Cafe Crawlin’

This post was a long time in the making…!

 About 10 days ago, Kyle (new General Manager of Kerrisdale — congrats!!!) and I went on a cafe crawl in Vancouver… I wanted to post up some comments and insights right away but never found the time to do it.  Good thing I have my little black book of coffee, because now I can go back and look up my notes.

Disclaimer:  If you continue reading this post, please understand that my own reflections on the following shops and coffees are purely my own point of view.  I know I didn’t have any “bad” coffees but I also understand the pitfalls of judging a retail location or its coffee from just one visit.  This exercise was done mainly for myself, so that I can push my own ability to taste different kinds of coffee and critique what I taste so that whatever I learn may be helpful down the road in my own time as a barista.  I share these notes because I know first-hand that it was useful for me to talk with others while I tasted coffee.  Likewise, letting others read about my experiences may push them to try something a little different as well.  I’ll try to keep things generally positive (they mostly were all positive experiences!) and refrain from making broader judgements based on one visit.  Thank you for your understanding…!

We decided to hit four cafes on Sunday, October 14.  It had been a while since we drank anything other than 49th Parallel espresso (Epic and Artigiano’s Private Reserve and Organic lines), and we wanted to put our coincidental day off together to good use.  The method of the day that we ended up deciding on was simple: one cappuccino and one espresso from each cafe, prepared however the cafe usually presents the drinks (we won’t specify a single or a double, etc.).  Our basis for judging would be driven by the WBC judges’ sheet, although I point out right away that we are not even close to being a WBC judge.  We started at, where else, 49th Parallel Cafe.  I like to think of this decision as our way of “calibrating,” due to the fact that we know the blend that they use so well that it’s easy to point out flaws and decide on scoring.  Of course, when we walked in, we realized that it was Vince who was on the bar…

Fortunately or unfortunately, (or for others — it shouldn’t matter!!!), Vince didn’t pull our shots.  My cappuccino was creamy, sweet, and at the perfect temperature.  Because it was a single, the milk’s sweetness really shone through (3.9 percent fat does this quite well).  The double espresso was very syrupy sweet, with a nice hint of acidity in the finish.  Great way to start the day!

Down the street we went, to the Elysian Room where I was ready to try the new blend that they’re using.  60% Brazil Fazenda Cachoeira (not the CoE lot) mixed with 40% El Salvador Finca Monterey.  I was surprised how the citrus from the El Salvador announced its presence in the cappuccino, picking up the spotlight from the sweet milk and round chocolatey body of the Brazil.  This was made even more evident in the espresso, which made me think of lemons and spice.  As always, service was top-notch and the ambience of the cafe couldn’t be beat.  Definately something important in the search for the perfect coffee shop.

Onwards to Wicked Cafe, Vancouver’s endless and abundant source of all things Intelly.  It was a busy time in the shop (whenever I walk it it’s tough to find a place to sit down — that’s how full they always are!), but we managed to scrounge two seats at the wall counter by the bar.  The Black Cat cappuccino was probably one of the most balanced capps that I’ve had, with a nice acidic-chocolate two-punch combo, althought the milk was on the hot side in comparison to the two shops we came from.  The espresso had excellent crema colour and consistency, with a smooth taste and a lasting citrus finish.  I don’t know how but I walked away thinking to myself, that tasted a bit like grapefruit!  And to answer the question before you ask, no, Cady wasn’t in the shop when we went 🙂

Next up: Artigiano!  We decided to sneak in a stop at Kerrisdale’s Caffe Artigiano to see how things were going “back home.”  A mix-up during our ordering saw both our capps and our espressos come up at the bar at the same time.  Oops!  The capps had huge body, a hint of bittersweet chocolate, and really dense foam.  The double espresso was very smooth, with a fruity finish.  Unfortunately the crema was dissipating while I tried the capp, so it might not have been as sweet as it should have been.

The last stop of the day was Cafe In, a small neighbourhood shop in Kerrisdale that proudly serves up Intelligentisa Coffee.  The cappuccino came in traddy form (big foam), but the milk’s sweetness was spot-on.  Lemony finish in the espresso dominated the taste profile from the Swift-pulled double espresso.  I’m not sure where I stand in terms of the Swift automatic grinder, after working with it for almost two years I can definately see its usefullness, but in terms of a straight shot because you don’t have complete control over the variables of dose, grind, and tamp, the adjustments must be made to taste and to time continually to ensure a servable product.  I’ve seen some baristas tamp or polish the pucks that come out of a Swift and don’t really see why.  I’ve tried this before and haven’t noticed any substantial differences in taste…  anyways!

The next day, I checked out two other cafes on my way home from work.  Cafe Crema in Ambleside, West Vancouver serves JJBean in an attractive retail location.  The capp was sweet with perfectly foamed milk, but the espresso was on the bright side.    Mink Chocolate Cafe served up a cappuccino that was a tad too hot, lacking in sweetness and ended up on the bitter side.  I didn’t have a chance to try their espresso before I had to leave.

View photos from the Vancouver Cafe Crawl: http://www.flickr.com/photos/baristahands/sets/72157602461753336/

So why am I writing about these cafe experiences tonight?  Well, today was my day off from work, and I had a chance to take a trip down to Seattle… so here’s part two!

I decided to start off my day at the original Zoka in Greenlake.  It was my first time there (all my previous visits were to the University Zoka in the U of W campus), and I had high hopes of finding some Panama Esmeralda.  No such luck, so I settled on a Clover cup of the Brazil Santa Inez Cup of Excellence.  Full-bodied, caramelly-brown sugar notes came flying out of the cup, followed by a more subtle apple finish. 

Next: STUMPTOWN!  They don’t do drip at Stumptown Seattle, it was French Press coffee kept in an airpot.  Fine by me, as the sign said “Colombia La Esperanza Cup of Excellence”!  Two CoE’s to start my day!  This one was intensely buttery, almost peanutty, with a light but distinct acidity that came out stronger as the cup cooled.  The Hairbender espresso that I had was sweet but on the citrus-fruity side, and pulled really short.  I have to take a moment to say how I love Stumptown Coffee’s cafes.  Each one has a distinct personality (Annex, Ace are my favourites) while at the same time they tie together a similar atmosphere so you know you’re definately in a Stumptown when you walk in.  No different with their new Seattle location.  The stools and long sofas are gorgeous.

After lunch at Salumi’s in Pioneer Square, I walked over to the newest location of Trabant Coffee and Chai, only to find a very friendly and familiar face behind the bar — Philip Search!  We were both all smiles when he handed me a little demitasse of home — 49th Parallel’s Epic Espresso, pulled off a Synesso Cyncra with wooden (!) portafilter handles!  The smooth dark crema gave way to a very sweet, syurpy espresso that had tons of body.  I am more than likely biased because this is the stuff that I “grew up on,” so excuse me while I gush about this shot.  Fair credit goes to the barista too!

On Philip’s reccomendation, I headed over to Ballard (Where’s Ballard? Past Clover!  Oh!) and found myself at Caffe Fiore, Caffe Vita’s organic operation.  Wow.  It was a pretty little set-up.  Since they didn’t have any traditional-sized cappuccinos (10-ounces was their smallest), I went with a macchiato that ended up around 4-ounces.  The crema was dark and had a caramelly armoa to it.  Big body shone through right away, with a sweet orange-y finish.

Back over to Capitol Hill, I skipped Vivace and headed over to Vita, where I haven’t been for almost a year.  Nothing really has changed with their espresso — still dark and chocolatey, like I remembered.  Drank it at the bar, forgot to photo it.  Oops.  Same at Victrola (V2) — the Ethiopian Harrar that they had on Press (in an airpot) was on the smoky side and lacked the bright blueberries that everyone looks for, but still had a nice sweetness and a hint of something spicy in the finish.

That’s a lot of coffee in one day, huh?  Well, there was some free cupping thing at Stumptown at 3pm, so I decided that I just HAD to return… I was in the neighbourhood anyways, right?  Right?  Matt Lee you would have been proud of me!

My host at Stumptown was called Mike as well.  A cupping for two Mikes, how nice.  Here are all the coffees we tried with some of my notes:

Costa Rica Finca La Pira (caturra, catuai) – Aromatic, sweet, citrus, milk chocoaltey.
Panama Carmen Estate (caturra, typica) – Orange-y, darker chocolate, tobacco.
Costa Rica Finca Salaca Villalobos (typica) – Roasty, tons of body, dry.
Costa Rica El Quemado (geisha) – Sparkling acidity, sweet fruit.
Panama Don Pachi (geisha) – sweet, fruit loops-y, muted acidity.
Panama Esmeralda Special (Non-auction lot) (geisha) – floral, sweet, grapes.

Wow… the basement of Stumptown Seattle was huge!  And the training room!  I want one of those in my basement!

View photos from the Seattle Cafe Crawl: http://www.flickr.com/photos/baristahands/sets/72157602656887474/

Anyways… I had a great time trying all these coffees over the last week and a bit… thank you to every barista who shared their craft and passion with me!  I hope I can return the favour to you soon!