Fickle Palate Archives: Coffee
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10 May 2009
Salt Spring Coffee @ Epic Expo
This past Sunday we ventured over to the Epic Expo in the new Vancouver convention centre. Last year at the inaugural event we were impressed by the number of local coffee roasters touting their “green” joe. While there certainly weren’t as many exhibitors this year, Salt Spring Coffee was on hand to let folks taste [...]
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21 March 2009
Americano at Turk’s on the Drive
Turk’s makes a good Americano. The crema is thick and golden. The roast is full bodied, and has just a touch of bitterness, which goes perfectly with the intensely sweet cinnamon buns.
Turk’s has a great space to relax and read or do a bit of writing. The rotating local art on the walls is usually [...]
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28 October 2008
Buon Amicis: Yummy Lattes in Victoria
Thanksgiving weekend, we went away for a beautiful weekend in Victoria. Since we were already there, of course we had to make a pilgrimage to Buon Amicis, owned by Derek Lucas, the winner of the 2007 Western Canadian Regional Barista Championship. Buon Amicis, at 110-645 Tyee Rd., is about a 15-minute walk from downtown Victoria, across [...]
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19 May 2008
Coffee in my Life
He tapped the tongs against the rim of the Tupperware to shake off the excess powdered sugar, which floated into the snow pile of confectioner’s dust in which the candies lay. Smiling kindly behind his round glasses, he extended the tapped-off gummy candy, still trembling in the grip of the tongs, first to my sister; [...]
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12 May 2008
Cooking with Coffee
What could improve a pure, unadulterated, piping hot cup of coffee? But complement, as in the case of cream and some sugar, or maybe rich vanilla ice cream – perhaps. Some less known, subtle enhancements of flavor can be added to the coffee as it’s percolating. Try throwing a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg into [...]
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5 May 2008
Keeping Your Coffee Fresh
Some commonly held “knowledge” about how to store coffee actually violates the main principles of proper coffee storage. The main things to keep in mind when considering coffee storage are to keep coffee out of too much contact with air, moisture, heat, and light. Doing this will ensure that your coffee maintains its just-out-of-the-roaster flavor [...]
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4 February 2008
Coffee Myths and Fun Facts
Coffee’s discovery and propagation has a history wonderfully laced with mystery and intrigue. From frisky mountain animals to banishment and smuggling, there’s literally a world of myths and interesting facts behind the coffee that’s so easily available to us today.
One of the most popular tales of coffee’s discovery goes something like this: An Ethiopian goat-herder [...]
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20 December 2007
Your Coffee and Your Health
Chances are, if you’re a regular coffee drinker, someone somewhere has chastised you for drinking it. And although you may have waved off their concerns for your health or their derision at your “drug addition,” you may still harbor some subterranean doubt about coffee’s effect on your health or some barely-there guilt at your indulgence [...]
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17 December 2007
Vive La Difference: Coffee Consumption in Europe and America
I delighted in my morning espresso runs. Patrons glided in, bubbling over with graceful French niceties I couldn’t understand, stood at the counter while they downed their drinks and promptly went on their ways. I sat at a table, journal open and pen in hand, people-watching and drinking my own espresso slowly. It was strong.
In [...]
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3 December 2007
Peaberry Coffee: A Cup Above
Imagine that you’ve savored many, many kinds of coffee. You’ve traversed the spectrum of roasts from the lightest, brightest grain-tasting ones through the blackest French roasts, bittersweet and oozing with oil. You’ve straddled continents, enjoying beans harvested on Jamaican mountaintops or from beneath banana trees in Colombia. You’ve been brewing it your favorite way – [...]