The Vancouver Indy Coffee Scene

The Elysian (pronounced E·ly·sian) Room is one of the great homes for coffee lovers in Vancouver. It is home to one of the best traditionally poured cappuccinos in the city.

The Elysian fields in Greek mythology is the final resting place for the gods’ chosen ones. It is not a far stretch to see why Alistair Durie named his cafe after it. The free pour cappuccinos are to die for and the mellow mood of this cafe plays a mix of Zero 7 and Thievery Corporation in the background.

The Cafe is located just behind the Fifth Avenue Cinema, strangely enough on Fifth Ave. It is tucked into a corner of the building and has a very warm feeling once you enter. I love coming to this cafe just before a show to sip a nice americano before attending a flick with a good friend or partner.

Seating is limited as it is barely the size of a one-bedroom apartment, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in quality with 49th Parallel beans. There is also free wireless, but because of size don’t make it your home office.

I felt horrible for guys like Alistair Durie who put time and effort in to perfecting and marketing the Clover, only for it to be sold out to Shultz and the green machine.

What I also love about this cafe is that it is inset from Burrard Street. It fits the mellow mood of the cafe. It could almost be missed if you don’t go looking for it and it contrasts most cafes. I rather like that this cafe is arms distance away from the hubbub, much like the Elysian fields themselves.

Faces and Places

Where blog was written:The Elysian Room
Drinks ordered: Traditional Cappuccino and 12oz Americano
Discount of own to-go cup: large for price of a small
Barista skill: Top Notch
Barista’s friendliness: Cool cucumbers
Website: http://www.elysiancoffee.com

Address: 1778 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver

Surprise surprise, I am not sure if the Piccolo brothers can get away from the Cafe business or was this the goal all along.

But I was finally able to check out the 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters new cafe in downtown Kitsilano and a few things surprised me while other remain the same.

This is very much not another Caffe Artigiano by a different name. The skinny cafe with high ceilings a wooden bench that flow the length of the cafe, but yet broken up by banks of lights build into the wall.

Word on the street is this will be the one and only 49th Parallel Cafe. In answering my own question above, why open up a cafe after just selling off the successful chain you started. Well the answer is simple, the hard work was already done.

Not just another Artigiano

The Artigiano experiment was to compete head to head with the green machine, serving hug volumes, but exceeding expectation in terms of quality. They mainly succeeded and have 49th Parallel to show for it. A brand that many coffee drinkers know and a brand that independent cafes look for. But I also heard that after starting the roaster, the chain was a real drain on the brothers and when the right buyer came along they made the right decision to sell.

I felt great coming into this cafe, as busy as it was, I ordered my drink from a wonderful Kiwi girl offered a pleasant amount of conversation while I ordered.

I ordered a medium Americano which weighted in at 9 oz in size. I walked over to the sparkling new expresso machine and with in about 30 seconds had my americano in hand.

True to form the Epic Expresso was rich with flavor full of body and had a nice aftertaste that was actually leaving me wanting more. So. . . I had more. . . but I decided to have something from The Clover this time.

No drip to be found here

After a cleansing of the palette The Costa Rican was a really smooth coffee with a hint of caramel sweetness. Americano’s and The Clover is usual fair, brewed coffee is only available on the weekends.

If you are looking to get your coffee to go and in a rush you might have to wait more then a couple seconds because every cup is made independently on the clover and perfection take time.

Faces and Places

Where this blog was written: 49th Parallel Coffee Rosters Cafes
Drink ordered: 9 oz Americano
Discount of own to-go cup: you get nothing!
Quality and service: Extremely Knowledgeable
Barista friendliness: Always in good humour
Website: www.49thparallelroasters.com

Address: 2152 West 4th, Vancouver

I heard through the grapevine that Benny’s Bagels on Broadway was open after a fire had damaged the business last January and left it closed for a couple of months. I thought a review was in order if they were open.
It was after a Friday morning class that I decided to check this place out and after a long bus ride that took forever both tired and hungry and hot, all I wanted was bagels.

All I can say is wow, this place looks amazing, The entire shop from top to bottom was finished in wood and after the fire. The floor was replace along with the railings on the second floor of this high ceiling café. There were some great and groove tunes that were just loud enough to get into but yet subtle enough to carry a conversation over.

I first tried the focaccia bagel toasted with cream cheese and it is most likely the best bagel I have ever had in my entire life. I would give it a 15 out of 10. The only problem was I savored so quickly I had to get a second one.
I then tried the Cinnamon and Raisin Bagel and, although it wasn’t as good as the focaccia one, it was still a 9 of 10 in my book.

Coffee? oh right coffee. . .

Benny’s also serves coffee from the North Vancouver based Bean Around the World Roastry. I really wasn’t in a coffee mood when I arrived, but I still give this shop my seal of approval. Bring any size and style of to-go mug and they will fill it for a buck fity ($1.50).

They are also planning a welcome back Benny’s open mike night and free wireless available for you laptop users. The café is also licensed with Okanagan Spring on tap, not that I sampled a pint or two on the padio after writing this blog. . .

I would say whole (wheat maybe) heartily welcome back Benny’s!

Update: April/2009 I went to try the coffee, I stayed for the bagels. True to form Benny’s focaccia bagel is still the best bagel in the entire world, If I only could eat one begal for the rest of my life it would be a Benny’s focaccia bagel. The Americano was decent. I am not a fan of a extremely dark roast, but that is more of a personal preference, their was plenty of crema and cooled nicely.

Faces and Places

Where this Blog was written: Benny’s Bagel’s Broadway
Drink ordered: drink what drink it’s all about the bagels. . .
Discount of own cup: You are charged the “to stay” price
Barista Knowledge: decent
Barista Friendliness : Awesome, I was even ID when I ordered a pint of ale (I am 30!)
Café website : none

Address: 2505 W Broadway, Vancouver

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