Great news for Pilot Coffee

Finally offically announced:

Pilot Coffee (sharing space within their Te Aro Coffee location) have secured their own space around the corner.

Kudos on the amazing developments.

What does this mean for the new open space?
- More seating?
-More kitchen space
-More retail
-Sensory lab?

Skies the limit.

Congratulations Pilot Cofee

NY: Gorilla Coffee

Gorilla Coffee
Address: 97 5th Avenue
Neighbourhood: Park Slope
Borough: Brooklyn
website, @gorillacoffee,

Getting back into the Brooklyn scene meant that travel over to Park Slope and head up some vintage shops. Along the way we stopped off at the famous Gorilla Coffee were - at one point in time, the entire staff walked out - Even with this shocking news, the buzz of this cafe did not seem to stop.

NY: Oslo

Oslo Coffee
Address: secret Roastery location
Neighbourhood: somewhere in Williamsburg
website, @twitter, Tel: 718 782 0332

These NY food laws are very meticulous and zoning is "unique", Red-Tape, loop-holes.... who knows. But the Guys from Oslo were kind enough to direct me to their off-site roasting location.

YEAH, out in the middle of industrial land - thanks guys (light-hearted jokes aside). They operate their Probat out of a small space, but it works for John and JR. It's taken me a while to finally post up their secret location, and the barista are very good at protecting their privacy. Not everyone can name drop and collect phone numbers right....

NY: Gimme! more BK

Do you ever go on vacation, but try to maintain your workout schedule?

We really tried while in NYC, but sometimes there is just too much excitement that we couldn't wake-up before the blistering heat wave. The photo above is pre-run with my BFF - gets dragged along to Espresso Adventures religiously and is subjected as a sounding board.. you have one of those friends that you can always count on.... So we dragged our butts out of our rented apartment and went out to explore Williamsburg, BK.

gimme! Coffee
Address: 495 Lormier Street
Neighbourhood: Williamsburg, BK
website, @twitter, Tel: (718) 388-7771

Acquainting yourself with the neighbourhood during your holidays is the best feeling of discovery. Stumbling upon the cafe you were searching for last trip is even bigger bonus. First it happened with Oslo then gimme! We designed our route that we would run up to Manhattan Avenue and loop back towards Lormier. We weren't going for distance, more about exploration. Found some good street art, boutique shops to visit later, and a "White Castle" restaurant. How amazing.
Vibrancy is an appropriate word for the transformation of this once predominately Hisidic Jewish, and Latin community.
Vintage shops, independent cafes, condos, restaurants, popping up like a well-maintained plant.

Fun Friday: Fratello preview; Prarires

This weekend, Fratello will be the host for the
Prairie Regional Barsita Championship, happening August 6th.
Live stream can be found here.

Heavy competition from the Alberta region; with favourites from local roasters Phil &Sebastian throwing their own in-house competition to find their best competitor.
I'll be keeping a watchful eye on the internet.

Last week the boys over at Fratello Coffee Roasters sent me a large box of Coffee - thru Fedex. After trying to delivery twice (both times I was away on an espresso adventures) I finally went to the main depot to pick it up.
Getting the coffees over only took about 2-3 business days, and the roast dates were clearly labelled on all 5 bags.

Roasters: Caffe Pronto

Caffe Pronto
Address: 90 Russell Street
Located: Annapolis, MD
website, @twitter

Located in some industrial area to house their craft - coffee roasting, this bunch of coffee geeks makes you feel at home. As you drive up to their roastery, it's serene chills go through you - because you've reach the home of the 2011 National Brewers Cup champion Andy Sprenger.
To make this visit more exciting, we'd get a personal tour of the grounds and a peek into their laboratory.....

Moonbean Coffee Company

Moonbean
Address: 30 St. Andrews Street
              (St.Andrews and Kensington)
Neighbourhood: Kensington Market
website

Moonbean Coffee Company established itself in 1995 bringing a presence for micro/batch roasting. Giving a local choice for Toronto - it's been a mainstay in the for well over a 15 years. What's brings established coffee go-ers to this location, relaxed feel.
Citizens of Toronto discover this charm most likely during their travels through the Market - and once they find this charming spot it begs for more frequent visits.

Bean Talk: Panama Rio Serreno

Beans: Panama Rio Serreno
Spotted: Te Aro Roasted
No longer brewing as a SO (Single Origin), but you can find it in Te Aro's new espresso blend: Elevens.

Why are we so excited about these beans? Micro-lots pop up around the coffee belt, and it's not unique to just the Panama region. But if you scroll to the photo of the dried beans below you will see something unique about their processes.

Go to Te Aro's blog to read up on Andy and Chris recent adventure to Guatemala Origin trip and discussing processes... from cherry to dried coffee bean.

Wait, don't the beans on the LEFT look a little odd, they're more red than the normal green beans.

Honey Process my friend.

The mucilage (a thick, gluey substance filled with proteins and sugar) that covers the bean is left on during the washing phase. As the beans go through the drying phase the remaining mucilage produces the red glowing tinge. It's said to generate an amazing, sweeter taste compared to a fully washed bean.

Farmers have traditionally chosen the coffee cherries during the middle of harvest season, as they've found the cherrys to be naturally packed with more sugars and oozes with "honey" sweetness.

First Experience: Coffee Tree

Address: 2412 Bloor Street West

              (Jane and Bloor)
Neighbourhood: BloorWestVillage
(416) 767-1077; website

Let's talk about the oldest Toronto Artisan Roastery: Coffee Tree. They've been roasting and procuring beans since 1988. With their very own on-site micro roaster, and a daily roasting schedule, it'd only make sense that they would source from the coffee producing belt.

Roasters: Detour Coffee

Detour Coffee Roasters                   

Address: 41B King St. West
              Dundas, Ontario
Neighbourhood: 

(website, @detourcoffee)

Toronto needs local roasting powers, and we're seeing this trend emerge as the likes of TeAro, Social, Merchants of Green Bean (and their Coffee Network), T.A.N and Rufino (Classic Gourmet) roast within the GTA. There is a step in the direction to go local, but it's the quality and consistency that creeps in the background. But it doesn't surprise me that some cafes are sticking to the well-known, such as Intelligentsia (Chicago), 49th Parallel (Vancouver), or Stumptown (Portland/Brooklyn), but they should really consider the local guys. They're quickly catching up with these power houses, and their learning as they go along.

The lovely guys at Detour, Kaelin (Owner) and Geoff (Lead Roaster), invited me to come and check out their Burlington Roastery and discuss the finer details of their craft. Once located in their Dundas, ON cafe, they've moved to a bigger site capable of keeping up with all the new orders they get and try to upgrade their roasting capacity. Since the move, they've also equipped the roaster with a custom-made wet scrubber to help reduce 60-70% of smoke emissions. That's accountability right there.