Summer Food Fun and Drink Number 9 Hipster Universe · Sunday July 11, 2010 by colin newell
The Victoria B.C. coffee scene is pretty unique to the Planet Earth. We have the best possible beverages prepared in every imaginable fashion.
Espresso coffee? It’s hard to beat. Like your drip? We have that too. In Victoria you can get Synesso coffee, Aeropressed coffee, Hario V60 coffee, Siphon coffee – heck you can even get instant coffee if you ask politely.
And it really is some of the best coffee anywhere in North America.
I would happily and confidently put my local baristas against anyone on this caffeinated Planet knowing that they would place well.
And it is not like we have some special corner of the market on the beans – because we do not.
We have some mighty fine roasters – and some of the best folks who know how to import some mighty fine “already roasted” beans if necessary.
We have a cafe for every one and every taste.
If you are a fan of the single origin bean (like an Ethiopian Sidamo or a Mexico Malinal) then Cafe Fantastico might be your java joint? Their roasters Derek and Ryan are top in their game and know how far to push a green bean to get the best out of it.
Black Stilt coffee (two locations) takes the environment so seriously that they discard about one garbage bag of refuse a week – The coffee is good and their Hillside location is popular with University and College kids.
For the “Too Cool for School” set, there is HABIT COFFEE AND CULTURE – Owner Shane Devereaux’s laid back style is an odd juxtaposition in a space that is hipper than a Kerouac novel – and the coffee is bad ass however it’s prepared. I do the Press when I am there – it is always perfect and the sugary selection of baked goods is always enticing.
Looking for the Zen of coffee? Consider Discovery Coffee (2 locations) – maybe not as happening as HABIT, but the turntable is just as likely to be blaring The Stones or Creedence Clearwater Revival and the coffee is never less than leading edge.
Want to drive a few extra miles? Drumroaster Coffee on the Island highway near Cobble Hill and the Cow Bay turn-off is the home of coffee senzei’s Geir, Pat and Carsen Oglend. Geir is the great grand-pappy of Island coffee and you are assured of no less than a perfectly transcendent cup of mud.
Tell them I sent you!
Summer Food Fun and Drink Chapter 6 Hario V60 · Saturday July 3, 2010 by colin newell
While at the Drumroaster Coffee Roastery with my dear wife, Andrea – and affable host Geir Oglend – partner and coffee Übermensch – we brewed stunning cups of Ethiopia Sidamo coffee with the Hario V60.
No visit is complete without cups of great coffee, stimulating conversation… and coming away with a bag of coffee and a pile of information that I did not have before.
Today was no different.
Geir brewed a Hario V60 drip pot of Ethiopia Sidamo with the Hario V60 dripper and Hario kettle (photo below).
Here is the deal:
To really excel at drip coffee (and it is, in my mind one of the most superior methods of brewing an individual cup.):
-You need a precise amount of carefully ground coffee
-A supply of hot water just off the boil in a suitable container (not all kettles are created equally…)
-A suitable filter holder (like the Hario 60 above)
-A timer, maybe a scale and one steady hand.
Weigh out the dose. A digital scale is very important here – and no home kitchen should go without one. A 60 grams (coffee) per liter (water) is more or less ideal. A 12 ounce serving (medium sized mug) is about .35L – or around 23-25G of whole beans. Select your grind that yields a total brew time of around 3 minutes – 3 minutes and 15 seconds tops. Like any other gravity brewer or filter holder (like the Melitta #4) the V60 is not flow restricted… so your instincts are critical!
I Preheat all components and rinse the paper filter with about 100ml of hot water. Does it make a difference? Don’t know. But it doesn’t hurt.
Water should be just off the boil. Boil your water and count to 10. You should be in the ball park.
0 to 30 seconds: Add the ground coffee to the cone. Use your index finger tip to make a small indentation into the middle of the ground coffee. Start your timer (at ZERO) and pour in just enough water to saturate the bed of ground coffee (about 15 seconds worth of pouring). Pour in increasingly concentric rings. Avoid the sidewall of the filter. A Hario kettle (see photo) really makes the difference in precise control of the water.
30 seconds to 1 minute: Watch and wait as the water saturates the ground coffee – there may or may not be any coffee dripping at this point.
1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds: Begin pouring again, in concentric circles out from the middle until the cone is nearly full. Coffee is dripping into your mug.
1 minute 30 to 2 minute mark: Repeat the water delivery to just keep the filter cone topped up.. Good stream of coffee brewing into the cup now.
2 minutes to 3 minutes: By now you have used up your water quota and you are watching the latter stages of the brew cycle. Do not wait for the last drips as you approach 3 minutes as the coffee will be approaching over extraction.
Rites of Spring #38 - Blip or trend - shortchanging in the cafe and bakeries · Sunday June 20, 2010 by colin newell
I want to be very careful when I introduce this topic – I do not want to inflame any cafe or bakery owners.
Because this is a very inexact and unscientific observation.
Totally…
So here goes… Brace yourself.
More often, I seem to be catching staff at some of the local cafes and bakeries “short changing” me…
By a very consistent 1 dollar.
Not 2$ or 50 cents – but 1 dollar. Always.
This has happened to me 3 times in the last month.
Today, when it happened again, I called the staffer on it.
They happily gave me the dollar that was skipped and
even said… “I thought I did not give you the right change…”
I was courteous about it and although I was thinking to myself: “If you thought about it, why did you not mention it til you were handing my purchase and I would be heading out the door?”
Did not say it though.
My thinking is: It’s a buck. It’s trivial. I generally put a all of my small change in the tip jar when – a.) I am buying a coffee
b.) Buying whole bean coffee or
c.) Buying a food product in a bakery.
So. Help me out here folks.
Are you seeing the same thing?
If you want to name names, do not do it here – send me an e-mail.
Casual observations are welcomed here – but do not point fingers at individual businesses.
I have been observing cafe culture since the late 80’s and this is one of the odd trends – could all be in my head… or coincidence.
Would love to hear from my readers.
Thanks!
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Rites of Spring #35 - Victoria's Best coffee - come on - applause · Sunday June 13, 2010 by colin newell
Someone has to get this title… so let’s do it with a picture.
I refuse to use Twit-Pic because… hey, I have my own server and I like to keep my hands on my photos – real possessive that way…
Anyway – if you asked me right now where the best damn cup of coffee is in Victoria B.C. Canada — Victoria as in downtown or near downtown Victoria (not Vancouver Island which is another category…)
I would say… without a moments hesitation…
Discovery Coffee – either on Oak Bay (where I practically live…)
or on Discovery Street downtown.
And although the music is often too loud (even for a middle aged short haired hippie like me…)
The coffee is… I beg your pardon… Fucking dope.
It just is. Enjoy life. Drink Discovery coffee. And listen to those around you.
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