A few months ago, we posted a review of Moja Coffee, a cafe that recently opened in North Vancouver (map). Moja has been roasting for many years, but only recently opened their cafe - and even more recently opened said cafe on Saturdays! You can see us there most Saturdays grabbing some fantastic snack (I’m partial to the Thomas Haas pastries!) and a coffee. Well, a decaf for me these days ;)

This Saturday, Moja is celebrating their new patio with an Open House from 9-5pm. Here’s the ad for that:

Moja is a great addition to North Vancouver. We really enjoy going in there and are always warmly greeted. You may need to wait a little longer for your coffee, but stand back and enjoy the process. The espresso beverages are made on a handmade Victoria Arduino lever machine. All the coffee is small batch roasted on-site in their Probat coffee roaster, which you’ll sometimes be able to see at work from the window in the cafe. Doug, the co-owner of the cafe, explained to us how they had modified the machine to get the temperature gauge just right, and it’s that attention to detail that always impresses us in a cafe. Our favorite cafes all across Vancouver show a similar passion for coffee - because it’s passion that makes a great cafe, not just the coffee being served!

If you’re at Moja during a quiet time, make sure to ask your barista about his signature drink. If Doug is there, maybe he’ll make you his cocoa zucchero - a heavenly combo of Thomas Haas chocolate and espresso.

Learn more about Moja from their website or on twitter

Stop by your local Tim Hortons in Canada today (May 21st) between noon and 5pm to try a free Tim Hortons Iced Coffee.

This is only at participating stores, though a list of those is unavailable. I won’t be recommending Tim Hortons coffee, but if you want an “iced beverage”, then enjoy! ;)

Raul of hummingbird604 passed over a guest review for The Edge Cafe in Vancouver, just off of Cambie and Broadway. Here is Raul’s review:

“Had an opportunity to share a coffee with Jonathon Narvey and, while I did recall I had swung by once a long while ago, I had never had a chance to spend any time there. Since I’m a big supporter of local business, I thought I’d write a review. Particularly since I was SO positively impressed with it. And to be fair and balanced in my review, I should also point you to mixed reviews on DineHere.

The Edge Cafe looks very much like a chic, sophisticated restaurant. But the funny thing is, while it’s rather posh and nice looking, customers seem to come from all sorts of avenues of the world. And the prices are NOWHERE near the ultra expensive ones. They have created a “menu for the economic crisis” with soup and a sandwich for $ 6.50. That’s lunch, and that’s probably as inexpensive or in the neighbourhood of Wendy’s or Tim Horton’s.

They also seem to have wireless, although I’ll admit the laptop I am currently using didn’t want to connect to any of the networks. So, I’ll believe it when I see it :) Finally, I should also point out that while I see very comfy couches and chairs, I don’t know whether they have enough power outlets to sustain as many people wth laptops as, say, Waves.

The Edge Cafe is spacious and well illuminated. The restaurant/cafe has a lot of windows and amazing natural light. The coffee was actually really good, I have absolutely no complaints about that. Despite the fact that I wouldn’t work here for an extended period of time, I would be more than happy to try The Edge Cafe for brunch sometime. Anyone want to join?”

Thanks to Raul for the review! And don’t forget to hop on by his blog. If you have a guest review of a cafe anywhere in Vancouver (please don’t review a cafe you own or work at!), I’d love to post it! You can reach me by email.

The Edge Cafe
2450 Yukon St, Vancouver
Tel: 604-876-7228

On Saturday Ianiv & I went to check out the new Wicked Cafe in downtown Vancouver (861 Hornby Street). We sat down with owner Brad Ford to talk about the new cafe. It’d been a while since we had been to Wicked, the cafe on 7th & Hemlock being one of our more familiar haunts when we lived in Kitsilano.

The new cafe has the same great vibe of the other, though admittedly a great deal more modern to appeal to the downtown crowd. The decor is simple, but it’s quite a large long space to have plenty of seating for customers. Always a bonus. Wicked Cafe brews Intelligentsia coffee, which we hadn’t had for quite some time. It was nice to try it again!

The new downtown Wicked Cafe has two Clover machines, perhaps among some of the last that smaller cafes will ever see now that Starbucks has bought out the company. If you’ve never tried coffee brewed on the Clover, it works much like a french press does, allowing for a very specific brew process that can be customized to suit the coffee. At Wicked, they brew a stronger cup of Clover-brewed coffee by using about 20% more beans - this adds more base depth to the cup than the typical light overnotes. Both ways of brewing are very good.

So, go check out Wicked Cafe if you’re ever downtown around the Robson area. And thanks to Brad for taking the time to have us down to the new cafe!

Visit the full set of photos here.

We’ve spent the last few weeks enjoying our coffee from Moja Coffee in North Vancouver. Originally a roaster, Moja Coffee recently opened a cafe (M-F 7:30am - 3pm). The space is gorgeous! Simple, modern, comfortable. The location is a little odd for a cafe, so hopefully you’ll go out of your way to check it out.

I’ve had about a dozen or so Americanos from the cafe, as well as two batches of coffee beans for our home. This past week, it’s been a daily staple for us as our home renovations have forced us out to for food & coffee each day. Everything we’ve had has been great (scones are tasty too). Americanos have all been perfect - smooth, flavorful, creamy & lovely.

Now that we’re further away from many of our “standard” cafes, we’ve been buying a lot of beans from JJ Bean. Which got a little repetitive after being used to trying new beans all the time. Moja Coffee offers us that variety back.

The handmade level-operated espresso machine is the jewel of the cafe. That’s the only picture I have to share for now - despite all the times we’ve been to Moja, we’ve been in a rush without our camera! Hopefully we can fix that some visit soon.

Moja is the roaster behind the coffee at Raincity Coffee, as well as many other coffee houses, restaurants & hotels.

Also check out the Moja Coffee review from cleanhotdry.

Location:

218 Mackay Road

North Vancouver

North East corner behind the Canadian Tire complex.

The 2008 Western Regional Barista Championship will be held this week on August 14th at Heritage Hall (3102 Main St) in Vancouver. It’s a free event that’s open to the public, although I can’t find what the times are.

There will be at least 12 contenders competing in the western regional finals. Each competitor must prepare and serve 12 separate espresso beverages - 4 espresso, 4 cappuccinos, and 4 "signature" drinks of their own creation. They have 15 minutes to prepare all of the drinks. A panel of judges look at station cleanliness, taste, beverage presentation, technical skills and overall judges impression.

The top 3 baristas from each regional competition will go to the Canadian Barista Championship on October 21-22 in Montreal. The winner of that competition will move on to the World Barista Championship in Atlanta in 2009.

Via cleanhotdry Tags: coffee, barista championship, canada, vancouver, vancouver coffee, barista

The baristas of cleanhotdry.com have created a desktop wallpaper featuring espresso pulled and consumed from Vancouver cafes. Clean, simple, elegant - show your love for Vancouver coffee!

You can download the wallpaper in various sizes here.

Tags: vancouver, vancouver coffee, espresso, wallpaper

On Friday, I ushered in the summer by taking a long walk in North Vancouver. Despite the heat, I decided to go for a coffee. I went to Waves on Lonsdale and 1st.

The coffee shop was wonderfully air conditioned and beautifully decorated. There were not quite as many people there as I would expect on such a nice day, particularly considering the free wireless that is heavily advertised for all Waves locations.

Waves serves Organic Fair Trade coffee that is roasted here in Vancouver. As with all my first reviews, I had an Americano. It was made well - a very subtle taste, but nicely roasted. Definitely above Starbucks par. There wasn’t very much crema to the shot, and it was a little watery, but the taste was ok. It’s a place I’d go to hang out, for sure, and to enjoy the nice patio.

Tags: waves, waves coffee, vancouver coffee, vancouver

Early this morning, a Starbucks on West Broadway and Heather in Vancouver exploded.

At 2:30 am on the morning of February 13th, an explosion in the 600-block of West Broadway in Vancouver leveled several street-level stores, including a Starbucks and Taco Del Mar, and did some damage to the London Drugs across the street. The noise and shock wave awoke residents for many blocks around.

No injuries have been reported, and no structural integrity issues have arisen as a result of the explosion.

Police and fire crews are investigating what caused the explosion and whether or not it was deliberately set. Police Spokesman Constable Tim Fanning said that arson investigators are calling the explosion "suspicious." Eye witnesses are reporting a man running from the area after the explosion. That said, fire investigators are looking into a possible gas leak at Taco Del Mar as the source of the problem.

You can view more photos taken by a local resident here.

Via canada.com, canadian press, aol Photo credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward Tags: starbucks, explosion, vancouver, broadway, fire

Vancouver coffee and tea chain Murchie’s is under new ownership by a Victoria family, under management of Belmont Management.

Murchie’s is a 113-year-old Vancouver landmark with five metro Vancouver stores and one Victoria store. The chain was facing bankruptcy.

The new managing director, Grant Kuebler, thinks marketing lies at the root of the issue - a good product that has gone unmarketed. Though the name may be well known, it is not top-of-mind in product purchase decisions.

What will this change bring? More locations, modernization (behind-the-scenes and up front), and broader marketing.

"So we see an opportunity there, and within a year our goal is to get a blueprint in place that will allow us to expand."

Via Vancouver Sun Tags: murchies, tea, coffee, vancouver, vancouver coffee

The Urban Tea Merchant, in West Vancouver, is celebrating its third anniversary on October 16th.

We’ve enjoyed all our visits there. We have bought many wonderful loose leaf teas, our fabulous kettle, and enjoyed their tasty scones. It’s a nice quiet little place.

More details will follow from their next newsletter - you can sign up here.

Tags: urban tea merchant

I popped into the new Raincity Coffee here in North Vancouver at East 2nd and lower Lonsdale today.

I can’t seem to locate any online reference to Raincity - no website, news or anything - which is a little odd, but it does appear to be local to North Van.

I thought the cafe was in a great spot with lots of light and a very open atmosphere. It was fairly casual, but not upscale. Reminded me more of cafes in Italy than the standard Vancouver-style cafe.

I had my normal Americano and found it to be a little better than Starbucks, but not top of the line. I was hoping to find more about their coffee from their website, but that didn’t seem to happen! They sell beans in their store, but they are branded with Raincity - I do recall seeing that they were roasted in small batches, so perhaps they use JJ Bean coffee.

I think the cafe would be a nice one to sit in and do some work. It’s very bright and that’s a great change from many cafes.

Tags: raincity, raincity coffee, coffee, north vancouver coffee, vancouver coffee, vancouver cafe, lonsdale

On June 10th, we went to the JJ Bean Charity BBQ here in North Vancouver. This JJ Bean has easily become our default coffee hangout now. I’ve always loved the Main Street cafe, and they’ve used the same type of design over here in North Van.

They served up some great barbeque items, had a couple of draws for charity, and even had some fab tamales - something we just couldn’t resist. Too bad the weather was not so cooperative - been a cruddy summer so far, hey?

Tags: jj bean, coffee charity, vancouver, north vancouver, vancouver coffee

A while back, we had the opportunity to try a new cafe on this side of the water - Cafe Crema in West Van, off the Ambelside strip.

You’ll be impressed with what you see at the cafe. It’s has a very upscale yet comfortable feel. The space feels very open and the decor is amazing - lots of wood, great photography. The design was done with very particular aims for the right atmosphere in the cafe, and I think they did a great job at that.

Cafe Crema serves JJ Bean coffee, and Ianiv and I both have only good things to say about it. A good cup of coffee combines good coffee beans with a good barista. We’ll definitely consider it our ‘coffee place’ in the Ambelside area.

Cafe Crema Address:
1495 Bellevue Avenue
West Vancouver

Tags: cafe crema, west vancouver cafe, west vancouver coffee, west van, vancouver, vancouver coffee, vancouver cafe

Starbucks today celebrated its 20th anniversary in Vancouver. The first Starbucks in Canada was opened right here in Vancouver at the Sea Bus station on Cordova Street on March 1, 1987.

To celebrate the anniversary, Starbucks held "Coffee Fest 2007." Sadly, it was rather underpromoted. It was on the radio and you had to dig for it on the web. It is not on the Starbucks Canada website.

 Coffee Fest 2007
Mar 1, 2007, 11am to 1pm
Location: Shearaton Wall Centre-Street Level, 1088 Burrard St.
Starbucks is celebrating two decades of coffee passion in Vancouver and you’re invited. Join Starbucks for a one-of-a-kind coffee experience. It’s your chance to taste some extraordinary coffees and toast the SeaBus store, Canada’s very first Starbucks. Coffee Masters will be on hand to share tips on brewing at home and discuss how beans from around the world differ. It’s our way of saying thanks for 20 great years.

Whether we like it or hate it, Starbucks is a big part of the coffee culture in Vancouver. I went today and took some pictures, tasted a few coffees and got myself a $5 Starbucks card.

Go here to see the full picture set

Tags: vancouver, coffee fest 2007, starbucks, starbucks vancouver, vancouver coffee, vancouver events