jfbleduc Senior Member Joined: 24 Nov 2006 Posts: 47 Location: Montreal Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Pavoni Pro + old Venus
Posted Wed Oct 24, 2007, 7:37am Subject: Re: Cafe Veritas - Open Tomorrow (06/14)
Hi John, This J-F, from Caffè in Gamba. First of, thanks for supporting my shop. I see (and read) that you also support other good shops around town, amongst them, our best 3rd wave quality/standard shop: Veritas. John, it feels ackward (and mostly uncomfortable) to read harsh (free?) criticizing about Veritas. The espresso community is still very small here in Montreal. I can assure you that Anthony and Sam are doing everything they can to pull the best shots. There are not so many shops around town concerned and passioned enough about espresso. The idea is to stick together, help each other and grow at once. There are so many places to have a bad shot of espresso that I don't feel at ease pointing finger at one of the rare shops that actually care and try to do things right. Of course, making espresso is still human driven (pulls will change from one Barista to the other) and because there are so many parameters to control (4M: Macchinattore, Machina, Miscella, Mano) pulls will slightly change even if made by the same barista. Veritas is super concerned - if not obsessed - with pulling consistent shots. They have both the proper equipment and will to satisfy your tastebuds... Give them another try :-) JF. N.B.: One funny thing about all this is that here at Caffè in Gamba we do things very spontaneously, we change blends ervery now and then, we have much different baristas (experience wise from beginners to advanced) and the overall chances to get inconsistent shots are therefore multiplied in comparison to what you could get at Veritas. But hey, this is how we like things to be here: personnalized, artisanal, spontaneous and in a classical italian fashion. Cheers.
BrianJM Senior Member Joined: 23 Dec 2007 Posts: 8 Location: Phoebus, Virginia, USA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Grimac Royal Falcon Diadema Grinder: Mazzer Super Jolly Drip: Bunn and French Press Roaster: Mahogany Roasters, Dutton VA
Posted Sun Dec 23, 2007, 3:41pm Subject: Re: Cafe Veritas - Open Tomorrow (06/14)
Anthony, I am new to signature drinks. I found you signature drink smores on a web site. I tried it today in the shop. Everyone loved it. Thanks for posting it.
Posted Sat Jan 19, 2008, 12:35pm Subject: Re: Cafe Veritas - Open Tomorrow (06/14)
I'm going to be in the Montreal area tomorrow morning, and was wondering if Cafe Veritas is open on Sundays...and if so what are their hours? It's been a few years since I've been to Montreal. Last time I was there we went to ArtJava, and Anthony was the barista that day. He was a pleasure to talk to , and pulled a mighty fine espresso, which is the main reason I really want to check out his new place. I checked out the website and could find any info on their business hours. Any info would be great!
Posted Mon Jan 21, 2008, 11:50am Subject: Re: Cafe Veritas - Open Tomorrow (06/14)
Hey Chris,
Sorry I didn't reply in time, as you probably found out Veritas is closed Sundays during the winter. Hope you found some good coffee while you were here, --A
Espresseric Senior Member Joined: 22 Jan 2008 Posts: 9 Location: Montreal Expertise: Just starting
Posted Tue Jan 22, 2008, 8:20pm Subject: Re: Cafe Veritas - Open Tomorrow (06/14)
My favorite coffee have been for many years the one i was doing one with a top of oven expresso. Not that it was incredibly good, but it was getting me a more enjoyable experience than dripping machine! I have been for a long time interessed of expresso machine but really havent give it a second tough as they where really expensive for my budget.
More recently, there where two little segment on cheap expresso machine that was aired on a french canadian popular tv show that got me interessed again: Click Here (www.radio-canada.ca) (and another one wich was unofficial barista contest and Click Here (www.radio-canada.ca)
At about the same time, my mother bought the Breville Roma and i had the opportunity to try it (Just as a anecdote, a few years ago my mother was only drinking "eau de lave-vaisselle" and i introduced her to better coffe in a standard brewing machine (just having a better coffee and more coffee in the basket).
So i have played a bit with my mother Breville Roma but i must say that i was not fully convinced. I really had a hard time doing "mousse" like i was used to get on cappucino from typical coffee shop and tought the machine was not so good. I also had bought Jamaican Blue Mountain beans that was simply extraordinaire in my top of oven expresso.. but it was horrible in the Breville (and not much better in the brewing machine).
Anyway, i also got a Breville Roma, but my real goal was not to make better coffee (i still tought that my top of oven expresso was doing better) but have a machine at work to get a bit coffee and save a bit of money i was usually spending on HORRIBLE coffee that is offered in nearby distance of my work (old montreal). You will think it's a non-sense but over all the possible coffee shops that where on my morning go to work walk.. the best one i have found was the McDonald Coffee... cheap and also (that is key) pretty much consistent! (a bit too hot sometimes, but the taste was quite expectable).
Being the internet freak that i am (i should have done it first).. i have browsed on the internet to get the most of the cheap machine. What a surprise it was! Sure, it was no news for me that good coffee, tamping, temperature and water could have effect on the quality of coffee.. but i had to realise that i also had alot of misconception.. starting from how the milk had to be worked to get a cappucino or a latte!
So i have read quite a bit on the subject including on CoffeeGeek site, but in some ways i'm taking a lot of the stuff i read with a grain of salt... During the winter i also have searched on audio (vintage) and had to realise that on any subject that i possible there will be people pushing it to ridiculous dimensions. I definitively believe that quality can be achieved by dedication and better craft.. but i dont think you need a thermometer in your ass to be sure that your coffee has the appropriate brewing temp! ;)
To say the least, i was not fully convinced that paying even just 500$ more for a espresso machine was really worth it and at 200$, the breville was leaving me alot of money to spend on good coffee beans!
This weekend i have visited Coffee Gamba and bough a grinder there and some good coffee to experiment at home. I was also stupid enought o say not to the coffee i have been offered there!
So i have played a bit with the machine with better grind and coffee and little more technique for milk frothing. I think that now i can get something that have more "class" than was i was getting with the top of oven espresso. Still, no consistency, specially milk is really giving me a hard time.. too liquid, too dense, too much bubble... but i was able to make a very few that where insanely good (as compared to the experience i had before).
When i think about it.. the closest i got as a latte over the last years was from Olive and Gourmando.. but i was not liking it much.
After reading about it here.. i really knew that i was missing some experience about what is a good espresso or latter (wich i was trying to do at home). I needed a refence to be able to judge what i was doing at home. Say, i can understand from video the tree layer i'm supposed to get from a shot... but that doesnt give me any idea as to what the texture should be when drinking it.
Cafe veritas was to be my next destination (in between my house and work walk)!
I was actually surprised inside... I noticed the opening of the place a few months ago.. but from the street you really have the impression that it's a really tiny place... it's definitively not the case!! ah! ah!
I got a latte.
That is really have set my record straight! I really have to admit that i never have drinked something that was close to that! VERY good!
I also surprised of the texture.. i was really alot like drinking 35% cream. When you read "microbubble" and "a bit like fresh paint".. it's really illustrative as the texture, when you look at it, is really "flat". I didnt had much time, but i next time i'll get a straight espresso to get a better idea of what i should get.
But i definitively have to realise that the Breville Roma will never be able to play at such level. Maybe machine like Rancillo would be a better entry level machine?? But in some ways, i would be curious to see how far i would be able to go with the breville.. even if it's just to show to my mother that she doesnt know how to use it! ah! ah! :)
To end this, while i learned a lot from watching youtube demonstrations of shot and frothing... i really had the impression that the routine was more complicated (and long) that i would have to be (like the tamp-knock-knock-tamp gesture wich really make no sense). I was surely that at this speed, you would not keep your job for long.
I'm not sure if it's Anthony that served me... but there was a definitive elegance to the routine, a economy of movement and also speed! I for myself just look like a elephant in a porcelaine shop compared to that!
I will surely be repeating this great experience and inviting other people to do so!
eurocurve Senior Member Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Posts: 12 Location: Montreal Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gs3 Grinder: Mazzer Roaster: Probatino
Posted Tue May 27, 2008, 9:45am Subject: Re: Cafe Veritas - Open Tomorrow (06/14)
Well Guys ! First off, I would like to apologize for the delay in response. It just didn't seem right to me, to send off a rebuttal without verifying a few facts. Before i start i would like to say that In Gamba is Doing a superb job. I strongly believe in there approach and in the way the present themselves, they are the top tiers in Montreal. Guys to watch and if you can follow.
As for Anth you said it yourself " we're preparing to upgrade our grinders to become even more consistent from cup to cup " In my eyes, there is merit to my comment. If anyone, you in particular should realize it. Also to clear up any misinformation, i was never invited to give you feedback onsite. Not that i would have, after your obvious anger for me.
Kanenas, i just never understood how a person that drops by 2-3 times a week, has expertise and educated by the SCAA, not understand the comment i made. So i went back to Veritas and gave it another try. My opinion stood firmly. If you are going to say and act like you are the best! than i expect nothing less than the best........ So this lead me to dig a little, It was impossible to find info from the SCAA about the " Work shop's " you took, but with time the truth does find its way. So i leave you with a simple request. Can you please post your SCAA certificate's of the course's you took ? Incase you lost them, Maybe you should get back into your closet and look for them there. JohnB
Posted Tue May 27, 2008, 12:15pm Subject: Re: Cafe Veritas - Open Tomorrow (06/14)
eurocurve Said:
n Gamba is Doing a superb job. I strongly believe in there approach and in the way the present themselves, they are the top tiers in Montreal. Guys to watch and if you can follow.
I totally agree with this, as a matter of fact I'm posting this from In Gamba after a nice Paladino cappuccino. JF and I were just talking about how nice it is that the coffee community here in Montreal is coming together, sparked by the regional competition coming up.
Also I've been doing some digging of my own, and it was impossible for me to verify that you've ever been to Veritas or Gamba. So I leave you with a simple request, can you please post a picture of yourself and maybe your birth certificate? In case you lost them, maybe you should look for them behind the anonymity of the internet.
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