The coffee plant shown in an old botanical illustration. Allen and Helen Trachsel, the people who started The Pancake Parlour restaurants, are quite frankly, "coffee nuts". They start their day with coffee, they end their day with coffee and they have a "cup or two" along the way. Allen usually makes the coffee (and the best blueberry pie you ever tasted). He's a perfectionist. The coffee has to be grown just so far up the hill. It has to be freshly ground this way, not that way. There's as much ritual involved as there is when he's opening a bottle of wine. So it's hardly surprising to find this demand for perfection in every restaurant. We want to share a bit of "coffee lore" with you. A few tips, some information and a few bits of history that we've come across in our travels. So the next time you have a coffee with us you'll understand why our coffee tastes as good as it does. The coffee we serve in our restaurants is the same coffee that Allen makes at home. Our coffee is supplied by one of Melbourne's leading coffee houses, Beraldo Coffee. Paul Beraldo has developed a unique blend (that must remain secret) of different coffee beans, that are freshly ground for each restaurant. A coffee plantation in the mountains of Kenya. Flowering buds and bright red "cherries" almost ready to be picked. Arabica coffee bushes protected by taller trees in the forest of Antigua. There are dozens of species of coffee but of these only two are cultivated on a large scale: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora commonly referred to as Arabica and Robusta. As the name suggests, the Robusta plant is more resistant to the elements than Arabica plants. Arabica plants have to be grown high on the hillsides at altitudes of around 900-2000 metres wheras Robusta plants are usually cultivated at altitudes of 200-300 metres. Because of the greater costs involved in cultivating the Arabica plants at high altitude (and usually on steeply sloping ground) it is hardly surprising that the Arabica beans have a higher value, reflecting their superior quality. Robusta beans also have a higher percentage of caffeine and also contain a greater quantity of substances that can upset digestion. The two species also taste different: Arabica is milder and more aromatic, distinctly less sharp and bitter. We only serve coffee made with the very best quality Arabica beans in our restaurants. Webmaster's note:  The story of coffee continues on another page with some fascinating snippets of history. Follow the link from the underlined text.. A coffee bush laden with cherries.. The cherries are sorted and placed into sacks to be taken to the.ships for transportation around the world. Coffee beans waiting to be shipped.