Where I'd send visiting family for coffee in Newcastle

Newcastle's coffee scene stopped being Sydney's understudy a while ago, and if you're still sending visiting family to the harbour for a flat white in a paper cup, you're doing it wrong.

Start at Estabar on Newcastle Beach, where salty sea air meets seriously good coffee from Single Origin Roasters. Grab a table on the deck, order the house made gelato if it's warm, and let the view do the impressing for you.

For something closer to the centre, Good Brother Espresso on King Street in Newcastle East has been a local institution for years, a genuine cafe by day that turns into a low key live music bar once the sun goes down.

Bolton Street Pantry in the CBD is the one to pick when visitors want an actual brunch menu alongside their coffee, an industrial fit out paired with specialty beans, open every day of the week.

Head to Carrington for The Pavilion by Slingtown, a portside cafe from the team behind Newcastle's much loved Islington coffee scene, serving very good coffee and house made gelato in a laid back spot right by the water.

And if anyone's willing to drive a little further out, Corner Lane Espresso in New Lambton pulls shots on a 1963 Faema lever machine, which is either delightfully nerdy or completely unnecessary depending on how seriously you take your coffee. Either way, it's worth the detour.

None of these are secret. Locals already know. But that's exactly why they're the right call when family flies in expecting Newcastle to still be a two horse coffee town, because it very much isn't anymore.

Skip the harbourside chains and take them somewhere that actually earns the trip.

Sugar Honey is the social media and advertising agency behind What's The Buzz, and we run social media management and content for cafes across Melbourne, Sydney and Newcastle. Get in touch at info@sugarhoney.com.au.