A coffee roasted 5 days ago by Hines from Nicaragua.

Subtle flavour profile. Smooth. Nice. One of my favourite regions. It is a good everyday coffee for me - not too bold or tangy.

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Well, the source of the study aside, the data is likely quite accurate: coffee houses are the perfect first date location.

A first date can be nerve-wracking, but 90 percent of singles feel more relaxed if that initial face-to-face happens in a familiar place, according to a new national survey of dating preferences and trends conducted by StrategyOne. The survey of singles also reveals that the rise in online dating has made safe, comfortable meeting places with easy "outs" more important than ever, especially for women.

"Coffeehouses are familiar places that feel like a home away from home — as a result, they have become incredibly popular for first meetings. From there, singles can determine if they want to move on to a second date," says dating and relationship expert Logan Levkoff, M.S. "When singles meet someone there, they have the comfort and confidence that comes from being on their own turf, as well as the safety of being in a public place and the freedom to leave whenever they’re ready." …

The survey of more than 300 singles revealed:

- Singles rate a comfortable atmosphere (85%), a casual setting (78%) and a safe environment (75%) as the most important criteria when selecting a venue for a first date.

- Many (42%) prefer to keep the encounter brief, and almost one-third (32%) look for a place that makes it easy to end the date quickly.

- Singles find that coffeehouses meet all these criteria. In fact, more than half (52%) agree that "a coffeehouse like Starbucks" is an ideal meeting location for a first date.

Via Restaurant News ; Tags: dating, coffee

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Well, we popped over to Wired Monk and its Starbucks-like interior, went up to buy our coffee but it was a no go: cash only.

It seems they still have a few wrinkles to work out. We’ll check back next week - and have cash - to see how they are doing.

Tags: wired monk, vancouver

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On Sunday we popped over to Soma, a coffee joint on Main (2528 to be exact). It’s lovingly called a "hipster haunt" by the Straight, which I can totally see.

There was a great vibe in there. Relaxed, artsy, comfortable. The chairs could use an upgrade, but otherwise a nice feeling.

So, it’s a great place to hang out…

… but it’s not a great place for coffee. Ianiv & I both drank our regular fare: the Americano. It’s a good test coffee. Not too complicated. Well… it was not the best roast to start with. It tasted burned, like a Starbucks brew up a little more sharp. Way too dark as well.

Ianiv found his so bad he actually put in milk and sugar. Big thing for him. Mine was drinkable, but I’d even put it a notch below "diner coffee" (the best of which is from Sophie’s, btw).

So, Soma is a great hangout, but not a great coffee joint.

Tags: soma coffee, vancouver, main street, coffee, coffee review

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Ianiv & I are headed off to the new coffee joint in Kits, the Wired Monk. It’s a franchise, so we’re a little worried about the coffee we’re soon to consume. But, hey, it’s their second day so we decided to stop over and see how it goes…

Will keep you posted.

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Last Tuesday the top lot at the Brazil Cup of Excellence was from Fazenda Santa Inês. The auction fetched a record $49.75 a pound with the winning bid coming from Instaurator and Caffe Artigiano.

There seems to be a lot of talk about the lot being overpriced and the coffee over-hyped, but the people who have tried this coffee say they love it and the fact that the price ended up being as high as it was says a lot about how much they wanted to get a hold of it.

We are really looking forward to trying a cup and we are lucky to live a short walk away from Artigiano, where they will be offering this coffee by-the-cup, brewed with their new Clover.

Here are some links with more information and opinions:
Portafilter.net
Godshot
Tonx
Richard
Laughing Meme

"I’m merely mortal and I need a cup of coffee".

Shelley Solmes on CBC Radio 2, 10 minutes ago.

Saturday we made a stop over at the Elysian Room and got to see the newest coffee machine in action - the clover.

I know Ianiv wants to blog about how it works, so I won’t say too much now except that I was very impressed with it.

The clover is a per cup brewing system. An impressive system, considering that. And it uses a new technology to do the brewing.

The coffee was like what you get from a French Press, but in a portion of the time, and far easier to clean. More from Ianiv later.

Read more about it on this review from Victrola coffee or go try it yourself at the Elysian Room or Caffe Artigiano (not sure which one).

Tags: clover, coffee, vancouver

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Part of our engagement photography was done at Granville Island, including a stop at JJ Bean. Here is a picture from that series;

Tags: jj bean, coffee, vancouver

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Noix de Coco - art by Silvia Vassileva, makes me want to run off and make a hot chocolate. Mmm.

Via morning coffee & afternoon tea ; Tags: chocolate, hot chocolate, art

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The Bloggies are open for their 6th year of awards for the Best Blogs, and you determine who the winners will be by nominating your favorite blogs.

Nominations fall into the following categories, and, yes, you can nominate a blog for more than one category!

• Best Web Application for Weblogs
• Best Australian or New Zealand Weblog
• Best Asian Weblog
• Best African or Middle Eastern Weblog
• Best European Weblog
• Best British or Irish Weblog
• Best Latin American Weblog
• Best Canadian Weblog
• Best American Weblog
• Best Tagline of a Weblog
• Best Podcast of a Weblog
• Best Photography of a Weblog
• Best Craft Weblog
• Best Food Weblog
• Best Entertainment Weblog
• Best Weblog About Politics
• Best Web Development Weblog
• Best Computers or Technology Weblog
• Best Topical Weblog
• Best GLBT Weblog
• Best Teen Weblog
• Most Humorous Weblog
• Best Writing of a Weblog
• Best Group Weblog
• Best Community Weblog
• Best-Designed Weblog
• Best-Kept-Secret Weblog
• Best New Weblog
• Weblog of the Year

To be consideed for the final vote, a blog must be one of the top 10 nominated blogs. So, get nominating. I would be very honored if you nominated us! Thanks!

Tags: bloggies, weblog awards

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Another picture of the Bodum Assam glass:

One of the gifts Arieanna gave me this Christmas was a couple of Bodum Assam double-wall glasses. These 7 ounce glasses have a double wall of glass which helps keep your hot drinks hot and cold ones cold. The pictures I took are really bad and they don’t make justice to how nice the glasses look, the coffee seems to be floating, a nice effect. Another benefit of the double wall is that the outside of the glass wont sweat so it wont leave any marks on the table.

I don’t have any actual data, but I do think that the coffee stayed hot longer than when using our regular cups. The outter wall didn’t get hot, just a little warm, so it was easy to hold it comfortably. Thanks Arieanna!

Tags: bodum, assam, tea, coffee, espresso, glassware, glass