The Vancouver Indy Coffee Scene

Coffee with its original caffeine content removed. The decafeination (decaf) process involves immersing the un-roasted coffee beans in a solvent to remove the caffeine. The conventional process involves reusing the decaffeinating solvent again and again, thereby saturating the solvent with coffee flavours and preventing further transfer of flavour from the beans to the solvent. Commonly used solvents include water (see Swiss Water Process), benzene, ethyl acetate, methylene chloride (MC), and carbon dioxide (CO2).

The Swiss Water Process is by far the better process or decafeination, which results in a far better product then any other process delivers.

Dark roast means that the coffee bean has been roasted to a higher temperature and typically for a longer period of time. This causes all of the flavour molecules stored within the oils of the coffee beans to be roasted away. Darker roasts tend to have a larger body and a strong taste, many of the acidic and varietal qualities have been roasted away. This leaves the roast with less depth in the roast but wider body and ashy flavour.

Author’s note:
You can hide the imperfections of a bean in a darker roast as a lot of the original flavour has been replaced in the roasting process.

I have no idea what high roast, continental, or Vienna roast is. It may be used by some chain cafes for marketing terms but as a commonly referenced term in Vancouver it is rarely used and not part of the normal lexicon of independent cafes in my opinion.

The layer of saturated coffee grinds that float to the surface when cupping (tasting) coffee. As part of the traditional coffee-cupping method, “breaking the crust” is when the grounds are agitated to release trapped vapours allowing the taster to note the coffees unique characteristics. The crust is then scooped out with spoons before tasting the coffee.

Crust of coffee grounds sitting on top of the cup

The reddish brown froth covering the surface of a high quality cup of espresso. The presence of crema is the main difference between drip coffee and espresso. Oils in the coffee grounds form small rusty brown colored liquid, which is then forced out of the porta-filter by pressurized hot water. These coffee oils are what makes the crema float to the surface of perfectly made espresso drinks. Crema is rich with flavour and can remain in the mouth and throat for up to an hour after drinking the espresso.

Author’s note:
Coffee packed too finely in the porta-filter tends to create crema that is too dark, while coarsely ground coffee will likely produce crema that is too light. The variety of coffee, as well as the roast the coffee beans were processed and then roasted, will greatly affect the volume and colour of crema produced.

Crema on top of the 6oz Americano

Is anything that comes out of a machine with no human interaction from source to cup. Most commonly Tim Hortons, 7-11 and Nescafe all claim to make one form or another of these type of drinks. They all reference the term cappuccino in one way or another.

Author’s note:
They are usually made with instant coffee and dehydrated milk. Both are full of preservatives and chemicals designed for long storage life. The water and sugar content is aggressively high to mask the bitter flavour of what the drink would actually taste like.

The array of flavours experienced when smelling and tasting a coffee. Complexity can sometimes be gained by blending one coffee with another or by blending a dark roast with a light roast. Some great single-origin coffees are by themselves both complex and balanced, but most complex flavours are usually achieved by blending two or three single-origin coffees.

Author’s note:
When combining three or more single-origin beans it then becomes harder to place the bean’s origin and can mask other flavours.

We had a crew of about 10 people arrive outside Bikes on the Drive for the East Van Coffee Tour. Waiting for the crew to show up I got a text from my editor Stef that she was in bed with the flu, so no live blogging, or twitter updates. Unfortunately for Stef she couldn’t try out a Tree and take over the coverage of the tour. With a group of about 10 people we took off down the hill to Bump and Grind for the first coffee of the day. Fellow coffee aficionado Evan McGraw was able to take up the task of the tour photographer so I could keep focused on the tour.

Bump and Grind
We arrived at Bump and Grind and I enjoyed some espresso and ice cream. I got this off of the menu item from Bump and Grind and it hit the spot on a warm summer morning. It’s available through out the summer months. For the next tour it would be awesome to have someone to look over the bikes that way it won’t take us forever to lock up the bikes each and every time	Espresso and Ice Cream at Bump and Grind
Prado Cafe
Arriving at Prado Cafe it was a busy as ever, with Amy and Sara behind the bar we were able to get our drinks with out much trouble. Since I was well aware of what being over-caffeinated can do, I decided to go for a decaf macchiato. I was amazed by the absolute quality of the decaf it was by far one of the best drinks of the day. I gave a little talk about the cafe and the modifications of the La Marzocco FB-70 that Amy York made.	Espresso at Prado
JJ Bean Mainstreet
With barely a seat to be found at Prado we finished our drinks and took off for Main Street and JJ Bean. The 10th avenue bike route provided us with some shade from the blaring sun. Arriving at JJ Bean we found barista Robert Csar behind the counter working up a sweat. Putting him through his paces, Evan had a great photo of her soy macchiato from JJ Bean. We lost a couple tour people after JJ Bean, I think I might keep the next tour to three cafes. But the tour must continue!	Dry Cappuccino at JJ Bean
Re-Entry Espresso
Arriving at Re-Entry we had some definite need for some more bike parking. Even with a bike rack right outside the cafe we couldn’t find enough parking for our crew. Makes me wish the cafes of Vancouver had something like what Stumptown has in Portland. We met Matt Bishop and I found that he actually uses darkroom timers for timing his shots. What an awesome reuse of technology! You set your dosage to any amount you want with dials and hit the timer button that starts the grinder! The group had dwindled down to five by this time but we had a real nice chat with Matt Bishop and learnt a bit about red espresso for those who aren’t so addicted to caffeine.	Darkroom Timers at Re-entry
Elysian Room
ilan showed us how close Main Street was to the Ontario Bike Route and so we popped over and cruised down the hill to Elysian Room and the conclusion of this tour. A number of us were coffeed out by this point. But we all had a some of that awesome sparkling water they serve from the fountain and we all shared a clover press of the guatemala just to give it a try.	Espresso at Eylsian

Things I learned from this tour

• It is really hard to park 10 bikes on a normal street and we ended up locking them to each other
• Five cafes is much too much and the route was too long to keep everyone together
• If we do another it will certainly be a different route with different cafes
• I am not sure we could get much better weather. . .

Tree Coffee Cuff

Bike and Coffee

I did the coffee tour on Tuesday and it is a really nice ride. Abet it was in the rain, pray for sun and hopefully the weather office will be nice to us.

We also have some awesome door prizes from Bikes on the Drive, Momentum Magazine and the Coffee Cuff.

Quick Q&A:

Q: Will I have to drink coffee at each stop?

A: We don’t want you to do quad shots of espresso at each cafe that would be overload. I hope this tour to be more of an educational adventure, to give you a chance to try a new cafe or a drink you haven’t tried before.

Q: Can I leave the tour early?

Bike and Coffee

A: Of course! If you need to leave the coffee tour early then sure head off early. We are giving out some fabulous door prizes at the final cafe of our tour so you might miss out on those, but fear not we might have another tour if this one is successful.

Q: Can I join the tour late?

A: Of course! You can find out where we are through our Twitter Account. Or just do the route and catch up to us!

Q: I heard door prizes were bad ?

A: In terms of biking lexicon door prizes are when a car door opens and surprise you end up hit the pavement. We hope this doesn’t happen to you! but we hope you maintain the rules of the road as this won’t be a critical mass and we can’t be held responsible for your biking actions.

Final Notes

I have died my hair my hair espresso brown for the occasion and my hair cutter has given me a fauxhawk for increased aerodynamics (abet under a helmet).

We look forward to seeing you at Bikes on the Drive at 10:30 Saturday morning!

The cold brew process requires grinding coffee beans at a coarse setting and soaking those grounds in cold water for a prolonged period of time (usually 12 hours or more). The grounds must be filtered out of the cold water after they have been steeped.

Author’s note:
It is also called “Toddy,” which refers to a company that markets a brewer of the cold-brewed coffee concentrate.

Coffee aroma is the fragrance of brewed coffee and is closely related to coffee flavour. Without our sense of smell, flavour would be limited to the tongue’s senses of sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Many nuances of a coffee are reflected in the smell. Subtle floral notes are experienced most clearly in the aroma, particularly at the moment when the crust is broken during the traditional cupping process. Typical coffee aromas include floral, wine, chocolate, spice, tobacco, earth, citrus and fruit.

Author’s note:
Coffee aroma is also experienced after drinking the coffee when vapours drift upward into the nasal passage. This “retro-nasal” aroma is responsible for much of a coffee’s aftertaste. A coffee’s aroma is highest shortly after roasting and then declines rapidly. Coffee freshness, including aroma, can be maintained for a short time if it is placed in a valve bag immediately after roasting.