Thursday, December 08, 2005


jivamukti workshop & back to toby's

let me first say that while i'm ambling around sydney in my yoga clothes enjoying a pleasant breeze off the harbor i understand there is a giant blizzard from chicago to nyc, extending down as far as washington, d.c. apparently it's snowing an inch an hour, with dreadful freezing winds that caused a 737 jet to blow off a runway in chicago and skid into the street.

tragic.

with all due deference however i have to say that i spent my afternoon yesterday in a jivamutki workshop back at samadhi bliss. and it was as advertised: alanna had come from new york to run the usual 2-hr. yoga class, featuring a lot of partner work on handstand, wheel, descending backwards down from handstand back into wheel, and standing back up to tadasana from wheel.

this kind of work seemed quite novel to the participants, altho' indeed it's something we used to do in nicole's old jivamukti sunday class at yoga people all the time, so that was good. the nice aussie woman who was partnering with me, jacky, had never done any of these vinyasas before and was really quite afraid.

(with that concrete floor at samadhi bliss, honestly, who wouldn't be?) but luckily since i had done all of this exact work many times before, she had shradda (faith), trusted me, and so managed to easily and enjoyable go through the whole sequence!

before the workshop i fulfilled my intention and returned to toby's at a slow bar time to get a better idea of what the place was really like. i just have to frankly say that while the basic blend at toby's could be good, so far, i think the coffee's a tad bakey.

(yes dear readers, you are seeing one of the rare appearances of the scaa taints & faults wheel here. "baked" is definitely a roasting fault!)

further, while toby's advertises pro classes in latte art, with all due respect, i have to say that both drinks i had there featured misshapen, off-center hearts. at least the single-origin coffees offered there have roast dates written on the dispensers.

i had high hopes for this store when i saw long-time bccy pal and scaa 2nd vp mary petitt's juan valdez coffee-tasting term posters so nicely displayed, too!

finally, not to be too harsh, i will confess that the only 2 places i have met 'tude and not the overwhelming aussie friendliness is at the upscale espresso bars i've visited. isn't that odd?

campos serves actual milkshakes with ice cream à la the mermaid and yet cops 'tude; toby's offers baked monkey-butts (this is a technical term for bad latte art, the "monkey-butt") and cops double 'tude. or maybe as aussie barista judge paul haddon speculated, they just hated my allure.

maybe next time instead of going undercover i should i.d. myself and see what happens. . .but still, campos has the better coffee!

speaking of latte art, i had a lovely tulip from the part-time bus-chick at bourke street bakery. their bread is much better than that from infinity sourdough, imvho. and bourke street has the most beautiful, light pastries, not too sweet, not overly glazed, with truly delicate puff pastry and the freshest fruit!

the white sourdough half-baguette from infinity had the noticeable crust bubbles from retarding in the fridge, and i thought an overly strong sour taste from having been retarded too long. i mean, considering how hot it's been in sydney, i understand you have to chill the bread to keep to baking schedule.

but that just means you have to watch it with care! also the infinity crust wasn't paper-thin and crackly, as a baguette should be; instead it was thick and chewy. however the crumb was nicely chewy, creamy in color, and with good holes.

the bourke street baguette was also an artisanal sourdough product, but it was must better. in fact it was perfection.

it too showed the retarding crust bubbles, but the bread had a sweet wheat taste with a perfect crackly, shiny crust. the slice of the light rye with mixed seeds i tried had textbook-classic translucent cell walls on all the crumb holes, along with a light pleasant crackly crust.

not one of those overly thick crusts that displease mary beth! i highly recommend bourke street bakery.

oops, almost time to dash for the train to catch my class at synergy yoga! at least i can say that oz takes bread seriously!

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