We Welcome Mogiana Coffee To The Growing Scout Community
January 20, 2010
The good folks over at Mogiana Coffee are now proud member supporters of Scout. We will be publishing their news and press releases on our front page and hosting a page for them in our list of recommended resources. Click ahead or jump to their Scout page here. Read more
Mystery: How Does A Man This Mellow Deal In Coffee All Day?
January 19, 2010
Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers (a Rorschach test, for sure). Barrett Jones answered all sixty. The mellow man tastes coffee for 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters, organizes people who want to open cafes, and stands fast as the gatekeeper who decides whether you give a shit or should be better served by a different roaster. Read more
We Welcome Caffè Artigiano To The Growing Scout Community
January 13, 2010
Illustrious local coffee company Caffè Artigiano is now a proud member supporter of Scout. We will be publishing their news and press releases on our front page, and hosting an individual page for them on our list of recommended restaurants. Click ahead for a taste or visit their Scout page here… Read more
Local Coffee Company Shatters 2009 Record & Raises $32,000…
January 13, 2010
All funds from the coffee company’s Kids to School Program go to help children in Guatemala
News from Scout supporter Ethical Bean Coffee Company
Vancouver, BC | Ethical Bean’s founders Lloyd Bernhardt and Kim Schachte are thrilled to announce that this year’s total fundraising for the company’s Kids to School program has clocked in at an impressive $32,000. A significant increase from the 2009 record of $21,949, the funds raised will be split between two organizations that will help to improve the lives of Guatemalan children. Read more
“Ethical Bean” Purchases Over Xmas To Aid Guatemalan Kids
December 1, 2009
Ethical Bean partners with Child Aid’s FUNDIT and Project Somos to help aid the children of Guatemala.
News from Scout supporter Ethical Bean Coffee Company
Vancouver, BC | Beginning December 1st, Ethical Bean Coffee will donate $1 from every unit of coffee sold to help the children of Guatemala. Now in its fifth year running, the charitable holiday initiative, Kids to School, will split donations between two organizations: Child Aid’s FUNDIT and Project Somos. Arguably the most important of Ethical Bean’s sponsorship programs, the funds raised to date have resulted in 345 elementary school scholarships and over $10,000 towards the building of a village for orphaned children in Guatemala. Read more
Carbon Neutral “Ethical Bean” Opens Second Café Today
November 9, 2009
Ethical Bean Coffee | 1315 Kootenay Street, Vancouver, BC | 604-431-3830 | www.ethicalbean.com
News from Scout supporter Ethical Bean Coffee
Vancouver, BC | Ethical Bean Xpress, a freestanding café operated by local roaster Ethical Bean Coffee, will open its second location at the downtown Granville Street SkyTrain station today, November 9th, 2009. To celebrate opening week, the new Ethical Bean Xpress will be offering a complimentary pastry with every coffee purchase from Monday, November 9th to Friday, November 13th. Similar to its original counterpart at the Commercial Drive SkyTrain station, the Granville Station Ethical Bean Xpress will only serve 100% Fair Trade Certified organic coffees and will be completely carbon neutral. Read more
Caffè Artigiano Local Wins 2009 Canadian Barista Championships
October 19, 2009
Barista Kyle Straw Wins Seventh Annual Canadian Barista Championships
News from Scout supporter Caffè Artigiano
Vancouver, BC | Caffè Artigiano’s Kyle Straw won the seventh annual Canadian Barista Championships held in Vancouver on October 15th, 2009 at the at the Canadian Coffee & Tea Show. Kyle is the General Manager of Caffè Artigiano’s Hornby Street location, who will go on to represent Canada at the next World Barista Championship in London in 2010. Kyle carries on the legacy of his Caffè Artigiano patriots who have won every Canadian title since the competition began in 2003. Sammy Piccolo is a four time Canadian Barista Champion, and an unprecedented four-time World Barista Finalist. Read more
Would Vancouver Coffee Shops Ever Pull The Free WiFi Plug?
August 5, 2009
Other North American cities are beginning to wake up and smell the consequences. From The Wall Street Journal:
A sign at Naidre’s, a small neighborhood coffee shop in Brooklyn, N.Y., begins warmly: “Dear customers, we are absolutely thrilled that you like us so much that you want to spend the day…”
But, it continues, “…people gotta eat, and to eat they gotta sit.” At Naidre’s in Park Slope and its second location in nearby Carroll Gardens, Wi-Fi is free. But since the spring of 2008, no laptops have been allowed between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekends, unless the customer is eating and typing at the same time.
Amid the economic downturn, there are fewer places in New York to plug in computers. As idle workers fill coffee-shop tables — nursing a single cup, if that, and surfing the Web for hours — and as shop owners struggle to stay in business, a decade-old love affair between coffee shops and laptop-wielding customers is fading. In some places, customers just get cold looks, but in a growing number of small coffee shops, firm restrictions on laptop use have been imposed and electric outlets have been locked. The laptop backlash may predate the recession, but the recession clearly has accelerated it.
More after the leap… Read more
Dolcetto Opens Up On West Broadway
January 23, 2009
Regular readers will remember that Cru Restaurant owner Mark Taylor opened up a new cafe on West Broadway a couple of months back. It was named after the grape varietal, “Dolcetto”, which translates from the vernacular as “Little Sweet One”.
[imgset:72157612871422725,square,true]
Michelle and I dropped by for the first time after an under-dressed walk in the cold last night, and warmed up with some killer 49th Parallel coffee before moving on to dinner. It’s a cozy little spot with some cool art on the walls by Philip Martin, and you know the black stuff is the real deal. Check it out at 2967 West Broadway, just West of Bayswater. They’re open from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm. Linkage.
——————————————————–
Andrew Morrison is a west coast boy who studied history and classics at the Universities of Cape Town and Toronto after an adolescence spent riding skateboards and working in restaurants. He is the editor of Scout Magazine, the weekly food and restaurant columnist for the Westender newspaper, a contributor to Vancouver and Western Living magazines, and a proud board member of the Chef’s Table Society of BC. He lives and works by the beach in Vancouver.
——————————————————–
Q&A With The King of Vancouver Coffee
January 20, 2009
Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A Rorschach test, for sure…
Vince Piccolo is the owner of 49th Parallel Roasters and its 49th Parallel showcase cafe at 2152 West 4th Ave in Kitsilano.
————————————————————
Scout Q&A
Default coffee drink of choice: I drink a single espresso in the morning with nothing added to it and a high grown Ethiopian coffee like a Yirgacheffe with high acidity which gives me a kick start in the morning. Of course I drink these separately.
Drink you’ll never have again: Crown Royal. Had a bad experience in College with it.
Sexiest fashion item for the opposite sex: Lululemon tights.
Favourite wine varietal: Nebbiolo.
The person you can imitate: My staff who think they imitate me. I get a kick out of doing it when they’re not around actually.
One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: The drug problem and resulting homelessness associated with it.
Cheap place for dinner: Giusseppe’s on East Hastings across from the Kootney loop. We have remarkable home cooked meals but they close at 7pm. I make sure I’m there early.
Book you’re reading: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (ed note: New York Times review).
Last place traveled: Mexican Riviera.
Biggest fear: Ill health to loved ones.
Cliche that you use too often: “Come on man”
Best sneaker in the world: Converse.
Your ancestry: Italian.
Under what circumstances would you join the army: Never. There is no reason to kill for political gain.
Your paternal grandfather’s personal story: Was a farmer and herder who was born in southern Italy and fought in WW2.
Dumbest purchase ever: Bubble tea.
What are you proud of: My kids.
The thing that makes you the angriest: People who take advantage of others. Child abuse.
Saddest thing about Vancouver: Homelessness and its drug problem.
Talent you wish you possessed: Patience. I think it’s a talent.
Sport you gave up: Hockey.
Mac or PC: Mac.
Best concert experience ever: Rolling Stones.
Aspect of your personality you wish you could change: Which I could relax more in front of people.
How you waste time at work: Telling others what to do.
Town you were born in: Vancouver.
Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: Seinfeld.
Album that first made you love music: Mothership by Led Zeppelin.
Default junk food of choice: Anything with cheese on it.
The career path you considered but never followed: Medicine.
The one country that you have no interest in ever visiting: Somalia.
Luckiest moment of your life: Birth of my children.
Favourite book as a child: The Tiger Wore Spikes – a story abut Ty Cobb. I was a baseball fanatic growing up. I read anything that had to do with baseball autobiographies.
——————————————————–
Andrew Morrison is a west coast boy who studied history and classics at the Universities of Cape Town and Toronto after an adolescence spent riding skateboards and working in restaurants. He is the editor of Scout Magazine, the weekly food and restaurant columnist for the Westender newspaper, a contributor to Vancouver and Western Living magazines, and a proud board member of the Chef’s Table Society of BC. He lives and works by the beach in Vancouver.
——————————————————–
