Latte Art Heart

I am thankful

I am thankful for living in an eclectic area of town, East Vancouver, on the best street Commercial Drive.

I am thankful for living near my family and the support I have received when I broke my leg skiing.

I am thankful for living in a city that has such a dedicated coffee culture. A place where I can visit three amazing cafes without batting an eyelash. A town where you’ll see dedicated owners up at the crack of dawn pulling shots to make sure the espresso is the best it can be, and not sacrificing quality for profit.

I am thankful that the great cafes are just the public face of the caffeinated culture that is somewhat behind the scenes for those who might be unaware of its influence.

Two things have led me to this conclusion.

The Canadian Barista Championships at the Canadian Coffee and Tea Show were held in Vancouver. To see such a large collection of coffee enthusiasts all in one place for a first timer really showed me how much Vancouver really has to be thankful for. From the Piccolo clan to the Jones brothers from Banks Thomas to Spencer Viehweger. They were all in attendance. For a first timer like myself it was an impressive display of just how much Vancouver is involved with coffee.

The second came a couple weeks ago at a Coffee Lab near you.

Chris Giannakos, left, pours Nathan Slabaugh a cup. Photo by Mark Prince.

I went to Mark Prince’s new coffee lab for an inaugural coffee tasting. It was one of the best collections of coffee sampling I had ever seen.

Phil and Sebastian Kenya Kiru Co-op, left, PT’s Panama Elida Estate, Doma Costa Rica, Counter Culture AIDA Grand Reserve, Counter Culture Hacienda Esmeralda Special

But more than that the amazing collection of coffee was the eclectic group of people in attendance for the inaugural tasting. From baristas to bakers to bloggers. It was a diverse collection of coffee aficionados who were all bringing a different viewpoint to the cupping table.

It was one of the most enjoyable coffee experiences I have had. All the little pieces fell right into place. I also feel that this variety of people would be hard to find in a less coffee-centric locale. Check out the video below from my new youtube channel.

And then here is when you say, “Rob you’re in the know, normal coffee drinkers wouldn’t get this type of opportunity.” Well, I beg to differ and here is why. I run this blog so you can  learn more about coffee. I am here to tell you that these experiences aren’t for the in-the-know of coffee.

Coming in the new year Mark Prince is opening up his coffee lab to courses for the consumer and I only know Vancouver will benefit from this. He will also be teaching people how to make great coffee on machines you’ll be able to afford. So if you can’t afford the $5k Speedster that’s OK  ( p.s. neither can I ).  His classes will be centered around how to make great cups at home.

After attending a number of his tastings at the Bump and Grind a couple years ago and attending a number of his cuppings at the Lab I have only benefited from the vast amount of knowledge in this  geek’s head.

I’ll post a link when his lab is up and running, and hope to take a few classes myself.

p.s. Here is a list of twitters that were in attendance. (My apologies if I have missed anyone)

@circuscoffee
@peter_van
@kafkascoffeetea
@casualbaker
@thecafeguide
@Coffeevancouver
@GI_Spro
@CoffeeGeek

Salt Spring Coffee Kiosk at the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal

While waiting for the Ferry to Victoria I had the opportunity to check out the Tsawwassen Market which has a host of shops and cafes and food kiosks. On one end I found Starbucks, and found it odd that most shops were not part of chains except for Starbucks. . . the only other coffee other then local is Starbucks on BC Ferries, but even Starbucks is an improvement on what they use to serve in the late 80′s . . . So I went on a search for the alternative. . .

And Alternative I found!

Salt Spring Coffee has a shop at the other end of the marketplace. The two girls behind the counter could have used some more training behind the bar, and it looked like they were just frantically trying to get through their Saturday afternoon shift, can’t blame them for that it was beautiful outside.

They don’t have wireless or even much of a sit down area, but most shops are a kiosk format so they followed the trend.

Portable French Press

I wasn’t in a coffee mood, so I had vanilla steamed milk and checkout out some of the wears.

Brewer all in one

I found this to go mug that also had a French press built into it, I was amazed, it even gave you step by step directions on how to make the drink and if that wasn’t even and you wanted a second cup, well a secret compartment at the bottom would be able to hold enough beans for a second cup. This truly was a multi-tasking cup. I also found these at Uprising Breads Bakery at 1697 Venables just off The Drive.

An Example Accountability

Salt Spring Island Carbon Cool Graphic

I also saw a sign that read that SaltSpring Coffee was the first Carbon Neutral Roaster and after a little bit of research well they are right and they have the data to back it up. They started a site called www.carboncool.ca

I was impressed with the amount of data they had on their website and how they even brake it down to where their energy usage is going to.

But for it’s faults and lack of knowledge or prowess this shop still gets nod in my book just look what the alternative is.

Faces and Places

Where this Blog was written: Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal
Drink ordered: 12 oz Vanilla Steamed milk
Discount of own to-go cup: 15 cents
Barista Knowledge: Somewhat confused
Barista Friendliness: Very courteous
Café website : www.saltspringcoffee.com