Christmas train
andrew.mcwilliam |
things too good to miss... |
Thanks to my good friends at Drumroaster.... It's taken me a while to jump on the v60/pouring kettle bandwagon but I'm glad I did!
This past few weeks I have had the pleasure of sampling some fine offering from Fratello Coffee (http://www.fratellocoffee.com/). I'm always into drinking coffee, let along sampling new coffee's from a roaster I've heard great things about! Russ from Fratello's sent me 4 different coffee's.... a Kenyan Wamuguma, Panama Hacienda Esmerelda Diamond Mountain, Sumatra Sidikalang Tabu Jamu and a Ethiopian Sidamo Oromia. I won't get into to many specific details on each of the coffee's but I will say that not one of them disappointed! These beans were absolutely on par with top Canadian roasters that I've tried. My favorite was the Kenyan Wamuguma. I have tried this coffee a few times from different roasters and I personally enjoyed Fratello's version a touch better. I believe they roasted it a bit darker (which I'm usually not a fan of!) however it wasn't dark enough to even see shiny oils or smell or taste that awful charcolly effect. The touch darker real made this bean shine. A great classic cup= dark chocolate, syrupy, peanuts (or butter finger chocolate bar?!) with a really nice body. If you haven't checked out Fratello's then I would suggest you would! I just noticed some intriguing bolivian and brazilian Coffee's on the online store that I'm hoping to check out. As a side note Fratello's has some of the coolest coffee labels I've seen! Not that this really matters... but they are very nice to look at! Check them out:
I recently had the pleasure of hosting two Coffee Tastings. Both went amazingly well. It was great to showcase some amazing coffees from BC roasters and connect with coffee people around the Okanagan.
I was able to get Coffee's from 4 BC Roasters. From Vancouver Island: Drumroaster Coffee, Cobble Hill (Geir, Pat & Carsen Oglend - www.drumroaster.com) & Discovery Coffee, Victoria (www.discoverycoffee.ca). From the Okanagan Cherry Hill Coffee Roasters, Kelowna (www.cherryhillcoffee.com). Much thanks to these 3 roasters for supporting this event in giving us great discounts & freebies to help make this event a success. I also ordered beans from 49th Parallel Coffee in Vancouver. These people have the slickest online ordering/shipping system ever... so quick! The coffee I ordered was roasted on the day I ordered it and at my door the next day (www.49thparallelroasters.com/) The first Coffee tasting was a fundraiser for the non-profit that I work for (Young Life). I had auctioned this tasting to two couples at an event early this year. It was a great excuse for me to bring in some great coffees and help Young Life (aka raise my salary). We raised $300 for this tasting. This first event was really fun because the two couples who attended where folks who usually drink Tim's or Folgers at home. So the quality of the coffees of the coffee's they were tasting were like nothing they had experienced. I only ended up spreading out 6 of the 12 Coffees in order not to overwhelm my guests. I also set out a decent spread of goodies... nothing like pastry and coffee! I made sure everyone had a Coffee Tasters Flavor Wheel to give them some guidance. We did a blind tasting... I put a number on bowls of beans that corresponded with the bags of coffees. We went through all coffees not telling them what they were drinking and then at the end revealed which coffees we were drinking. It was amazing how quick they were picking out unique flavors like anise, thyme, lemon, grapefruit etc. I sent them home each with a pound of Cherry Hill Coffee that had been donated... hoping to begin them down the path of buying higher quality beans than Tim's and Folgers.
(Coffee tasting set up for the first tasting... look at those pastry's!)
The second tasting was open to anyone interested in trying some quality Coffees. We had a great crowd come out. Rick from Okanagan Coffee Blog & former JJ Bean employee (http://okanagancoffee.tumblr.com/), Kyle from Blenz & also a former JJ employee and Arthur & Julia who are living in Kelowna for the year but live in Germany. It was a great way to get to know people I have been talking to on Facebook or Twitter... nothing like actually being with people. Web 2.0 just won't cut it. We tasted coffees in region's that day. Started with our Ethiopians. There were 4 in total... we brewed them all on the French Press. Then onto some Kenya's.... brewed on Chemex. We then having fun with a bunch of different brew methods. 49th's Guatemalan offering was fantastic in the Vac Pot. It was great to show off the Aero press as well... we brewed the Espresso from discovery and enjoyed the near espresso like shots. All in all.. two fantastic events. Proving that even though it's small there is some coffee Community in the Okanagan. I can only hope that in a few years time the Okanagan will be a great Coffee destination. It would be fantastic to see even more roasters sourcing excellent beans and roasting with passion and care for the cup. Vernon needs badly at least one coffee shop that cares even just a little bit about what they are doing (Yep I said that.... I will get flack for that every time I go into a coffee shop now.) I was happy to host these events and can only hope they are the first of more to come! Here's some pictures taken by Julia Fuchs (great photos Julia!)
Aight -- so another Coffee shop review. I've been talking a bit with the fine folks at Okanagan Coffee blog about local shops etc. I mentioned that I go to Pink Cherry nearly every week & they mentioned they'd love to see another review of this shop. So I'll put my two cents in about Pink Cherry in beautiful Salmon Arm, BC.
I've been going to Pink Cherry for quite a while (3 years?). Even before I moved to the Okanagan it was the shop I'd go to while visiting the in laws. It was a pleasant surprise when they first opened as I hadn't found any great coffee in Salmon Arm. It's located right downtown on Hudson Ave. next to "Table 22."
As far as the shop itself goes it's a pleasant place to hang out in. Warm atmosphere, comfortable seating, laid out well and fairly modern design. In the summer there is an awesome patio/sidewalk area that's perfect for people watching. It's usually very busy. They serve gelato which I think keeps business exciting. They also have a impressive tea service. All loose leaf teas are served in "brewt's" and I know that this is a huge draw for people.
OK to the important stuff... COFFEE. They serve (and to my knowledge are the only ones in the Okanagan apart from Cafe Artigiano [technically 49th, under a different name]) 49th Parallel Coffee. 49th Parallel is easily one of, if not the best, roasters in Canada. They also have a huge reputation globally as roasters of amazing coffee. Their coffees have been featured a few times now in Canadian and World Barista Competition's with great success. So the fact this shop carries this coffee should say something about their care for quality coffee. Unfortunately in my opinion the quality of coffee they serve (important! THEY serve) does not represent the quality of the beans they are using. This is one of those situations where they could are the verge of something fantastic but are missing the mark in so many ways. More of that in a bit... back to the beans. It is a real treat to be able to buy 49th beans locally. That said, you really need to keep your eye on freshness (49th prints the roast date on the bottom of every bag). Some days I find beans that are less than a week of roast and then other times it's a month or two off roast. This again does not reflect 49th. If you order online from 49th you will get the freshest top quality beans possible at your door (usually a day or two off roast). Very impressive!
On to espresso based drinks. Depending on who is serving your drinks your beverage will be anything from great to horrible. I've had some of the best coffee I've had in the Okanagan and others that could have been from every other run of the mill coffee shop. I've seen tons of poor dosing and tamping techniques (not that I myself can pull amazing shots... but I've done my research) from obviously not trained baristas. Usually when they foam the milk they just plop the steam wand underneath and leave it there until it's screeching from overheating. There is usually a poor attempt at latte art. However I will say this.... there is a girl there (I won't mention her name... probably doesn't want people to know) who makes fantastic espresso... knows how to texture the milk & pour beautiful latte art. I'm always pumped when's she's working. They have huge opportunity for growth as they have all the right elements... just not training their staff well enough. Most of the times it seems like their staff don't want to be there.
They serve drip coffee fresh every cup. They have a set up of about 4 pour over brewers to handle the busy moments. I usually order a cup of brewed coffee now because I know that it's a bit of a guessing game as far as how good your latte or espresso based drink will be. Their consistency with pour over is much better! I will say two things to critique their pour-over brews (keeping in mind I really enjoy it). They don't grind fresh. They grind about a jar full on demand. So whenever they need to refill their fairly large jar they do. I imagine they do this half a dozen times a day. So it's fresh-ish. They also don't rinse filters. I know this would be hard to do in a business setting but it really does impact what you get in your cup.
There you have it... a good shop overall. An even better place to pick up beans. They are under new ownership as of January 1, 2010 so we will see what happens here. I really hope they will still carry 49th and I hope even more that they step up the quality a few notches.
To sum things up. One of the better coffee shops in this region. They have the potential to be first class and are missing the mark here and there... here's to the future Pink Cherry!
PS. Amazing Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies too!
Yesterday I had a great day wit some Young Life teens hanging out downtown Kelowna. Haven't really done this yet so I was pleasantly surprised to see how beautiful and cultured it was... lots of great places to eat, things to do and cool public places to hang out!
On the recommendation of a new great blog I discovered, Okanagan Coffee Blog, I decided I needed to check out bean scene downtown & rutland locations (heading to Rutland today). Although the blogger at Okanagan Coffee Blog really knows what he's talking about I wasn't sure to think... I've just had horrible after horrible coffee in the Okanagan except for a few select locations that I may share with you at some other point. So I headed into the Bean Scene not sure what to expect.
It's one of the nicest coffee shops I've been in as far as esthetics go. Brick walls, old wood floor, great art, comfy seats... a place I'd hang out and work at for sure. First impressions of coffee: they were selling their own beans that they had roasted. Not only that... they were single origin... not burnt (City +)! At this point I'm very excited. For the record this is the first time I have seem quality beans roasted in the Okanagan... nothing like this available anywhere else. Life may become very good very soon.
I head to the counter and order a traditional cappuccino & 4 small vanilla latte's for my Young Life teens who have never had coffee before... figured this was a good intro drink. I was impressed right away... they were pouring hot water in the cups to warm the cups (that were the real deal by the way... proper sizes etc.) The barista's name was Andrew which also excited me... I've never met a bad Andrew. He fumbles his latte art, but I don't really care. The milk is textured properly and the espresso is sticking to the walls of the cup nicely so it's looking good regardless. It tastes like it looks.... awseome! Hold the phone... did I just have a good cappuccino in the Okanagan! Yes! I did. This was a such a great surprise and find. Nothing has come close to this in the Okanagan to date.
I went and chatted it up with Andrew the barista and he is so stoked that I loved my drink. You can tell he is passionate about what he does. He mentions he's worked in four other coffee shops but until working here he hasn't cared about coffee. This is great... likely he's got awesome managers that are showing him how things are done... letting their employees play and experiment with coffee. This is so exciting for the Okanagan.
I ended up ordering a single espresso as well. Again very impressed.... rich caramel some mild spices... fantastic!
Hats off to the Bean Scene downtown and rutland! I will become a regular.
Here is a video with one of the owners of the Bean Scene talking about how they are striving to make great coffee.
(download)
Thought someone might actually enjoy this?! I'm brewing using a ceramic pour over brewer from Cillio (Good luck reading that site however... I'm thinking German?) This is a great cheap brewer ($20). You can even go cheaper with a plastic version my mileka or the like... you may get a bit of a lingering plastic taste in your coffee though.
Sarah got me a great Christmas gift.... a Vaccum Pot Coffee Maker. Many have asked what this is and upon seeing it accuse me of making drugs. It has quickly become my favorite coffee maker.... it highlights the fruitiness and spiciness of coffee's and it's impressive to watch! So for all who are curious or would like to laugh at my obsession with coffee... enjoy!
the caffeinated life...
