The Vancouver Indy Coffee Scene

That's a Wrap

As this was the first coffee trade show I have ever been too, I have to say I really had a great time. I got to meet a lot of people in the coffee industry who provide the tools to the cafe’s.

I also got to see the Barista Competition live for the first time and it is impressive. The pressure the bar tenders are under to get every drink down is pretty amazing.

Swiss Family Piccolo

I finally met the lovely and equally knowledgeable Andrea Piccolo at the Swiss Water Booth. Erica and I both took the Swiss Water Challenge which provided two cups of french pressed coffee one decaf on not. Both of us could barely tell the difference between the the decaf and the caffeinated brew. We really enjoyed our chat with the gang at swiss water and hope to find out more about their unique decaffeination process.

A Greener Show?

At 50 cents a piece for this IKEA Älmhult stonewear mug, it is a cheap reusable option.

From the Aardvark paper drinking straws to the Baskets-n-bags burlap coffee trays to a hand pump portable espresso maker. This show had a number of booths focused on recyclable, biodegradable and greener products. We fully support the use of a greener more sustainable product, but the other side of the trade show we saw a whole lot of waste.

What we also saw was a lot of sample cups being offered, sampled and then being thrown out. I found it to be a lot of waste with some exhibitors wanting to give us 10 to 12 oz cups of coffee with sleeves etc.  While we were impressed with the marketing venture some of the new producers were trying to accomplish, we felt there was a lot of waste as well.

While I totally understand how hard it is to be a little more green The Salt Spring Coffee Co showed why they were leaders in sustainability. Their coffee samples were given in reusable IKEA Älmhult stonewear mug. After being used they were washed in the clean up area that was provided and brought back to the booth.

According to Banks Thomas, roaster for Salt Spring, he brought the idea to the Island Roaster, but he can’t take credit for it.

“When I was at counter culture they had reusable cups and I took the idea from them,” said Banks.

Salt Spring first introduced the reusable cups at the EPIC Sustainability convention last spring.

This is a win win, one the cost of the cup is only payed out once and then reused, and two the samplers will stick around to finish the coffee and you have a captive audience to make your pitch until they are completed. So I hope Salt Spring doesn’t mind me letting the cat out of the bag on this one and I hope the trend continues!

5 seconds of Fame

I ran into Sophie Lui from Global Television and with one look at my name tag she had me in front of her camera asking about Far Coast coffee, the just named official coffee supplier of the 2010 Olympic Games. I wasn’t surprised seeing that is the hot beverage arm of the Coke-a-Cola company. Sophie asked me to taste the coffee and give it my impression. The coffee was about an hour old and kept in stainless steel vacuum flask.  I thought it was over extracted and  and slightly higher in acidity then body.

I made the news on Thursday night (Yup you can watch it here go to the 11:00 minute mark), but as TV goes, my quote was slightly cut. I didn’t mind, I know the seconds count in a news cast and just so you think I am not a complete snob, I said

“Is this olympic worthy coffee, it certainly wouldn’t get a gold metal in my book, but I have drank far worse.”

The Barista Championship

Kyle Straw, second from right, and the finalist of the Canadian Barista Competion

It was the first time Erica and I had both seen the Canadian Barista Championships competition and in every sense of the word we were impressed with the competition. The timing needed to prepare everything to come out in a certain order, the judging involved with each and every moment is completely rehearsed and practiced over and over again.

Kyle Straw from Caffe Argitano Hornby location came out the top Canadian Barista and will be heading the London England in 2010 for the World Barista Championships in June.

But something that I saw in person that you never really see on the u-stream of the event is the support system that is there for the barista, from sample testing during the set up time to making sure the barista is completely set up. Once the competition starts the barista is on their own.

After the competition the barista goes over the their scores with the judges.  While getting feedback is par for the course, I was really impressed with the amount of detailed feedback that was given back to the barista. This wasn’t just a 30 second, you did well.  Both judge and barista when through the comp in fine detail.

Fine Example

I came to the obvious conclusion that this consultation is the true gift of the barista competition and that it is a shining example of why they are important. If baristas of national caliber spend weeks training for this event and then after the competition spend 5 to 10 minutes going over their scores with one of the judges, the trickle down effect to every cafe must be significant.

BCIT SA

Two weeks ago, while I was standing in line for my morning fix, I saw a sign that read, 20 percent off your drink if you bring your own mug

I thought it was a cool idea, as most shops have done the 10 cents off your own cup for a couple of years now, but 20 percent over the course of a five day week would buy your next Mondays coffee.

The sign was posted outside The JJ Beans coffee kiosk in the Great Hall at BCIT’s Willingdon campus. It is owned and operated by the students association.

Cost per use per cup (click to see detail)

“It is good for the environment, and good for the students, it gives them a lower price.” said the manager of the cafe.

This little five minute conversation peeked my interest about what is the environment impact of disposable coffee cups and I found a wealth of information on the net.
In a study done by University of Victoria professor, Martin B. Hocking, on the energy use per unit (MJ) of each cup.

I was very surprised at first glance to see that the polystyrene foam was so cheap in energy to produce and how just washing the reusable cup uses more energy then the production of one polystyrene cup.

In graphic number two it would take more then two and a half years just to reach the amount MJ used in the creation of each cup. It is easy to see why take-out places use these items as they are mass produced, and given freely without cause for disposal.

So what is the use?

Energy per cup (click to see detail)

Well fear not, students of Rowan University in New Jersey, USA wrote a study asking the faculty to change from polystyrene cup to a reusable mug. Their study still supports that foam is cheaper to produce per MJ unit and you will be using more energy to produce and then clean the other mug, but after usage the environmental costs and economic impacts are hard to dispute and easy to gauge.

In just two semesters the university would have recouped the extra cost of the reusable cups and after five semesters the college would have recouped an entire semester of foam cups cost. Over 12 semester their could be a total savings of just under $65,000 US, now that is real money we talking about people.

Cost of Cups Comparison by Rowan University (click to see detail)

Who else does this?

The Winnipeg Folk Festival has been using this method for years, they encourage people to bring mugs and sell festival reusable travel mugs at cost. The festival takes this one step further by charging a $2 dollar deposit for the plate your food is served on.  To get this back you must return the plate where it gets washed and reused.  If you want to be a food vendor on site you must be part of this solution. It is a system that works well for the festival for years and reduces the impact on the provincial park the festival is held at each year.

Winnipeg Folk Festival Plate Recycling

• Prado Café gives you 20 cents off every drink with it’s own cup
• Caffe Artigiano will charge you 50 cents if you want another paper cup.
• Blenz and most other stores will give you just 10 cents off your own mug. It isn’t much of an incentive but you get tons of karma point for the environment impact.
• Bump and Grind and various other shops sell a reusable coffee sleeve.

So do you want to be like Al Gore? Want to do your part to save the environment?

Use your own cup!

Amendment  : Things have changed at BCIT and the Kiosk is no longer but connected with the Convenience store.