One Spring day in 1995 coffee site is born... · Wednesday March 21, 2012 by colin newell
It was on a warm Spring day in 1995 that I was fooling around with an IBM PS/2 running Windows for Workgroups. On other boxes I would soon install and play with early versions of Slackware Linux, Windows and OS/2 (WARP). And on those boxes I would start out with a gopher server server playing with something that would soon turn the World on its ear — The World Wide Web HTTP protocol.
Working in what is now called “Systems” at UVic, I was lucky enough to be at ground zero when the World Wide Web was first flashed up. I tested GOPHER on several machines before running an HTTPD server on a ethernet enabled PC workstation – that would have been as early as the Spring of 1991.
The original domain name, espresso.ts.uvic.ca (which I used for some work related stuff, electronics, radio and so on…) would briefly be the platform for the first version of “The Coffee Experts Group…” (on or about 1994) and this would soon depart for an ISP downtown called Octonet as well as a relative newcomer to Victoria, Islandnet.com
The coffee themed pages become so popular so quickly that I hastily moved it all onto Octonet.com and mirrored it at Islandnet.com where it lives to this very day.
The coffee websites first official domain name was coffee.bc.ca (which is this blog you see today!) The coffeecrew.com (Coffeecrew) [a more modest moniker than “Experts”] was adopted in the late nineties.
17 years on. Happy Birthday to us! Click on the photo below for the bigger view.
Thanks to our our readers for hanging in all these years…
2012 We review David Lynch coffee and Ridgelyne Jamaica Blue Mountain · Monday February 20, 2012 by colin newell
I get lots of coffees to sample in the course of a year – a lot of it I buy myself… some of it makes its way here after an offer to taste is received in the e-mail.
In 2012 I hope to write up more of the beans that I have been sampling.
So let’s jump in with David Lynch’s Signature coffee; his house coffee and his espresso.
Not going to call them a blend because I believe that they are single origin Oaxacan coffees from a single farm in Mexico.
I brewed David Lynch’s signature coffee – seemingly sourced and roasted for drip coffee. Like most of Lynch’s work, the coffee, brewed as drip, is immediately challenging – This is not your average single origin Mexican coffee and it has some odd flavors in the cup that are off putting but at the same time kind of persuasive.
There is a lot of chocolate in the cup but also subtle hints of rubber, resin and pine solvent… deep, deep in the mix.
Thankfully, my brain tuned most of the nasty stuff (which was way down in the mix – playing it honest here…) the chocolate and sugar came through.
A second brew cycle came through a little better (ran a Hario paper filter on the 2nd brew) and it offered a little bit more clarity with less “industry” in the cup.
It is said that Mister Lynch drinks upwards of 15 cups of this brew a day.
I could do two. It is not a bad coffee. Is moderately interesting and upon closer inspection is roasted by Allegro coffee. The one problem with branding coffee in this way is that most people are more surprised that an edgy movie director would put his name on a bag of coffee. It’s an odd juxtaposition.
From our new friends at Simple Industries Inc. in Ottawa, Ontario comes a couple of bags of their 100% Ridgelyne Jamaica Blue Mountain.
Now this is something I can relate to: A cup of coffee that is all fruit, a bit of chocolate and not a hint of bitter or imbalance.
One of the minor challenges of sourcing JBM is (and I am going to get spam comments in no time…) is getting it fresh (meaning out of the roaster and to my door within a week or so…) – for most of us, it is almost impossible UNLESS it is bought green and roasted locally or regionally. Ridgelyne is roasted in Jamaica and shipped to Ottawa and then shipped from there. Risky. That said, my samples had only hints of staling – likely out of the roaster 2 or 3 weeks. For most people (normal folks that do not obsess about subtlety in the cup), this is not that much of a problem.
The Ridgelyne JBM has lots of fruit in the cup; plum by and large, a mild side that Andrea thought was “Kona like” – I did not taste that. I got lots of balance, no bitterness and a very full body that was all fruit and flowers with few chocolate or cocoa notes in the cup. The website offers it for around $35/pound (down from $50/pound elsewhere…) and refers to it as the most coveted cup of coffee on the Planet. Yes, for most people, JBM is associated as old school luxury coffee – and for good reason. It tastes great.
In the rest if this blog (tomorrow likely…) I will go over some more of the details of the JBM (all good) and get back to the David Lynch coffee to talk about his signature espresso.
2012 In the belly of the brewing beast Bonavita blog chapter 1 · Sunday February 12, 2012 by colin newell
The Bonavita drip brewer – lucky to have one to play with. Thanks to Theresa at Supramatic in Ontario and Todd Larrabee for being part in dreaming up this thing.
The Bonavita is something of a “port” on the Dutch made coffee wunderkind, the Technivorm – as much great coffee maker as it is Rube Goldberg brewing machine – for my taste, spot on brewing numbers but one too many moving parts.
The Bonavita strips away all the nonsense and leaves us with a 1400 watt engine and a sound and righteous water heating tower, a Melitta #4 filter holder and a volume rich glass carafe. The on/off switch pretty completes the complement. Shuts itself off in 15 minutes if you forget. Brews a full pot of perfectly hewn joe java in less than 6 minutes – all at the unflinchingly perfect brew temp. of 197 degrees (F)
Going to do a full review on this great, and affordable brewer in a day or two!
Click on any of the three pictures for a larger view – Picture a: Temperature observations of the carafe and brew basket
Picture b: Keeping time with the triple glass timer from Silk Road Tea
Picture c: The Bonavita tower mated with a Hario V64 ceramic holder and a Hario glass carafe.
Victoria Food Culture at the top - ULLA Restaurant · Saturday November 26, 2011 by colin newell
When a great restaurant opens, there is one big mistake that a diner can make – and that is…
Not getting there early – that is, when the place first opens… Well, it can be problematic.
Because as time passes, the legend (and reputation) of the restaurant develops and with that, your expectations – particularly on your first visit.
And so you know, this is not quite like taking your first trip to San Francisco or the Napa or Sonoma Valley and picking out some established places – which are probably guaranteed to be good based on “travel expectations”. Which is another phenomenon entirely… Not like that at all.
So. ULLA. It has been open over a year (maybe 1.5 years…) and the reviews have been stunning. Apparently it has achieved a coveted Top-10 Enroute rating from Air Canada… OK. Checked the link. Yes it has. Impressive.
We booked a week or so in advance because this place tends to be busy – because of its reputation. And we landed on a very, very blustery Wet Coast Victoria evening while thousands of folks were without power, Ferry boats were docked and flights grounded. Consequently, there were a few cancellations at ULLA. No problem.
The room has a comfortable and warm feeling to it – we received a very friendly greeting at the door with an offer to take our coats – We were dining with another couple who had never been there – they were seated and giddy with excitement.
Menu’s and wine list immediately in hand we were given plenty of time to mull over the adult beverage selection and ask any preemptive questions about the menu or the ULLA concept.
Within a few minutes we had glasses of wine in hand and were quickly zeroing in on appetizers and mains.
Andrea had the 63 degree soft poached Egg on a brioche, with chanterelles, cipollini onions, black garlic jus, and parmesan. Well presented but kind of a single note item – like it was missing something extra on the plate to offer contrast.
Please note that Andrea’s palette is way more advanced than mine – in short, she is a super-taster and can pull flavors off of the plate and scents out of the air that a bloodhound would miss. It is an amazing talent to see at work.
Our couple friends (much to my chagrin) ordered two of the same appetizers; Escargot… 6 on the plate with lots of drizzle flourishes.
Note: These were not just ordinary snails – they were basil fed snails.
Yup. Not kidding.
Our friends thought they were yummy, that there was not a lot of snail on the plate and that it was more art than substance. Not a nit pick folks, just an observations.
My appetizer: Edremit, gemlik, castelvetrano and picholine.
Any ideas folks?
Olives. For whatever reason, I ordered a bowl of olives to nibble on. I love olives and these were all very tasty, different and appetizing.
Mains: Here was one of those times where I felt like smacking my friends on the head.
Andrea, Steve and Sharon had the pork tenderloin…
Still meadow farm pork loin, braised cabbage, Potato roesti (hash brown), celery root, bacon, cheddar, apple, gastrique (Gastrique is caramelized sugar, deglazed with vinegar, used as a flavoring for sauces…)
The pork was perfectly prepared and presented on the three plates – a veritable art gallery of small items to taste and enjoy.
I had the halibut cheeks on a bed of beluga lentils and roast sugared almonds, tents of steamed spinach and grilled baby cauliflower caps. The cheeks were slightly overdone and watery but everything else was dreamy and perfect. I could have eaten a plate of the lentils and almonds. The baby cauliflower was sublime.
ULLA is artistry pushed to the limit. Service is polished, at the ready and entirely unobtrusive. When we had questions, there were instant answers.
It’s entirely possible that someone with unrealistic expectations would be disappointed here. For me, any minor flubs in the kitchen are made up in superlative service and understanding of the product.
For me, any overall criticism would be: ULLA is a very serious restaurant. It is not a fun restaurant. There is a ton of passion and prowess here – but it is not a place where you raise glass after glass of wine hooting and hollering with joy. The food is art and ULLA is a food art gallery. And you know what they say about Art Galleries – they are repositories of brilliant works where you hold your voice down in quiet humility while you appreciate the artistic efforts of… well… artists.
If you love food, art and art galleries, you will love ULLA. But don’t be too noisy about it. Out of 10 points per, I would rate the food at 8.5 – Service 9.5 – Presentation 9.5
Colin Newell is a Victoria area resident, food and coffee lover – and occasional writer for EAT Magazine…
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