The Vancouver Indy Coffee Scene

A cafe in your kitchen.

This is one of the best home setups I have ever seen for a cafe set-ups and Geoff Howe certainly did his homework before bringing pulling out the plastic. (Click on the picture for a list of items)

After Geoff Howe‘s and my adventures in the Espresso-thon, Geoff just couldn’t take the bad coffee other than Cafe Museo. So he took matters into his own hands and purchased his own espresso gear, but he didn’t cheap out on the gear either. Good thing for mail order from 49th or he would be up the South Saskatchewan River without a paddle.

I can only applaud Geoff for taking the bull by the horns to tell me he has had quite the learning curve getting the precise grind. He tells me living on The Drive has certain advantages, one of them being “I don’t need an espresso bar in my kitchen to have a great latte. I can just walk down the street.” Let’s just hope he hasn’t broken the bank on this little venture. Can a small cafe be far behind?

Marketing a brand…

A fridge magnet only a connoisseur could love

I have developed a fridge magnet for the coffee blog that kind of pokes fun at one of the biggest misconceptions in coffee at home. Keeping your beans in the freezer.
I have about 30 or so of these magnets left (Sold out! Look for more soon.)
After leaving them around town and if you want one for your very own fridge, you’ll have to try Ebay. . .  and I’ll send one off in the mail to ya (postage is on me, unless you want hundreds or live on Mars, that will be subsequently more).

Monkeying around with my brew

Apparently 49th has brough some India Devon Estate SL-795 Arabica that brings out sourcing to a new level (just joking). The bean is picked by a monkey and only the ripest cherry that encompasses the bean is picked by the little dudes. Subsequently this brew has caused a bit of a stir. So much so that vancouveriam did a story featuring Colter Jones about the stuff.

The Future of Vancouver Coffee.ca

This blog has become more than I ever thought it would be and was started as a class project almost a year ago. But I totally love writing this blog, it has been a true education for me and some future improvements will include:

• Moving to a self-hosting blog (done! if your reading this welcome)
• Coffee Glossary of terms (done! check it out)
  
• Interactive map integration(done! check it out)
• More research into fair / direct trade to educate you and me.
• and as always, a bunch more reviews, rants and hopefully a cupping or two.

Tim Hortons comes to the DrivePlease do you part and Boycott!

Yet another chain on the drive. Tim Hortons has decided to take over three stores in the mall and create a behemoth of coffee shops almost the size of Wazubee’s. This also comes at a time when Magpie magazine and Eastside Art Supply and Stationary are both closing its doors due to lack of sales.

The best cappuccino ever

Meanwhile, Magpie’s closing has more to do with the laptop culture of cafes. It signals a change to the drive. I have been know to frequent Tim Hortons on numerous occasions, but is ‘the drive’ really a place for Tim Hortons?

Bump and Grind Sold:

Bump and Grind was sold to Audrey and Joe. Christine needed a break from running the cafe and to focus more on her dance instruction.

Audrey and Joe are new to running the cafe. They are certainly no strangers to coffee, glad to see the old haunts are still in good shape. I will miss Christine’s cappuccino’s she had made some spectacular ones.

Direct Purchase Colombian:

My parents were recently on a cruise and had some shore leave in Cartagena, Colombia. They brought me back a pound of roasted coffee. It is a light roast with mellow body.

Audrey and Joe Smelling freshly ground coffee

Cuppings:

I have been using it with my cone filter at home, but I was talking with Audrey and Joe at Bump and Grind and they wanted to put it up against 49th Parallel Colombian.

We put it to the French press test and had some fun in a cupping challenge. Without going into excessive detail we found that although the Colombian did have a nice body after it had been poured, it lacked the overall quality of the 49th parallel roast. Was it really a fair comparison? No not really. . . was it a fun thing to do on a boring cold and rainy afternoon in June. Oh yeah. . .