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A coffee idea from Down Under comes to Financial District

A cappuccino.DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF
Barista Evan Collier at Flat Black on Franklin Street.DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF/Globe Staff

On vacation in Australia, David and Jennifer House became smitten by the quality of the coffee and the different methods of making it. The slang for espresso there is "flat black." So they brought their newfound affection back and started Flat Black Coffee. Opened last month, the cafe and store in Boston's Financial District joins a wholesale business and two other Flat Black cafes owned by the Houses in Dorchester. The new store features mahogany and birch counters and shelving made by David House, and serves pastries, tea breads, breakfast rolls, and Australian meat pies. There's also a "coffee lab" with a choice of brew methods (including a cold brew coffee tower and something called a "trifecta single extractor"); each results in a different level of intensity. Twenty "single-origin" coffees are featured, allowing the flavor of each region to be reflected in the brew, says Jeff Chatlos, cofounder of the business with the Houses. "The trade of fine coffee is one of the world's most historically exploitative industries," Chatlos says. "We get to know our growers and where our coffee comes from, and insist the coffee is ethically traded and sustainably grown." Flat Black Coffee Co., 260 Franklin St., Boston. 617-261-1440, www.flatblack
coffee.com.
 MATT BARBER

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