2024 🥧 Tour
Review no 36
Caffeine n Machine
(Rutherglen VIC)
After a busy few days of hitting bakeries and being on the road, I decided to have a couple days R&R and head to the picturesque town of Rutherglen. This beautiful town had been on my radar for a long time and the main purpose of my visit was to catch up with the legend himself Nick Hawtin and check out his epic place Caffeine_n_machine.
Caffeine n Machine is located in the main street of town and is the brain child of Nick and Meg. They opened this place almost five years ago and haven’t looked back. The wow factor smacks you straight in the face as soon you enter the cafe. My eyes instantly started wandering all over the place, looking at the antique bikes, helmets and other amazing stuff. Before opening Nick and Meg had no formal qualifications in baking or cooking, but just had a real passion. They wanted to create a destination not just a cafe and they have certainly done that.
The food in this place is off the chain. Every single product is made on premises and looked absolutely amazing. From the hash brown stack to the piña colada roulade. Oh lordy I didn’t know which way to look, I was in food heaven. Even the toasted sandwiches were the best I’ve had in a very long time. I hadn’t even got to the 🥧 warmer yet and I’d already consumed enough food to feed a small army. If I didn’t get started soon I knew I was going to be in huge trouble.
Nick and Meg have a few variety of 🥧’s on the menu, but there was only one 🥧 that I wanted to review and that was Nick’s famous “Black Dog 🥧” This 🥧 was created to raise awareness and funds for the Black Dog Institute in the fight against men’s health. Since opening its doors Nick and Meg have donated 50cents from every 🥧 sold. So this weeks choice of 🥧 was an easy one.
🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧
1. Value for Money – $7 is good value for a 🥧 of this size. Although the depth wasn’t that massive it was a fairly big square sized 🥧. Plus as mentioned 50 cents from each of these 🥧’s sold is going to a great cause. 8.5/10
2. Meat & Fill Ratio – Nice and Full !!! The middle had sunk a a fraction, and this may have been caused by the black dog logo. Overall you would be very happy with the fill and meat ratio in this pie. 9/10
3. Flavour – Absolutely beautiful !! This was a very basic 🥧, consisting of lean mince and smokey bacon. For me the smokey bacon was a genius idea, it’s a simple added ingredient but it gave this 🥧 some real added flavour which I loved. Great job !!! Loved it. 10/10
4. Pastry – Colour and shape and stability were all perfect and shrinkage wasn’t far away. The bottom bake and thickness was terrific and pretty spot on. While the top bake was a little thick and underdone. The most likely cause was the black dog on the top of the 🥧. That part of the 🥧 does make the pastry thick and is difficult to get 100% right. 8/10
5. Serving Temperature – Serving temp was perfect !!! 10/10
Overall Rating
🥧🥧 45.5/50 🥧🥧
Great product guys !!! This was a basic 🥧 and done so well. The scores were pretty consistent right across the board with only a few improvements needed here and there. The flavour of this 🥧 for me was the clear winner and the added smokey bacon tasted sensational. The black dog on the top of the 🥧 makes the pastry very tricky to bake right through and that was the only real negative with this pastry. Overall this was a really good 🥧 and one I have no hesitation recommending.
This isn’t a just a cafe it’s an experience. From the moment you walk into the door your’re going to be totally blown away and I’m not just talking about the food either. The coffee machine alone is worth a look, then you’ve got the impressive showroom with over 50 antique motor bikes, endless helmets and countless other memorabilia. Whether your a motorbike group, motor bike lover or just into great food and 🥧’s your going to love this joint.
I cannot thank Nick and Meg for their hospitality. This was more than just a review it was an experience. This place that they have created is simply astonishing and it’s not finished yet. Nick is one incredible human and to say he’s inspiring is a massive understatement. The funds he has raised for the Black Dog Institute and the awareness he has created for men’s mental health in this area is quite phenomenal. One thing for certain I will be back and I cannot wait to see Nick’s long term dream become a reality. Also for those who missed my video, Nick volunteed in doing a live 🥧 review. This was a first for me and could have been pretty daunting for any business owner. The thing I love about this couple is that they love honest feedback and want to keep improving on all aspects of their business.
