Fine Day for Espresso

Another sunny September morning finds us happy and fueled here at Discovery Coffee. It was a fine start to the day with a test taste between the French Press and the Clover. It was an interesting test as the variables are quite difficult to control in a French Press where the Clover allows for complete control pretty much every step of the way. Yet, in the end, most of us agreed we preferred the taste of the Press. This was probably due to the steep time.
As a barista in training I, (Jaelithe), am finding the whole process interesting and am slowly beginning to train my palate in sensing the various neuances of the coffee bean. I awoke the other morning at 4am and the first thought that popped into my mind was, "Oh ya! Today is the peak day for the espresso!" And I was excited. This is how I know two things. That I am in the right job with the right people and that I am becoming a definite coffee geek. Thanks Logan.
Your welcome Jaelithe. Coffee is truly an amazing thing with multiple personalities, a lot like my new member here at the shop. Keeping a crew that is passionate not just about a great product but also respecting the bean, in its many forms, is essential here at Discovery Coffee . Its great to have Jaelithe on board.
As I walked in this morning Sam was already dosing my espresso to start the day. He had been creating new blends all morning and I can only assume he had been dreaming them up all night. Of course this turned into a guess the blend game. So if you are in the shop in the next few days, we will be running multiple espresso grinders to test these new ideas. Cheers. The Discovery Gang.

Field Trip To Candaian Barista Championship

Discovery Coffee closed up shop this weekend for a trip to Vancouver for the CBC. Having never gone to a competition before, I was very excited and assumed it would be an event built for baristas. I was, however, a little disapointed by the lack of technical tools and toys for the serious barista. My hopes in discovering brilliant milk pitchers, innovative steam wand tips and gruesome grinders were replaced by generic teas and those flavored syrups that add sweet lies to any great shot of espresso. Needless to say, I spent the majority of time observing the competition aspect of the show. Having Sam Jones, one of the owners of Discovery Coffee, as a judge allowed for a real behind the scenes perspective. All the competitors were very professional including Kat, the only competitor from Victoria. I wandered through the show sporting one of our new Discovery shirts which recieved many a compliment. This was good as many a blood, sweat and tear was spent on the design of this marvellous shirt.
If any one else attended the convention in Vancouver and has any comments to add we would love to hear from you. I say "we" here as we have a new fantastic employee, Jaelithe aka the Producer aka Speilburg. Welcome to the Discovery family.

A nice pour during some latte training.


I saw this on someones pictures the other day so i thought i would give it a go. I will try and get a better picture next time.

A quick thank you going out to James Hofmann who will be sending out a bag of his wonderful coffee for us to sample. There will be a post to follow about the coffee and his random act of kindness. If you dont already jimseven is an awsome blog to read and further your coffee education. I also will finally get to our visit from Stephen an at large irish barista.

Woke up early on this long weekend and as usual craved to start the day with a fine cup. Almost always i fall asleep dreaming of what i will start the fallowing day with. Its a long weekend and the shop is closed but what better day to go in and do some experimenting. This morning I through a cup of our newest batch of Ethiopian Harar Sam has truely turned a courner with a few of his new roasts. Our new single origins are coming out amazing off the clover and my french press of the Yirgachffe this afternoon is very enjoyable. Anyway back to playing at the shop this morning I pulled a bag of esspresso off the shelf and toped up the hopper. Five days off the roast so buttery and smooth just thinking about it, I want one now. Did some compairing and had to throw in a few single origin shots for fun. I have had an injury on my tamping hand so have been rocking the left handed tamp all week and am amazed with much concintration how good a shot i can pull. You never know could be a good skill in the future. Ok enough of my blabing on heres some pics enjoy.