Monday, January 6, 2014

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.

Friday, January 3, 2014

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.