The Thousands

You get the feeling that Mark Dundon will never stop. He’s like a man possessed. Possessed by coffee. When he has a shower you can basically use the run-off to get wired.

You’ve been to Brother Baba Budan. But now, guess what? Mark’s built a coffee plantation in the city! He’s opening it next week. It’s called Seven Seeds, and inside there’s a cafe with wall-mounted bike racks, a massive roaster, a store room with big hessian bags full of green beans bought straight from farmers with names like Ralph de Castro, a lab with infrared spectrometers, a 10,000-litre water tank on the roof and an atrium full of coffee plants.

Admit it, you didn’t even know that coffee came from a plant, did you? You thought it was picked out of the ground like regular peanuts. That’s why Seven Seeds is an educational experience. Personally, I was shocked when Mark showed me the green beans. They smell like the fruit salad I spilled in my car boot on the weekend. Terrible. Which goes to show just how much can go wrong between bean and flatty.

This is why Mark must remain alert 24 hours a day. Don’t make any sudden moves.