The Vancouver Indy Coffee Scene

Two weeks ago, while I was standing in line for my morning fix, I saw a sign that read, 20 percent off your drink if you bring your own mug

I thought it was a cool idea, as most shops have done the 10 cents off your own cup for a couple of years now, but 20 percent over the course of a five day week would buy your next Mondays coffee.

The sign was posted outside The JJ Beans coffee kiosk in the Great Hall at BCIT’s Willingdon campus. It is owned and operated by the students association.

“It is good for the environment, and good for the students, it gives them a lower price.” said the manager of the cafe.

This little five minute conversation peeked my interest about what is the environment impact of disposable coffee cups and I found a wealth of information on the net.
In a study done by University of Victoria professor, Martin B. Hocking, on the energy use per unit (MJ) of each cup.

I was very surprised at first glance to see that the polystyrene foam was so cheap in energy to produce and how just washing the reusable cup uses more energy then the production of one polystyrene cup.

In graphic number two it would take more then two and a half years just to reach the amount MJ used in the creation of each cup. It is easy to see why take-out places use these items as they are mass produced, and given freely without cause for disposal.

So what is the use?

Well fear not, students of Rowan University in New Jersey, USA wrote a study asking the faculty to change from polystyrene cup to a reusable mug. Their study still supports that foam is cheaper to produce per MJ unit and you will be using more energy to produce and then clean the other mug, but after usage the environmental costs and economic impacts are hard to dispute and easy to gauge.

In just two semesters the university would have recouped the extra cost of the reusable cups and after five semesters the college would have recouped an entire semester of foam cups cost. Over 12 semester their could be a total savings of just under $65,000 US, now that is real money we talking about people.

Who else does this?

The Winnipeg Folk Festival has been using this method for years, they encourage people to bring mugs and sell festival reusable travel mugs at cost. The festival takes this one step further by charging a $2 dollar deposit for the plate your food is served on.  To get this back you must return the plate where it gets washed and reused.  If you want to be a food vendor on site you must be part of this solution. It is a system that works well for the festival for years and reduces the impact on the provincial park the festival is held at each year.

• Prado Café gives you 20 cents off every drink with it’s own cup
• Caffe Artigiano will charge you 50 cents if you want another paper cup.
• Blenz and most other stores will give you just 10 cents off your own mug. It isn’t much of an incentive but you get tons of karma point for the environment impact.
• Bump and Grind and various other shops sell a reusable coffee sleeve.

So do you want to be like Al Gore? Want to do your part to save the environment?

Use your own cup!

Amendment  : Things have changed at BCIT and the Kiosk is no longer but connected with the Convenience store.

Just because I’m leaving “The Drive” doesn’t have to mean I have to give up on good independent coffee does it?

Not in Coquitlam. I had the opportunity to check out Cornerstone Coffee.

Walking in your met with tastefully painted concrete floors that look like title, wood tables and chairs, and the most comfortable leather sofa chairs I have seen in any coffee shop.

Drinking my vanilla chai I got nice and comfy and realized these sofa chairs were much too enjoyable for doing any type of homework. This was true I barely got a thing done.

Twice baked, once enjoyed

Like an olive in a martini, or a drink umbrella in a mai tai no specialty drink is complete without a small biscotti. I have seen this as not much more then a gimmick at other chain shops, but at Cornerstone I welcomed the addition, it was a real biscotti, and tasted dam good.

The walls are decorated with quotes and photos about coffee and cafes. Again I have seen this done very poorly elsewhere as marketing ploy but Cornerstone has a nice collection that doesn’t pat themselves on the back, these phrases are also duplicated on their website.

Beans are provided by 49th Parallel coffee roasters and were not just chosen for their quality beans, but because Cornerstone is social conscience about their affects on the developing world.

Afternoon Tea?

What surprised me the most was the 39 different varieties of organic tea you could choose from. They are supplied by not one, not two, but three different tea companies:

• Cuppa Joe
• Numi Tea
• Two leaves & a bud

If this selection leaves you overwhelmed, ask the barista behind the counter. I found Leah bel to be extremely knowledgeable about the teas and coffee served.

After seven years in the business it is no surprise that Cornerstone has stood the test of time and carved out a niche for itself. I’d highly recommend anyone in the area check out this jewel of a café, it will certainly be worth it.

Faces and Places:

Where was this blog written: Cornerstone Cafe
Drink ordered: Vanilla Chai
Quality and swiftness of service : Excellent
Barista Friendliness : Excellent
Café website : cornerstonecafe.ca

Address: 3003 Burlington Drive, Coquitlam

The one thing that always surprises me about Vancouver and it’s coffee culture is the amount of mini-chains there are in Vancouver. The cafes that have two or three different location. This weeks review is one of those chains. The Wired Monk on West 4th and Trafalgar in Kits.

I am not a big fan of franchises, I think it dilutes the quality of each cafe when you franchise. And you don’t have full control over the cafes and have owners who may or may not follow what the headquarters wants. Not all McDonald’s are run equally as most are franchised.  While in contrast most Starbucks cafes in Metro Vancouver are corporate owned, a happy balance needs to be struck. I believe the Wired Monk is on a slippery slope in terms of franchises, you don’t want to have another Blenz on your hands. . . .

Their roastery is Fratello Coffee out of Calgary, Alberta

( March 18, 2009 ) According to the barista behind the bar this franchise switched to Ethical Bean in October of 2008.

Also this week we have a guest reviewer who came along for the morning fix.

Hillary Pearse an import from Auckland, New Zealand suggested the Wired Monk after she heard that Benny’s on Broadway was still closed due to a fire in January. (note: Benny’s is now open read the review) She quite enjoyed her double shot, Americano.

The barista behind the counter was carefully conscious, “I think she just started as she didn’t have the easy of a harden barista but was pleasant and eager to please,” said Pearse. This is still quite true over a year later as the first barista didn’t know that a shot shouldn’t take over 2 minutes, but she was egger to please and pleasant to deal with in every regard.

Pearse also had a Cranberry Apple Lemon Unsweetened ice tea, and she liked the fact she could choose the between sweeten and unsweetened. Along with this she chose a pecan square while I had a prefectly toasted whole wheat bagel.

Queer eye for the Monk guy?

“I am not sure about the glass tables, it feels like Milestones in a way and I should be having a bellini,” said Pearse.

We both felt that the Wired Monk was trying to be something else with it’s decor.

In retrospect and after a second review, I think the wired monk with it’s licensed premises and live music doesn’t match it’s decor.  Also this being Kits and not the East Van the place matches the consumer.

But for it’s faults in decor and franchise feel I might want to return on a Friday or Saturday night. The cafe is licensed and shows to have live entertainment on their web site.

Updated notes from March 2009:

This was the first time I returned to the Wired Monk since reviewing in May of 2007. The place still feels the same way it did back then. It still has the glass tables and seats at the bar. It still has a comfy seats and power bars for laptops and some quite background music.

The Americano was sadly a different story. The first one was quite bitter and extraction time was over a  minute. The barista had mentioned that this was happening all day, but didn’t know why. This is because your NOT timing your shots or adjusting your grind.

If you don’t get it right the first time try and try again.

Both were quick to take the drink back and they started adjusting the grinder for the roast. I did have to wait about 15 minutes to get my second drink. The fact they were willing to throw away 6 shots to get it right did impress me. The fact that I had to ask them to do this after the fact didn’t. Will need to conduct some covert coffee tasting to see if this was an off day or the norm.

The second Americano I received had much shorter extraction time, The crema was lighter in colour and it didn’t have the bitter finish the first one did. As the drink cooled off it was still a decently made drink.

Faces and Places:

Where was this blog written: The Wired Monk – Kitsilano
Drink usually ordered: 12oz. Americano
Discount for own mug: 15 cents
Barista Knowledge: Poor
Barista Friendlyness : Excellent
Café website : kitsmonk.com

Address: 2610 West 4th, Vancouver

Back, way back in the early years of the 90s I loved Starbucks. I couldn’t get enough of this new drug. I have even been to the first ever Starbucks in Pike Place Market, Seattle. I mean I was a fan. I was used to coffee from McDonalds, BC Ferries and Petro Can. But this was actually good…and those barista’s were so friendly and knowledgeable.

Skip ahead a couple years, when I lived in Yellowknife for three years and rarely saw a Starbucks (or any other chain for that matter). But, Javaroma roasted its own beans and is totally independent. My love of coffee grew. I did a lot of travel up there and had some good and not so good coffee; the best was in Greenland. It was a Danish roast that was cheap as hell and got me through a number of hangovers. To this day I don’t know what was in that roast or why it was so cheap, I don’t speak Danish, but it was so good. The Canadian Customs Agents even joked about having to confiscate my brew during my repatriation in Iqualuit, NU.

Vancouver visit not complete without a visit to Starbucks. . .

I visited Starbucks occasionally every time I was in Vancouver. I still found that friendly service but noticed they were everywhere. I didn’t have to search to find that diamond in the rough. It kind of spoiled the adventure for me a bit when I could find one on every street corner. I wanted more then a 100% Arabica bean and a cute smile from the female barista behind the bar. I wanted culture, stories and the community of people that inhabited the shop. I wasn’t finding that at Starbucks anymore.

A trip down south

I moved to Winnipeg and found a few independent chains that were as good, if not better than Starbucks. but to skip ahead a couple of years, I had the chance to visit Bogotá, Colombia in 2004. My eyes were open to the world of coffee and how we are exploiting it. I had some great and not so great coffee while I was down there but every shop and cafe I went to seemed to have so much character with a little old lady walking around with cream and sugar or a broom, it was cute. I hate to see what cookie cutter cafes would turn that country into. Also, it was very difficult to get coffee to go in Bogotá, you had to sit and enjoy your beverage. It was kind of nice to sit, relax and enjoy the aroma and chat with your neighbour.

When I moved back to Vancouver in 2005; the Starbucks Paradox (the one thing Starbucks had created they were slowly destroying) had taken over the city, but even more than that. Baristas were now telling me how my drink was made or the way I should like it, and what I should drink. Obviously they were right being the biggest and best coffee chain in the world, they can set the tone that everyone else should follow, right?

Not religious enough

A friend of mine was going to be fired for not taking out her nose stud when company policy changed. She said her mother had given her nose ring to her since puberty and it was a religious symbol in her faith. Starbucks said that was fine but she had to prove it by getting documentation from more than three religious leaders. She was shocked and horrified. . . and left the company not wanting to fight the rule and left after two years of successful employment.

You’ll have to wait a minute because it’s an instamatic

Although the speed and efficiency of the Barista was greatly improved by the automatic machines, the quality of the drinks suffered. It would be great if I could get a latte on any street corner in Vancouver in less than a minute, but why would I want one if no care was put into the making of it, should convenience trump quality?

Disclaimer
(amendment Feb 2009)

I still go to Starbucks about once a month, just to see what is going one. This rant is to show I don’t hate Starbucks because they are the biggest coffee chain on the planet and everyone loves a good David versus Goliath battle. I hate Starbucks because they don’t hold to the virtues that they once held so true.

Prado, which means open spaces in Spanish, hangs out on at 1938 the drive (right on the corner of east fourth) it’s has a minimalist appeal too with it’s all wood tables, metal chairs and a simple chalkboard menu with brick columns reaching to the ceiling. But don’t let this laid back appearance fool you. This place is all business behind the counter, with coffee from the local 49th Parallel Roasters and loose leaf tea from the very hip Metropolitan Tea company of Toronto. Their barista’s are also some of the most knowledgeable around, but this jewel of a café never seems to be too busy but yet busy enough that it sees a cast of characters through out the day. It is owned and operated by Amy York who is the delightful blonde (brunette?) behind the counter most day. Ask her anything and she’ll fill your head with coffee knowledge. The only suggestion I would currently make about Prado is that their washroom could be more attended to through a busy shift.

This place is also awesome local for some scooped dry cappuccino’s. Ask Leaf to make you one!

Faces and Places:

Where was this blog written: Prado Café
Drink usually ordered: Americano
Discount for own mug: 20 cents
Barista Knowledge: Top notch
Barista Friendlyness : Excellent
Café website : www.pradocafe.com

Address: 1938 Commercial Dr. Vancouver

Here is my first entry to my first ever blog. I am a Vancouverite and I live just off coffee central. . . Commercial Drive. (known henceforth as” The Drive”)

Ever since my mother said I could make coffee in the morning for me and my father, I have been addicted to the stuff. I love it, nothing wakes me up more or gets my ass into gear come 3:00 pm or 3:00 am depending what I am up to. . . .

Since that time I have become a bit of an aficionado and revel in how it is made and what taste good and bad.

In future episodes of this blog you’ll read my rant’s and rave’s about different coffee shops and chains, and any industry information that tickles my fancy. I’ll also write reviews of cafes I have been to recently and if they have wireless internet. I will be adding my reviews to Caffeinated and Unstrung which is apparently back up and running, Aug, 09.