Something big will be brewing in Sydney's The Rocks on Sunday, July 26 when more than 90,000 caffeine lovers are expected to attend the Aroma Coffee Festival.
They'll be seeking the perfect accompaniment to their expertly crafted hot cuppas . . . cafe style cookies - something the owners of Katoomba's Whisk and Pin Bakery, Sarah and Graham Sandilant, know only too well.
"We must have been the first ones to have a cookie stall at the Aroma Festival back in 2007 and the response was amazing, so we thought why not keep going there," Mr Sandilant said.
"It's always pretty full on. The lines at the coffee stalls grow 10 to 20 people deep and they all get hungry pretty quickly.
"We'll take a van full of nine varieties of our large cafe style cookies.
"Because everything we do is handmade and made to order, it means for the two weeks leading up to the festival we're making and stockpiling stacks of extra cookies."
Mrs Sandilants said they know now to bring along an extra staff member to help them at Aroma, due to the demand.
"If we don't do that, we'd be lucky to get a 10-minute break for lunch all day, it's that crazy."
The Sandilants know all about coffee beans, having owned Katoomba's Cafe Zuppa until 2011.
They've even recently created a coffee hazelnut infused cookie, but admit it's better to enjoy that cookie on its own.
"Combined with a cup of coffee, it's probably a bit too much coffee flavour in one go."
Whisk and Pin moved into a large warehouse style site in Megalong Street, Katoomba in January which means they can produce even more types and quantities of wholesome, natural gourmet cookies, muesli, porridge, conserves, baking mixes, chocolates and gluten free varieties - to be found in stores and supermarkets around Australia and increasingly for export to overseas markets.
"Our move puts us in a position to be able to continue to grow the business, without losing our philosophy of producing wholesome produce 100 per cent of the time - everything we produce is still made by hand."
Mrs Sandilant said they now have a small shop front space, opened just last week, where people can sample items in their product range - and breathe in all the cookie aromas.
"It's already generated some interest - we've had some curious people following their noses after using the gym next door," she said.
To find out more about The Rocks Aroma Festival, visit www.therocks.com.
