Single O

Single O’s Surry Hills room is the flagship of its Sydney operation, and it still runs on the decision the founders made in 2003 when they bought a roaster and started a specialty coffee business. The original back-of-house roastery is long gone. What is left is a café, tasting counter, retail shelf and brand showcase working at once, with coffee, brunch and takeaway service running in parallel.

The coffee programme

Coffee is the reason to stop. On espresso the café runs two blends plus a rotating single origin. Filter is not a sideline: two single-origin batch brews sit on tap alongside cold brew, and two tasting flights let you drink across the range in one sitting. Around three new origins come through each month, so the flight is the practical way to taste the rotation rather than settling for one fixed house profile. A six-tap beverage bar, grown out of the self-serve coffee-on-tap idea launched in 2019, pours more hot and cold coffees than a single machine could, matcha latte included.

Two rooms in one

The long, thin space is split down the middle by a central counter, and the side you use decides the visit. Seated guests wait to be shown to a table, where coffee is made on two Modbar group heads at the front counter and two-person tables run along the window with more against the wall and bar chairs facing the machine. The takeaway side has its own La Marzocco Linea, batch brew on tap, retail shelves and hot food. Outdoor tables and pavement seating take the overflow. The layout means a two-minute cold brew and a two-hour brunch can happen at the same address without either getting in the other’s way.

Order the flight, then a hot pie

If you have time, start with a coffee flight. It is the clearest way to compare blends, rotating origins and brew formats, and it gives the visit more shape than a single milk coffee. Bags of the beans in service are sold on the shelf, so the counter doubles as a tasting room and a take-home shop. For food the picture is all-day brunch rather than pastry only, and the seated menu opens with an introduction to the company and closes with a two-page coffee glossary, which is useful reading while you order. On a shorter visit, hot pies are the takeaway to pair with cold brew, tap coffee or a matcha latte. Single O is ranked #53 in The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops for 2026.