I don’t know about you, but autumn is my favorite season. It’s not just the cool nights and warm days, or the way the trees change colour in Topaz park, it’s also the season of heavy-bodied coffee, spicy and earthy notes.
We got a good Sumatran, and we’re hoping to lay hands on a nice, earthy Indian coffee, but I know those aren’t the only big, warming coffees out there, so here’s the questions: What’s your favorite autumn-drinking coffee?
In order to help everyone celebrate Canada Day, Discovery Coffee will be open from 8am to 4pm. Normally we’d be open 6:30-5 on a weekday, but we want to go watch the fireworks and eat blueberry pie too, so we’re starting late and ending early.
Pop in, get caffeinated and enjoy your mid-week Canada Day spectacular!
Friday’s class is a repeat of Sunday’s class, Cupping for Beginners.
Cupping for Beginners aims to get students familiar with how to evaluate coffees based on SCAA guidelines. Students will be introduced to cupping sheets, the coffee taster’s wheel, and the procedure for cupping. We’ll also talk about the importance of process and its impact on the flavour of the coffee.
Course starts at 1 pm. It is one hour, costs 10 dollars and is limited to 10 students.
We call it the Sugar Bomb because our new espresso blend is on the sweeter side of things. It’s a mix of Colombia (Mesas de los Santos), Brazilian Daterra Reserve and a little tiny bit of Kenya Gethumbwini.
The Kenya does for the sweet Columbia and the syrupy Brazil what fleur de sel does for chocolate: It provides balance and complexity and makes this blend greater than the sum of its parts.
Come get it while we’ve got it, ’cause baby, the staff are drinking it like water.
I was so excited for the coffee delivery today that I woke up before my alarm. My first thoughts were, “Oh, the COEs come in today!”
COE stands for Cup of Excellence, a program designed to pit single origin coffees up against one another in a highlander-style coffee competition at the end of which, well, there can be only one. To learn more about COE, check out their web page here.
I had a look at my notes and, well, we’ve ordered a heckuva lotta coffee in the last little while. It might not be COE day. But that’s not going to stop me from being stupidly excited about the coffee that’s coming. Everything is new crop, most of it just hit the continent a few days ago. The warehouse is going to smell like fresh corn and hay when the bags with the still-fragrant beans arrive. I can’t wait.
We’re pretty darn excited to announce that Discovery Coffee is having a new store!
For those of you who know Victoria well, it’ll be on the corner of Oak Bay and Amphion, really close to Oak Bay Bikes, the Royal Jubilee Hospital and the intersection of Oak Bay and Foul Bay roads. For those of you who don’t know Victoria well, here’s a map:
View Larger Map
It will also have the first halogen bar in the city, a roaster (man and machine) visible to the public, and space for cuppings and classes, just like the store on Discovery St.
Keep your eyes peeled for photos of the place, and we’ll let you know when the baby is born sometime in August!
Classes have started forthe summer here at Discovery Coffee. We’re offering one class every Sunday and another sometime during the week (we like to keep you guys on your toes).
This week the class is Cuppingfor Beginners, which will cover why we cup, how it’s done, using SCAA score sheets and encourage people to get famliar with the shared coffee terminology that can be found on the taster’s wheel. We’ll cup three coffees from three different regions of the world, and talk a little about what makes them different. Cost is 10$ per person and the class size is limited, so sign up early!
Upcoming classes include:
Intermediate cupping
Cupping for defects
Coffees of the World
From tree to cup, the story of coffee
Call or stop by to get the details!
The seasons have changed, another harvest is in. It’s time to change the espresso.
I tasted two different blends and two roast permutations of the same blend today. Here’s what I got:
#1-Nuts, chocolate, toast. Bright lemon rind notes with a little apricot.Too bright as espresso, but pleasant as a short latte.
#2-Nutty and sweet but flat. Consistency of drinking chocolate (v. nice!) and pleasant after taste.
#3-Nicely balanced nut-chocolate-fruit combo. Velvety finish that’s very, very sweet. Could use a tiny bit more on the fruit end of things, overall very tasty.
