Before the First Pour, Behind the Scenes With St Remio at Flemington
Every St Remio coffee you grabbed at Flemington this Carnival started hours before the gates opened. This year we supplied coffee across the whole racecourse, and before the first race and the first queue, TK and the team were on course checking more than 30 machines, every grinder and every water line, so the cup in your hand tasted exactly the way it should.
Long before the gates open
Great event coffee in Melbourne is won or lost in the setup. The team is on course hours before the gates open. Machines go on early so the boilers are fully up to temperature, and every group head is flushed and checked before a single shot is pulled.
Dialling in, every single morning
A grinder that was spot on yesterday won't pour the same shot today. Heat, humidity and a fresh bag of beans all change how coffee extracts, so the team pulls test shots, tastes them and adjusts the grind until the espresso runs right. Every shot is checked on the scales, so it pours the same at every machine across the whole racecourse and we know each one is working at 100%. Only then does the first coffee at Flemington go out.
30 plus machines, one standard
Supplying the whole of Flemington means more than 30 machines spread right across the course, from the Pink Palace by the betting ring to LANDMARK by Lexus and our container by the Elms, where Mr Black poured espresso martinis alongside us. Every one of them gets the same checks, so every cup of coffee tastes the same wherever you found it.
Checking in all day long
The work doesn't stop once service starts. TK and the team move across the course between those 30-plus machines all day, checking in with the crew, keeping an eye on every extraction and sorting any hiccup before it becomes a longer line. On a day like Melbourne Cup Day, with the biggest Cup Day crowd since 2016, that steady hand is what keeps the coffee flowing from the first race to the last.
Why the detail matters
Getting the cup right is how we do right by the people who grew it. Every St Remio coffee connects back to the women of the Cocagi Women's Coffee Farming Cooperative in Rwanda, where we've funded 8 hectares of land, training and agronomists, with the project supporting more than 16,000 workers. See the projects your coffee funds.
The same care, in your venue
The checks you saw at Flemington are the same ones behind every St Remio partnership. Running a café, restaurant or venue? Explore wholesale with St Remio, or read our guide to choosing a wholesale coffee supplier in Melbourne.
Catch up on the whole 2026 Carnival with St Remio, or shop St Remio whole beans and pour it your way at home.
Watch TK and the team in action on our Instagram and TikTok.
