Twins’ coffee show cures isolation

AT the peak of lockdown, brothers Sam and Josh Bromley-Lynch found themselves missing their local cafés.

To remedy this, the pair took to Instagram and opened their own virtual coffee shop to enjoy with their friends.

In just a matter of months, the Covád Café has grown exponentially in size, reach and output.

Although creating these 15-minute experiences can be time and energy consuming the pair agreed it was well worth it.

“We’ve got a bit of an audience now, nearly 4000 people,” Josh said. “It’s created its own culture and community like an actual café would.

“We’ve found it’s so important, people are tuning into us for a good reason because they were missing that café atmosphere.”

The page is the first of its kind to fill the void for human interaction and virtually bring people together to have a chat over a cup of coffee.

Now more than ever, co-owner Sam said running the café has not only been integral for them but for some of the customers too.

“It’s great to receive messages about how helpful it was to start people’s days,” Sam said. “That’s what we do it for really.

“As long as we’re providing some sort of positive vice to people, that’s what we’re happy to do.”

The pair’s live videos aim to provide a positive distraction for their audience from the stresses of the pandemic.

Keeping to a light-hearted tone, the programs heavily feature music, dancing, humour and debates about keeping chocolate in the fridge or pantry.

“The best thing about it is we haven’t mentioned COVID once, we don’t really talk about what’s going on,” Josh said. “Although we’re absorbed by the café we’re aware that other people aren’t.

“We knew mates and people close to us were struggling so we thought it would be a good way to still connect with them.”

Having already amassed a huge following on Instagram, they’ve taken the opportunity reach out and host some home grown and high-profile talent.

However, the pair agreed that they would have just about anyone on the live stream if they were comfortable to have a bit of fun and be themselves.

“We want our guests to fit the mould of the café which is good vibes, not taking themselves too seriously and chilled out,” Josh said.

“Kate Ceberano on this morning just knew what to do, Ryan Shelton was great and Hugh van Cuylenburg from The Resilience Project started us off and we thought we’d never have a better guest than him.”

Sam added, “The dream guest would be Hamish Blake for sure. If you get Hamish you might get Andy too.”

Tune in to Sam and Josh’s coffee shop on Thursdays to Sundays on Instagram @covad_cafe.