Articles Tagged ‘coffee’

COFFEE BUZZ: New digs and a new chapter for Happy Goat Coffee Company

Henry Assad (L) and Pierre Richard (R) have partnered to meet the demand for Happy Goat coffee

Coffee connoisseur and a self-proclaimed perfectionist Pierre Richard built Happy Goat Coffee from the ground up (pun intended!!). He began roasting top-quality green coffee beans directly from small farms in very small, fiddly batches in his Mechanicsville garage a few years ago.

Coffee lovers flocked to the quirky address for some of the freshest, crisp and clean, utterly complex cups of coffee around. This is the kind of java that creates a cult following and gets people talking like drunken sommeliers — describing coffee’s floral aromas, hints of jasmine, and bittersweet dark chocolate notes.

Happy Goat devotees (including all three Ottawa Magazine food writers) are bucking the trend in home brewing towards single-serve pod coffee makers by embracing and celebrating the craft brewing experience. In large part, we can thank Richard, who has made our coffee addictions easy to feed; bags of freshly roasted beans are available in good food shops around town as well as offering online shopping with free home delivery and subscriptions.

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  |  February 28, 2013 at 9:00 am

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ME! Happiness is… a kilo of Happy Goat coffee beans delivered right to your door

Good morning! There's nothing like waking up to discover a kilo of Happy Goat beans on the doorstep

By Anne DesBrisay

I’m a serious drinker and I guess you could say I spend serious money on my habit. But here’s the thing: I take my coffee black, so the savings from not having to buy cream (crazy expensive) justifies, I figure, my forking out more for the good stuff.

And the good stuff, of late, for me, comes from Happy Goat and to my front porch. My current favourite — given I’m a double espresso in the morning addict — is the craft brewery’s Babae’s blend. It has a complicated aroma — lots going on those there beans — but the finish is clean and bittersweet and the crema Babae produces is rich and lovely.

Just the other morning, I opened my door and there, on the step, was a kilo of the stuff. I had ordered the beans online — didn’t even know that was possible — just the day before. And just look at the date stamped on the bags: these beans are so fresh, they were roasted in the future!

The fella behind Happy Goat is Pierre Richard and I don’t know what he does to get this particular blend of beans so bang on perfect, but I’d like to wish the man who’s product I most love to wake up to, the very best of the season.

Cost: A kilo costs $38

Delivery days: Wednesday and Friday

Happy Goat Coffee Company, 57 Lyndale Ave., 613-792-1309.

  |  December 24, 2012 at 9:00 am

SPOTLIGHT: Inside the impressive workings of the Bridgehead Roastery

By Shawna Wagman

This story appears in the October edition of Ottawa Magazine. Buy the magazine on newsstands or order your online edition.

If you’re one of those non-believers who think a cup of coffee is just a cup of coffee, well, it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee! The city’s coffee culture is taking off in a powerful way with a new wave of coffee shops dedicated to the craft of making the popular brew.

In June, local café darling Bridgehead infused the burgeoning scene with its biggest jolt to date, opening its very own roastery. The creation of the new company HQ and coffee shop location number 15, set in a historic building in Little Italy, puts the process of bean to cup on eye-dazzling display.

Caffeine fix: Ian Clark (centre), Bridgehead's director of coffee, is dedicated to helping each customer find his own private coffee nirvana. Photography by Doublespace Photography.

The bells and whistles in the impressive $3-million facility are anchored by the showstopper of a centrepiece: a 6,000-pound coffee-bean roaster. But the new roastery serves not just as a cool place to grab a beverage and a bite but as an opportunity to see the whole story of your ultra-fresh cuppa joe come to life (especially when you take a Saturday-morning tour of the facility).

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  |  October 15, 2012 at 10:00 am

COFFEE BUZZ: Introducing Bridgehead Roastery’s Brew Bar

Bridgehead Barrista Meghan Goodchild demonstrates the siphon method for brewed coffee. The results are clean and clear coffee, packed full of flavour.

I remember the moment when I realized that today’s hipster coffee movement had gone too far. I was in Toronto at a super trendy coffeeshop and I went up to the counter and ordered an Americano. The sullen barrista barely looked up at me and said, “No, I can’t make that.”

I was confused. “You don’t have espresso and water?” I asked a bit sheepishly.

“We don’t make those here,” he said. Ouch.

Thankfully that has never happened to me here in Ottawa. But since that incident I have been particularly sensitive to the potential for coffee geeks to lose touch with us mere mortals looking for a tasty caffeinated drink. So I confess it was with a little trepidation that I walked into the new multi-million-dollar Bridgehead Roastery at Preston and Anderson to experience the so-called Brew Bar. I am delighted to report that it was quite the opposite of the snooty experience I had in Toronto. In fact, I was pretty blown away by the coffees I tasted and Barrista Meghan Goodchild was a wonderfully low-key guide for a newbie like me.

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  |  August 24, 2012 at 8:30 am

URBAN HIPPIE: The inside scoop on Bridgehead’s new roastery, plus fun facts about this eco-friendly coffee chain

By Jen Lahey

Photo by Matt Usherwood

Venerable Ottawa coffee institution Bridgehead has opened their very own roastery on Preston Street, and owner Tracey Clark says that since the place opened on June 26, the public response has been fantastic. Fresh, seasonal coffee? We’re in.

The company also aims to meet high environmental standards while being socially responsible: the coffee is all fair trade, and like many fair trade coffees, it’s organic too. For Bridgehead, that means the farmers get a fair price for their product, and the beans are grown on small plots where the coffee trees are mixed with other species (better for the health of the land, plus it allows farmers to grow other cash crops or subsistence crops alongside the coffee). Growing coffee this way also takes into account the impact on watersheds. And because the coffee is organic, the land and the farmers are both protected from the deleterious effects of pesticides that are used in conventional coffee growing operations.

Though anyone worth their latte already knows they can rely on Bridgehead for a cup (or three) of consistently good coffee, The Urban Hippie decided to dig deeper for insider info. Here are four things you probably didn’t know about this eco-friendly Ottawa go-to.

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  |  July 10, 2012 at 8:45 am

TASTE TEST: Could this be the best cup of coffee in Ottawa?

Not just for coffee geeks, good coffee is just good

The new posters hanging inside the popular Bank Street bakery Bread & Sons lists the espresso-based drinks on offer — cappuccino, macchiato, mochachino, caffé latté — followed by the provocative line: BEST ON THE BLOCK. ANY BLOCK.

“The first part is a bit of a joke because the only coffee place on our block is Tim Hortons,” says the bakery’s owner and barista Yoav D’Vaja. (Suffice it to say, folks who happily guzzle double-doubles are probably not in his target market.) But the second statement is one he takes very seriously. And he is ready to stand behind it.

For D’Vaja making great coffee — consistently great coffee — has been a personal project that began in August 2010. “I didn’t realize how complicated it was to get desirable and consistently good results,” he says. Only now, after travelling to Seattle, reading the literature on the subject, and hiring one of the world’s top coffee consultants to personally train him, is he ready to declare his coffee the best.

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  |  March 14, 2012 at 8:50 am

OPENING! Le Michel-Ange, a heavenly coffee lover’s hideaway

 

A coffee warehouse with its own angel has been transformed into a charming hidden café

For the most part, I applaud the extra attention being paid to coffee these days — not just in terms of better quality, freshness, and justice (fair trade etc.) but also in recognizing the importance of the rituals that surround its consumption. The experience can be just as important as the beverage itself. As the coffee connoisseur market grows, however, I am growing weary of the potential for a busload of barista ‘tude. I’ll never forget ordering an Americano (espresso plus hot water) at a trendy Toronto café and the sulky staff member looking me in the eye and simply refusing to make it. I had broken some unspoken coffee code. The experience left me feeling burned.

Thankfully there is none of that nonesense behind the bar at Le Michel-Ange, a cool new artsy coffeehouse on an industrial block between Little Italy and Hintonburg. Modesty, however, might be another matter. “We have the best coffee in town, eh?” says owner Louise Rousseau as she bids farewell to a pair of customers on their way out the door.

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  |  November 24, 2011 at 8:45 am

WEEKLY LUNCH PICK: Sliders at Hintonburg’s new Alpha Soul Café

See those chips? They're homemade!

If you’ve been down Wellington Street in Hintonburg over the last nine months or so, it’s safe to assume you noticed the large bright purple painted facade with yellow lettering announcing the arrival of a new café. The former location of the subdued Levonian Shirt Maker shop had become a bit of an eyesore. On the other hand, the sign did an excellent job of grabbing attention and making a statement, too. It seemed to scream: Watch Out Hintonburg, Here I Come!

I wasn’t sure what to expect.

At the end of April, the wall came down and Alpha Soul joined the neighbourhood. More than a café, it’s billed as a wine bar and an art space too. The outrageous colour palate remains — yellow walls and purple chairs create an overly caffeinated effect. But beneath its brusque exterior, there’s a warmth to the place with all of its homey baked goods, freshly brewed iced tea (lemon or mint!), and even turkey pot pie. While it’s all a bit eclectic for my taste, I respect the desire to create a unique social gathering space in a city starved for something like this.

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  |  July 25, 2011 at 9:20 am

WEEKLY LUNCH PICK: Morning Owl serves up tasty pressed sandwiches — and a wicked java jolt

Homemade pork loin and Art-Is-In's rosemary garlic bun elevates this fast food to something worth eating

The Place: A business savvy couple, Sarah and Jordan O’Leary were strategic when choosing a location for their independent coffeehouse and sandwich counter. Forget downtown or the trendy west end. They opened Morning Owl in 2009 on a dreary stretch of Rochester Street, a stone’s throw from the desks of hundreds of cafeteria-weary, caffeine-craving government workers.

The Deal: No place for Night Owls (it closes daily at 3 p.m.) or anyone who likes to linger (two tiny tables and a few window seats), efficiency rules this sweet ‘n’ sexy little sandwich shop that will have you out the door with lunch bag in hand in less than five minutes. The expertly pulled espresso drinks also impress. In particular, Jordan’s Australian Flat White (essentially an ultra-creamy caffe latte) is superb.

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  |  December 20, 2010 at 9:15 am

SHOP TALK: Wag Pet Shop

Photo by Angela Gordon

Can’t decide between your furry friend and your love of coffee?  Look no further.  Whether it’s after a brisk walk or an afternoon playing
in the park, Wag Pet Shop in Old Ottawa South is the ideal destination for both you and your dog to wind down.  The store features its very own line of coffee – appropriately named Joe the Dog – as well as gourmet treats for your puppy.  For those who want to sip and socialize, the shop offers special gatherings where owners and their dogs can meet new friends.  And this week, Wag celebrates its fifth anniversary! They’re throwing a huge dog-friendly bash — see website for birthday details and other information.

The Look: playful and rustic

Perfect for: dog and coffee lovers alike (also great for those who don’t have a dog but crave the furry affection)

USP: did someone say free treats?

1071 Bank St.; www.wagpetshop.ca

  |  November 2, 2010 at 2:33 pm

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