We’re introducing you to our good friends at Madem Espresso. Their coffee is so good it’s totally worth taking the three hour trip North of Melbourne to experience their coffee in person!
The Madem Espresso team has been roasting in ‘West End’ Wangaratta since 2019. The lovechild of three mates who also happen to have a combined total of 30-plus years of experience in hospo and the coffee industry. Em (a cafe owner), Madz (previous FODX manager) and Chinny (a former coffee roaster) make up the dream team. They all happened to have started off as baristas as well… so they really know their coffee. Where did the name ‘Madem Espresso’ come from? Well, it’s simply a combination of the two owners' names: Madeline and Emere… Madem.
Since opening their doors, Madem Espresso now has two popular locations in Wangaratta, the OG spot on Muntz Street and a second location on Victoria Parade. Like we said, it’s worth making a special trip to the region just to sip their delicious coffee in person.
We spoke with Nathan Chin, Madem Espresso Roastery Manager, all about how the business got started, their most recent achievements and what exciting things we can expect from them this year.
How did Madem Espresso get started? Talk us through the process and challenges.
We noticed that the other surrounding areas in North East Victoria such as Mansfield, Rutherglen, Beechworth, Myrtleford, Bright, Albury/Wodonga and Mt. Beauty all had their own local coffee roasters but not Wangaratta. So that's when we decided to create Madem Espresso Coffee Roasters. Wangs first, OG kick ass coffee roastery this town has ever seen! Winging it, with all the gear and no idea, we slowly figured out how to make it all work. Five years later, our roasting department outgrew the shared space we had at our West End location. Realising we needed a larger space for roasting, that's when we decided to open our second store in the middle of town and permanently relocated our coffee roaster (Rhonda) to what we now call HQ.
Along the way we went through a ton of trial and error – learning from a lot of our mistakes and trying heaps of different things to see what works and what doesn't before simplifying it all. It was also challenging competing against renowned and established coffee roasters, finding and training staff with the new way of coffee, and educating consumers that it's more than just a bag of beans or a cup of coffee.
What do you consider your most notable coffee achievements?
When we outgrew our first West End space and had to expand. We leased the building next door and knocked the wall out in between because we needed more space for dine-in seating. We also needed more full time staff in our roasting department as well as upsizing our roaster to keep up with growing demand. Running out of room in our shared space at West End meant we also had to move our roaster to another location dedicated to roasting and so we took the opportunity to open a brew bar alongside it.
Our wholesale network is also growing town by town and we’ve made some amazing friends along the way! People are hearing about us from word of mouth with travellers even saying to us “we heard you make a great coffee and we had to make sure we added Madem’s to our ‘must visit’ destination!”
Tell us about what’s in store for the rest of the year? Any exciting or upcoming projects to note?
We’re excited to continue focusing on the coffee we produce and improve it however we can! Providing our customers with more coffee education is also on our list as well as expanding our wholesale network further. We also plan on collaborating with a local distillery to create a decaf coffee liqueur!
THE COFFEE
West End Blend
This espresso blend by the Madem Espresso Team is actually the first ever coffee that they created! Named after their first store, located in the ‘West End’, this month’s espresso is much loved by locals and is sold in-house daily. It’s an all-star lineup of coffee growing regions, from the Minas Gerias region in Brazil to Yirgacheffe in Ethiopia. A medium roast to remove some of the bright acidity. Showcasing delicate fruity notes, a fuller body and overall richness. We’re obsessed with this clean and balanced coffee with a toasty flavour profile.
Coffee Origin:
Brazil, Nicaragua, Costa Rica & Ethiopia
Tasting Notes:
Notes of milk chocolate, caramel toffee, citrus and stone fruits.
Suggested Recipe for Espresso:
Dose: 21g
Yield: 44g
Time: 26-32 seconds
Ratio: 1:2.1
Temp: 92 degrees
Fortune Teller
Madem Espresso named this month’s filter coffee ‘Fortune Teller’ because they themselves are predicting what seasonal offering you’ll be having with this brew – the same way a fortune teller would tell you how your future will unravel. Made up of 50% Guatemala El Boqueron and 50% Kenya Endebess, Fortune Teller is lightly roasted to ensure they’ve retained the more delicate notes of the coffee while holding onto a small amount of body. This brew’s delicate and complex flavour profile is rounded out with a touch of sweet syrupyness. Trust us… it’s delicious.Coffee
Coffee Origins:
Guatemala and Kenya
Tasting Notes:
Notes of black tea, fruity berries, citrus and cocoa.
Suggested Recipe for Filter:
Dose: 15g
Bloom: 45g for 30 seconds
Water: 255g water
Time: 2:30 – 3:00 minutes
Ratio: 1:17
Temp: 95 degrees
ROAD TRIP
Now for the trip! With the help of our friends at Madem Espresso, we've come up with a guide of the best places to visit when heading over that side of the country!
Wangaratta
Begin your High Country journey in Wangaratta (of course!). Here you can grab a coffee at the one and only Madem Espresso then head over to Sal’s Pizzeria for some tasty good and grab a drink later at Old Faithfuls or the Railway Hotel.
King Valley
Next, check out King Valley! Some of our favourite wineries there are: La Cantina, Brown Brothers, Chrismont, Pizzini, Dal Zotto, and Sam Miranda. Dig into some good food at Henleys Wine Bar and make sure you stop by Paradise Falls.
Eldorado
Just 20 minutes up the road from King Valley there’s Eldorado. If the weather’s warm this is where you want to take a refreshing dip. First, make sure you visit the enormous Eldorado Dredge then go swimming at Barry Falls.
Bright
More stunning waterfalls? Why not! Relax in Bright where you can enjoy the beautiful river running through town and visit Mt. Buffalo for picturesque bush walks with several waterfalls such as: Eurobin, Lady Bath and Rollasons Falls.
Beechworth
Finally, finish your road trip in the historic town of Beechworth. Beechworth has some fantastic museums and MORE majestic waterfalls such as Woolshed and Newton Falls. Not to mention all the delicious places to eat and drink in this picturesque town.
