Posted Wed Dec 5, 2007, 3:07pm Subject: Re: Trans-Canada Coffee Adventure, Part 2: The Prairies, The Cafe Stage
I'm sure that you would also be a little peeved at her journalism if she did go to Victoria, didn't make it to one shop (that was good as in the example of Calgary's Phil and Sebastian's) that she wanted to go to, ended up going to some dive with bad coffee and then wrote off the city as sucking pretty badly on the coffee front. I would never expect her to visit every shop in every city across this giant country - that is pretty unreasonable, but when a city is a documented stop on the tour, I'd expect a higher caliber review on the city.
Posted Thu Dec 6, 2007, 5:13pm Subject: Re: Trans-Canada Coffee Adventure, Part 2: The Prairies, The Cafe Stage
I'm a bit amused at how a few posters are upset at the apparent "dissing" of Calgary in the article. Chill out ;) It's not like anyone would form their opinion about the Calgary coffee scene (or any of the other cities) solely based on this article. If you read between the lines me thinks that the author was a little miffed that Phil & Sebastian didn't juggle their schedules to accommodate her visit, which kind of sets the tone for her comments.
Posted Thu Dec 6, 2007, 7:34pm Subject: Re: Trans-Canada Coffee Adventure, Part 2: The Prairies, The Cafe Stage
xray Said:
me thinks that the author was a little miffed that Phil & Sebastian didn't juggle their schedules to accommodate her visit, which kind of sets the tone for her comments.
ANON Senior Member Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Posts: 55 Location: EARTH Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: PLEASE Grinder: DELETE Vac Pot: MY Drip: USER Roaster: ACCOUNT
Posted Thu Dec 6, 2007, 10:23pm Subject: Re: Trans-Canada Coffee Adventure, Part 2: The Prairies, The Cafe Stage
I'm fortunate working close by Three Banana's. It's become a regular visit. After I've had my first Americano of the day finished, I head over to Three Banana's for another. Sometimes I'll add a delicious maple walnut muffin to the order. I've found Three Banana's to be a life saver on those mornings when my timer failed to turn my Andreja on. On those days, I'm one of the first people in the door when they open at 7:00am during the week, and it's a real treat when the muffins are just coming out of the oven.
It's too bad you found out about Transcend too late - as it's a great place as well. I just heard about it myself a few weeks back reading these forums. Had to try their Esmeralda roast brewed in a Clover - and watched while others were having coffee's prepared in Yama's. I thought it was pretty cool being able to go into a cafe and have a coffee prepared any way you like! The folks there definitely take their coffee seriously, and have fun at it.
lizclayton Senior Member Joined: 19 Nov 2007 Posts: 14 Location: Brooklyn, NY Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Maestro Solis / Zassenhaus Drip: French press, Chemex, Eva...
Posted Fri Dec 7, 2007, 1:05am Subject: Re: Trans-Canada Coffee Adventure, Part 2: The Prairies, The Cafe Stage
I think it's kind of great that although a bunch of people are randomly incensed about their personal scene/city not being given the shake they feel it deserves (believe me, I wish I'd had the time and resources as much as you do), it has generated a lot of discussion about pride in some of the prairie provinces' emerging coffee communities, and a thoughtful discourse about why people gravitate or don't towards certain roasters. These are absolutely conversations people should be having, and I'm glad the article has stimulated that discussion, despite it seeming to be interspersed with ad hominem attacks.
My first half hour in Calgary was pretty great, by the way — I got a free cupcake and met a cat named Boom Boom. And the coffee there was still better than what I had at the Starbucks in Wetaskiwin!
RussP Senior Member Joined: 6 Jun 2007 Posts: 113 Location: Canada Expertise: Professional
Espresso: 3gp Slayer Grinder: Malkonig and Mazzer Kony's Vac Pot: Clover Drip: Fetco Roaster: Probat and Gothot
Posted Wed Dec 12, 2007, 8:23pm Subject: Re: Trans-Canada Coffee Adventure, Part 2: The Prairies, The Cafe Stage
I was recently in Seattle (Dec 6) for one day and while I was there I went to and reviewed 14 cafes.
The main purpose of this post is - What does it take to be a “3rd Wave” cafe? Read this post and find out what some of the best in Seattle are doing - I would have put this directly onto coffeegeek.com; however, it is WAY to long, plus it will have far to many pictures to put onto here.
I was hoping to bring a bit of the Seattle coffee scene back to Canada, so we all could learn and hear/see what these people are doing to win in their areas.
Russ
PS - All of my pics will be posted in the next day or so.
RussP www.fratellocoffee.com Twitter - FratelloCoffee2 Facebook - Fratello Coffee Roasters
Posted Sat Dec 22, 2007, 12:30am Subject: Re: Trans-Canada Coffee Adventure, Part 2: The Prairies, The Cafe Stage
Liz,
I’m truly sorry that you didn’t get a chance to pay a visit to our shop. It was myself, Phil, that you spoke to on the phone. We would have gladly stayed open 10 minutes (even longer), and we routinely do this if customers are hanging around at closing time (in fact we did it today). I feel compelled to defend our café, as it’s been implied that we’re a bunch of self-serving pricks. As I recall, it was more like an hour (actually, if my memory serves me correctly, you weren’t sure when you’d arrive) before you would get to the café, but between the bad cell reception, the noise in the café, and the 15 drinks on the bar I might have misunderstood. I think we talked earlier in the day, and I provided you with directions to the market (but my memory is a little hazy on this). Additionally, I really didn’t understand your situation. I had received a 30 second call from Arthur (at Wicked in Vancouver) re someone wanting to visit our café. That’s all I knew. If I had known that you were in the middle of a cross-country café tour, you better believe that we’d have made efforts to give you chance to visit. Also, my understanding from our phone call was that you would just come the following morning. No big deal. Again, I guess I misunderstood (it didn’t make sense to me that you would arrive in Calgary in the early evening and not be there the next morning).
Hope you have a chance to visit sometime in the future. We’ll be sure to take good care of ya! ;-)
606 Senior Member Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 1 Location: Calgary Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Jan 14, 2008, 1:27pm Subject: Re: Trans-Canada Coffee Adventure, Part 2: The Prairies, The Cafe Stage
I'm sorry the hippie burnout coffee shop in Calgary, which was obviously The Roasterie on 10th St., didn't work out. Though the staff can be rather unpracticed with the espresso slinging, the beans are top notch. It's best to pick up some beans and brew them yourself. The espresso blend works well in an Aeropress if you find yourself traveling a lot.
P&S are damn good but the farmer's market can be such a hassle to get to. I wish they'd open a cafe downtown or on 17th.
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