Vancouver. The home of this years Winter Olympics. The home of the Canucks. More importantly, the home of some big names on the North American scene. This being the first stop on my trip and my first ever journey to the Northern Hemisphere my spirits were high and my expectations great. After getting off the plane after approximately 20 Hours worth of flying/stopover time between Melbourne, Auckland and Vancouver (of which I had next to no sleep even though we scored an emergency exit row on the leg from AKL - YVR) I was ready for bed...coffee wasn't my first priority. Leaving the city centre train terminus it was a 5 minute walk to the hostel (aka sleeptown!) On this walk the first 3 cafe's I passed were ALL Starbucks. In hindsight this shouldn't have surprised me, but at the time I felt really dissapointed that people still settle for this shit with the increased presence of specialty coffee in North America. The next day (Monday 22 March) is where the coffee tasting commenced and what better place to start than at 49th Parallel Roasters...
49th Parallel Coffee Roasters
Address: 2152 W 4th Ave
Machine: LaMarzocco Mistral
Coffee: They roast their own...hence the name I guess...
A great sense of anticipation and an appetite for decent espresso was what I carried through the doors with me as I entered 49th. What followed can only be described as disappointment. First 2 milk based coffee's were ordered (picolo for me, skim (or 2% as I have to refer to it in Canada/US) latte for the lady). My picolo had a lot more milk than what I am accustomed to...but I put this down to the North Americans having a "bigger is better" attitude toward coffee. Milk was very bubbly as if it were poorly textured...but again not quick to judge I put this down to either (a) the milk reacting strangely to the double shot of coffee which seemed to be the base for all of their drinks, or (b) us having superior dairy cows back in Australia. The taste...very bitter upfront and didn't improve. Anyway, onto the espresso course. Loved the way it was served (see exhibit A)...but that's where in ended. The sweetness was trying to punch through, but again the overwhelming bitterness in the cup (more than likely attributable to the double shot I was served) overruled this and had me reaching for the water in an attempt to cleanse my palate. Mark has hereby learned lesson #1...North Americans' serve all of their espressos as double regardless of how your order it..."Bigger is Better". Note to self; order ristretto everywhere i go from now on!
I should make it clear right now that I have made coffee back home using 49th parallel beans that has really, really impressed me...so I am not putting my "below expectations" experience down to a roasting problem.
OVERALL RATING: 4.0/10
Wicked Coffee
Address: 861 Hornby St, Downtown
Machine: 2x 2 Group La Marzocco GB5's
Coffee: Intelligentsia
After a disappointing start to the morning I was hoping things would pick up for me on the Vancouver scene. Next stop was a well known local place which is owned and run by an Aussie I was later informed. The location I visited was their downtown store which is the newer of the 2 locations. With coffee roasted by Intelli, and a pretty sweet set-up, my expectations were immediately set high. I received a short milk based coffee to start off with which was again fairly bubbly but at a good drinking temperature. (Note: I will not be reviewing milk based coffees from here on in on my blog...I'll stick to the black stuff. My espresso was again a double and I had to try and explain to the barista what I meant by "double ristretto" (never usually a good sign), but what I got served (volume wise) I was quite satisfied with (see exhibit B). Not overly complex, some sweet fruit acidity up front, but it possessed a short finish which was a touch saddening. The coffee is starting to improve in B.C...things are looking up.
OVERALL RATING: 6.2/10
Elysian Room
Address: 1778 W 5th Ave
Machine: Synesso Cyncra
Coffee: They roast their own @ the Broadway location
Knock knock. Who's there? An espresso with complexity! Really? Then come-the-fuck in please! Third time lucky was the case with this little gem of a location tucked away down the side streets in Vancouvers main stretch. After ordering a milk based coffee each it was time to hit the spro' for this reviewer whose palate had been savaged by mediocre coffee in Canada to date. I approached the arty, hip looking barista manning a funky lime green Synesso (they are the Canadian agent for Synesso and Clover) and requested for my double ristretto to be made SHORT. He kindly obliged (again, refer to pretty photo). I inhaled as soon as I picked it up from the service area and took it back to my table. Straight away...Yirgacheffe! I know that smell like the back of my hand. Floral (elderflower) and perfumed notes straight off the bat. Sweet, lingering cocoa and tropical fruit from first sip to last. Thank you Elysian Room for restoring my faith in Canadian coffee. Note: On my way out I picked up a retail bag of their espresso blend and it read: 60% Brazil (the specific's escape me unfortunately) 40% (yep you guessed it) Yirgacheffe. Unmistakeable!
OVERALL RATING: 8.8/10
Caffe' Artigiano
Address: 763 Hornby St, Downtown
Machine: 4 Group La Marzocco Linea
Coffee: Self-roasted
My last stop in Vancouver. With awards coming out of their awards with such names as Sammy Picolo and Kyle Straw I was anticipating great things. Being a chain with 14 Stores across Canada (Primarily in Vancouver) I was hesitant to go into the store with high expectations as I have made it no secret as to what my opinion is of franchise coffee. This experience unfortunately fitted into every other experience I've had with chain coffee houses...the more stores you open, the more the focus is taken away from specialty coffee (at the barista's end of the chain) and is instead placed on mass production. Milk based courses were ordered first up (is anyone noticing a pattern here?), and then it was back to the counter to order a spro. Again, I had to explain to the girl (who was not the barista) what I meant by ristretto and it was unlikely that this exchange of information was relayed to the barista (see digital SLR coloured diagram). OVERextracted (even past the double espresso point) eeek... and more bitter than a rather tasty IPA beer I had consumed the previous day (which is a naturally overly bitter beer). That's where i will leave the discussion because unfortunately I don't have anything nice to say here. Can we go back to Elysian Room please?
OVERALL RATING: 3.7/10
