A Honest letter - why I haven't been writing

Dear Readers,

This is an honest letter as to why I haven't been writing for the past year:

At first it was the excuse of "I'm busy" or that the idea of creating a great post turned into writers block. Then it turned into excuses after excuses. The best one I used was - "Oh man, this is so stale, I can't use it! Now my draft box sits at 228,  never to be published, and counting. Some will never make it here, some will.

Second, I found that Social media pages like FB, Twitter and Instagram was easier - and I didn't think to put into place a system to auto post to all pages -- this is the limitations of Blogger, I fully accept this.

Third - I finally merged over to Wordpress, only to have my site hacked .... Fun Times. With a capable webmaster that thought they could fix it -- 1-2 months of work, disappeared -- back to drawing board.

Lastly, life events, travel and non coffee related projects have taken a majority of my time. Starting a business and devoting time, energy and resources has been draining. It's been good though. Not complaining.

So to all, I apologize, but I'm still here, still drinking coffee, still sharing my experience with those that I encounter.

Recap
Through social media I was able to meet up in REAL LIFE with some pretty cool people in NYC, Chicago, Calgary, Edmonton, Boston and LA. Keeping up with the scene over in AUS, HK, London, and aboard is much easier these days. I'm thankful for this community!

Toronto has seen a boom in cafe/ coffee shops over the past 15 months. Some that will survive and some that will not. There has been an increase in coffee shop owners turned coffee roasters and to that I am excited about creating conversation for this site.


As always Espresso Adventures would like to continue to bring coffee to your screens, with an immediate focus of the Toronto scene. I haven't always done my best to keep you updated, but I trust that you will continue this journey with me. I will start posting more, more about the shops, and more about the coffee that the great city of Toronto has to offer. Keep drinking coffee, this is my #cupUP.

As always, follow me on Twitter, Instagram or FB page.

Signed,
 ~CP

Costa Rica - El Quizarra (Pilot)

Costa Rica El Quizarra (Single-Origin)
Producer: Carole Zbinden
Composition: Single-Origin
Varietal: Caturra and Catuai (1370m / 4500 ft)
Roasters: Pilot Coffee Roasters (website)
Located: Toronto, ON
*Direct-Trade*

Preferred Method: V60 (Pour-over)

Thoughts: clean mouth-feel and smooth finish (similar to green tea), with a mouth watering feeling (cf. juicy grapes and dragonfruit.) Pick-up this bag if you want a single-origin coffee to discover, but enjoy typical coffee blends.

Happy New Year; Fresh starts, new beginnings

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone rang in the 2014 in Wrecking Ball style, I'm talking about coffee not the singer.

This year, I decided against a top 10, I might have different feelings in the upcoming weeks, but here are my best bets.

Mercury Espresso
Te Aro
Dark Horse
Crema
Sam James Coffee Bar
Manic Coffee
Rooster
Fahrenheit
Lit
Capital Espresso
Good Neighbour
Early Bird
Bandit

A good representation of Toronto, I must admit I am partial to the East End, and will tend to frequent cafes in my neighbourhood of Leslieville.

This year I was able to travel around the world, and met many fellow writers, drinkers, and appreciators of coffee. I reached out and did my best to meet up with those that challenge my concepts, in as many cities as possible. It's been a great year offline, and I wish I had published more on the site, but my other projects pulled me in a different direction for 2013, as such many stories landed on the cutting floor, or were never revived.

I had some great coffee from amazing roasters, few of the memorable ones:
Phil & Seb (Costa Rican)
Transcend (Guatemalan)
Bows & Arrows (Kenyan)
Ritual (Kenyan)
George Howell (Rwandan)
Pilot (Ethiopian)
Tim Wendleboe (Ethiopian)

2014 you will definitely some more writing, more photos, and more Espresso Adventures.