The Vancouver Indy Coffee Scene

We had one interesting write-in ballot and no Geoff we’re never doing another espresso-thon ever again. (Personally I never want to drink that much coffee in four hours ever again). But, more seriously the results show a want for more cafe reviews and coffee tours of great places to get great coffee with passionate staff.

Will work for latte

This really helps us, because there are a lot of cafes in Vancouver and all do things a little differently. We want to talk more about them and we like our reviews to change in look a bit: Making the date we review and the date we update a review more prominent. So you know the last time we ventured into that cafe.

We’re looking at doing another coffee tour, but something a bit more low key and only two or three cafes max for any tour. We also are looking at doing some industry news and roaster visits. At this time we won’t be doing equipment reviews or bean evaluation only because we know there are better people in the industry who do a better job of it then we could.

But enough about him this post is about you. Here are the results of what you want us to cover and what we hope to do more of this winter and next summer.

The French Press was invented in France in the mid 1800’s as a better way of separating the grounds from the brewed coffee. It is also called a plunger pot or “Bodium,” which is a brand name of the product.  It is still a very popular way to enjoy coffee because of the long brewing time, coarse grind and lack of paper filter until time of pouring.

Leaving coffee in the press for more than five minutes will over extract the grinds and the coffee will become bitter.

Author’s note:
The French Press is still used in cafes across Vancouver and many hotels for freshness, value and lack of waste for the owner. If you have the time the French Press is always preferred to any auto-drip coffee machine. The French Press has been used at public cuppings for ease of use in a large volume setting and yet still similar to traditional cupping.

Mildly floral aromas are found in some coffees and can include fruity or herbal notes of flavour in the roasted bean.

Author’s note: This is can be some what of a subjective to the person sense of smell.

Hemingway writing in journal Credit: Creative Commons: Wikipedia

“It was a Pleasant Cafe, warm and clean and friendly, and I hung up my old water proof on the coat rack to dry and put my worn and weathered felt hat on the rack above the bench and ordered a cafe au lait. The waiter brought it and I took out a notebook from the pocket of the coat and a pencil and started to write.” ~ Ernest Hemingway

I found this quote at a recent cafe I was at. I think it is why we often head to cafes with books, journals and now laptops.

This is part two into the look at the wireless culture in Vancouver. You can read part one here.

When I need to work downtown I hit the Vancouver Public Library, which has one of the largest collections of free wireless internet in Vancouver. When its internet was down I used to head to Take 5 Cafe on Granville. I wasn’t exactly looking for quality coffee more than I was looking for a quality internet connection. With some extra instruction to the barista I received a decent $2 latte, certainly worth the money I paid for it.  No more, no less. They always have space and don’t mind if you spent most of the afternoon there.

They had extra power plugs installed and had a seating capacity of at least 100. When you compare that to a smaller cafe of 20 – 30 seats and you’ll need substantial more turn over, it all depends on your business model.

The Wilder Snail had an interesting solution to wireless internet. They only turn on the wireless after 2:00 pm. Owner Boyd Thomson says it was part of his plan to offer wireless to his customers, but he also has to cater to his lunch crowd which was quite busy last winter.

A different model

“We want people to spend all day in our cafes. We design our cafes with power plugs in mind and even the smaller kiosk stores have plug ins in the floor,” said Layla Osberg, Director or Training at Blenz Head Office.

Despite the quality of coffee the Blenz at Horseshoe Bay is a decent place to wait for a late ferry. But that is 90 per cent of their business.

Of course Blenz is a franchise-based organization and costs of wireless is up to each cafe owner. But when buying into the franchise you are also buying into the business model. Friends of mine have often commented that they have go to a wireless cafe to give roommates some room or to burn the midnight oil during the end of the term papers.

Personally I have enjoyed the Blenz at Horseshoe Bay more then a few times while waiting for the ferry. Their is such a high turn over of staff at the location the quality of any espresso drink will be completely random. I usually stick with the drip coffee at Blenz. It is far better then the vending machine in the ferry waiting room and the wireless allowed me to get some much needed work done. The first part of this look at wifi was written their while waiting for the ferry that was more then a hour behind schedule.

Wavey Wi-fi

Waves is another chain in Vancouver that has it’s entire business model centered around wireless laptop culture and 24-hour access. Without going into detail I did camp out at one 24-hour cafe for a group assignment that went horribly wrong. The only reason I headed to a cafe was if I went home I would have fallen asleep on the couch. I left at 4 am when I started to see less than desirable patrons sleeping next to me. I have never expected to get a decent cup of coffee from a place that markets itself as a wireless first and a cafe second and haven’t been disappointed.

Waves bases it's entire business model on the wifi customer

Return on Investment

Starbucks and Bell offer one free hour of wireless to anyone with a Starbucks Card. This approach helps to keep the Cafe Loafers at bay and if they want to spend all day they will have to purchase wireless from Bell to do it. I tried it out and it worked quite well for me when I needed a wireless cafe on a holiday monday in a small town. But there is a catch. You must have a balance on your card. I login in and then ordered my drink spending the balance of my card. I accidentally closed my laptop. I went to sign in again and had already been kicked out of the system for not having a balance on my starbucks card. All of this had transpired in just over half an hour. The bucks certainly has the return on investment dialed in, but the infrastructure need would be far more then any independent shop owner could do.

So what is a wondering wireless roamer to do? It all depends on what your looking for:

1. If you going to a smaller capacity cafe. Don’t expect to stay all day with out getting a few looks from the staff if you have over stayed your welcome.
2. If you headed to a 24-hour cafe with free all you can eat wifi. Don’t expect the World Barista Champion to be working the 3am shift.
3. If you can’t connect to the internet. Don’t blame the staff they can’t be held accountable for providing a “extra service”.
4. If your going the top award winning cafe in town expecting to find a wireless connection. Don’t be disgruntled when you find they don’t offer any.
5. Always be thankful to find a cafe that does offer wireless when your waiting for a ferry. Anything is better then the vending machine in the BC Ferries waiting room.

The finish is the flavour that lingers after the coffee has been swallowed. The type of finish can vary greatly from one coffee to another. Some coffees leave a lasting tingle on the tongue; others have a lingering aroma. Some coffees will have a very brief finish, while others seem to last for hours. You may also find that certain characteristics come through more prominently in the finish than when the coffee is tasted directly.

The perforated filter that fits snugly into a porta-filter. The porta-filter with the filter basket locks into the head of the espresso machine. Espresso machines typically utilize three filter baskets, one for pulling a single shot and one for pulling a double shot and a blind filter for completing a back wash.

Cafe Medina on a Busy Saturday Morning

We wanted to check out Cafe Medina and cross another cafe off the ever-growing list. Having Erica along has really helped me out with the reviews. Due to the cafe hours we couldn’t make it on a weekday. So we decided to hit up the joint for some Saturday morning brunch and we were not the only ones, it took 15 minute to get seated.

The wait time was dealt with efficiently, friendly and before we knew it we were seated with menus and a drink order. I love it when a plan comes together.

Erica suggested I get the lavender latte and she would try the lavender mocha. Mine arrived with some nice latte art, a decent amount of foam on top and the milk that wasn’t over heated. The touch of lavender was a nice complement to the latte. I have never been a big fan of flavoured drinks as I don’t like to mask the coffee flavour, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the mellow tones of lavender added to the drink. It was not over powering at all. This drink would certainly complement any weekend brunch.

“Number one coffee since I have been to Vancouver,” Erica said with her hands expressively pointing at the table. “Wow. It had enough sweetness with the chocolate and the milk was smooth and creamy!”

The Layout

12oz. Lavender Mocha, left and 8oz Lavender Latte

When you enter Medina you see a large wall on the North side made of brick reaching to the top of the open ceiling and a bar running down the South side, making this one long and skinny cafe. The serving staff don’t have an easy time getting around, but one waitress made a great joke of it when she had to step over my laptop bag.

“You’re really not making this any easier on me,” she said, jokingly.

“This is a really nice brick building, very open and it is set up well for a place that is so small,” said Erica after observing her environment.

We also had some food. Erica loved her food so much she actually wanted to marry her friccasse and the skillet it came in. The staff had to separate her from the skillet. I had a waffle and a mixed berry that was pretty awesome, but only meant as a snack.

Erica also wanted to have a waffle, but felt the experience would be better served on a return visit, so she could savour every bit.

“The whole coffee and waffle thing is such a good idea,” said Erica.

I was introduced to Cafe Medina last year and agreed with Erica, they do a nice job of both the waffle and presentation. I concluded our visit with an Americano which was perfectly extracted and had decent amount of cream on the top.

Inside a busy but not chaotic Cafe Medina

There is wireless available and the password is at the bar, but weekend mornings aren’t the best for doodling. I had more than a few eyes on me as I made a couple notes on my laptop. I did see a number of people with coffee to go coming out of the cafe. The cafe uses beans from 49th parallel roasters so if you’re in the area and need something better than the waves or fatburger (but we really knew you weren’t going to go for coffee at a place called fatburger) then this is the best option in the immediate area.

In my brunch experiences when you find an awesome breakfast joint, you get an awesome meal, but run-of-the-mill coffee. Rarely have I found the two together. I can honestly say that every visit to this funky cafe called Medina has been a pleasant experience and I would come back any time.

Faces and Places

Where this blog was written: Cafe Called Medina
Drinks that was ordered: 8 oz. lavender latte, 12 oz. lavender mocha, 12 oz. Americano
Discount on to-go cup: Didn’t ask
Barista Skill: Top Notch
Barista friendliness: Very friend and welcoming
Website: www.medinacafe.com
Address: 556 Beatty Street, Vancouver

Answers.com defines a loafer as:

One who is habitually idle

A cafe loafer is some one who spends all day in a cafe and makes it is home/office and barely purchases anything. Loafers are usually found in the most comfortable seat surfing the net on the free wifi with his laptop plug into the nearest power outlet.

Authors note: Loafers can be working on their best selling novel, screen play or the next twitter, but usually they are just looking for the next piece of Internet Lore.

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Apparently I have to do this to authorize my technorati rating, not sure it would be worth it, I have never really used technorati for any authority but I am currently waiting for a download so why not! And hey why not show a little art while were at it!

Matty's Macchiato

Taste defect caused when the whole cherry begins to go off (ferment) after the fruit is picked – it took too long to get to the pulping station and the fruit started to “rot”.

Authors Note: Definition courtesy of Alistair Durie