The Vancouver Indy Coffee Scene

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