X - Re-Entry

I was here shortly yesterday, and the music and sound brought me back for another re-entry. This place rocks. Today it was almost full and I got the last table with no plug. Well screw all liabilities… the man needs power and what kind of “space-themed” café would not provide electrical power to their space cadets? The man, Matt, got me a big long ugly yellow extention cord and hooked me up. See I like that. They put their trust in the customers that no one will sue them if they trip over this cord.
Again, the music was perfect and the coffee tasted good. The guys working were very cool and made good conversation with everyone.
My complaints are minor as I don’t really care but you might. They don’t really have a nice newspaper selection. They are closed early… around 5:30pm. No bulletin board, but they post stuff up on this one pillar by the door which is much more noticeable then some bulletin boards I’ve seen hidden in the back. Oh yeah and they don’t have any healthy food like sandwiches or wraps… but everything is cool because “East is East” was one block away (my favorite Indian wrap place).
So as closing time came, the music got louder and better. I made conversation with Matt, and he gave me a free brownie because the Pineapple-Coconut muffin was only morning fresh. I'll be coming back...

My Bill
Americano 2.25
Americano and Muffin 4.75

My Rating
Coffee B
Service A
Atmosphere A-
Music A+

IX - Re-Entry

It really wasn't a fair day to give a review but fate serves us all. Classic miserable Vancouver weather and I tangoed into Re-Entry hoping to send me into space. However it was a short orbit and I will have to take another trip. There was nice art on the walls and I was able to catch the tail end of the latest Radiohead album and it sounded good... as in, the speakers must be top notch... so I would also come back on a date. Oooops the place is closed by dinner time... better make it a post date date. The place was new and clean, I wish it was bigger so I could hide for hours as I work.

At the end of my day

My bill
Americano 2.25

My Rating
Coffee B
Service B
Atmosphere A-
Music A

VIII - Salt Spring Coffee

After a few so-so coffees from the last cafes, I was getting discouraged that I was becoming pessimistic about the range of the whole coffee tasting thing… So far I’ve only tasted really good coffee and regular bitter coffee without being able to distinguish flavors. Anyways, today I want a good coffee.

I head out to Salt Spring coffee. From the visit on their web site, I figured they had to have good coffee. For heaven’s sakes, their slogan is “We make GOOD coffee, that makes you feel GOOD inside.” Ha ha ha, a little corny no? But I give them credit, they really go into a science and an art of coffee.

So I walked in and the music was good. They were playing CDs and I got to listen to some reggae and Gwen’s new CD. Ever since the spiderwebs video, I’ve always had a crush on her.

I ordered an Americano and to my pleasant surprise. Bingo! A new taste. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I think it is much different from JJ Bean or Bean Around the World, the other two leaders in taste. It was mild, and not bitter at all. It kinda had a smoky taste to it… delicious.

The place is small, only 6 tables (but nice and classy I felt like I was at a B&B on the Island). They are computer friendly. They have free internet and lots of plugs however, plugging into the ceiling was a tad awkward. The art work on the walls caught my eye. Very colorful and bold. There is a bulletin board hidden by the bathrooms. The place was busy. They had an amazing selection of food and at lunch time, I noticed the constant squeak of the door opening. WD-40 management.

For lunch I ordered a Capricola Foccacia sandwich. Apparently you can order the sandwiches fresh or day-old for a discount. Hmmmm. So the sandwich is awesome. The pannini has very thin crust and the middle is just packed with goods. There is like an inch of capricola, roasted peppers, red onions, tomatoes, lettuce… just stuffed. It could have been legendary, but they used “French’s”mustard.

After lunch the music had changed dramatically from R&B to some weird orchestrative modern music I couldn’t even classify. They had one CD of a weird classic rock band that was skipping… kind of annoying but by the end of day I got to listen to Led Zeppelin I album and then a very experimental jazz album so it was a really broad selection of music all over the map… In the very end, I had to leave because the jazz was too loud and too annoying.

At the end of my day

My bill
Pannini 6.95
Americano 2.10

My Rating
Coffee A
Service A
Atmosphere B
Music C+
Free Internet +1 Bonus Point
Closed early 6pm -1 Bonus Point

VII – Cuppa Joe

As I am a numbers guy, I was more positive today to hit a better café on my “7”th spot on the list. I picked Cuppa Joe because the name speaks to me for some reason… where did the name "Cup of Joe" even come from? I wikied it and it turns out to have several undecided whereabouts, but I think it sounds logical that it was named after the American Navy General “Joe Daniels” that banned alcohol on the ships... There probably was a little whisky in the first real cup of Joe.

So my Cuppa Joe experience started with a video from their web site. Sorry guys, but that was so long and so lame… hire me next time. It did however convince me to get a latte so I could see the special little artwork they do with the cream… very nice. The coffee was comparable to Starbucks but way under the JJ Bean standard. They didn't have much food to choose from, but they did have some free samples of what the guy said was the world's most scrumptious brownie... a little too sweet, but it sucked me in for a full one. Nothing there for lunch... Boo!

The place was nice and bright with a good location for people watching. I set up right on the window bar and being right on the corner of Main and Broadway, I got a good glimpse of about 1000 people today. Location, location, location… Cuppa Joe was packed all day long. They had free internet, but it was small inside so not much selection of chairs so most clients were “coffee-to-go” drinkers.
They were playing their own music and I got to listen to a great mix from Sarah McLachlan and some other dark rock and electronic music. There was a bulletin board in the back and the place was clean and very comfortable... I will be back!

At the end of my day

My Bill
Latte & Brownie 6.67$

My Rating
Coffee C
Service A-
Atmosphere A-
Music B
free internet +1 bonus point

VI – The Grind

It’s Halloween and this is the “6”th café on review so I don’t know if that had something to do with this bad day (yesterday by the the way). I sprained my ankle very badly the other night so I had to limp to this next café with a grimace. That’s probably why nothing magical happened. I’m not going to say too much because, well... if you step in shit, people will smell it anyways.

There are two rooms at The Grind. If you go, make sure to see the big room at the back, because it is very unnoticeable if you don’t know it’s there. It has a piano and luckily today I got to hear someone playing. There were big antique chairs, huge tables and women knitting. It seemed to be a good place to work or study for long periods of time. Besides the piano, they have a CD player in the shop and I got to hear a lot of hiphop and R&B full cds (Kanye West, TLC)

They had nice big bulleting board, free internet and the place is open 24 hours. However if you are looking for a tasty treat and good coffee... well... "Bababooey-Bababooey-Howard Stern's Penis".

At the end of my day

My Bill
Americano 2.25
Chai Latte & Lemon Cake 4.60

My Rating
Coffee C-
Service B
Atmosphere C+
Music B
free internet +1 bonus point
24/7 +2 bonus points