Problogue

Right... on another rainy day in Vancouver, I was motivated to start this coffee tour while sitting in JJ Bean, one of the more popular cafes on my street... main st. I was planning to work at JJ Bean for the next two weeks with daily 5-6 hour shifts of video editing... but as "Christina Aguilera's Genie in a Bottle" played overhead at the mid-point of day 1, I eventually decided that it was time to search for a better cafe. There is a little prologue to this story, and it goes a little something like…

About 2 months ago when I first moved to the Mt Pleasant hood, I was having a few pints with some friends, and Greg tells me that I’m lucky to be moving to Main because JJ Bean, on 14th and Main, has the “best” coffee in the world. I don’t think much of it as I can barely tell the difference between a coffee from Starbucks and 7-11. But anything that's the BEST in the WORLD deserves a go. So I finally hit up JJ BEAN to order Greg’s "best coffee in the world" - Americano (whatever that is)... and like a Glenlivet on the rocks, I do notice a difference right away. It really is the best coffee I have ever had. I ask a cute brunette coffee girl about it, and she explains that she is roasting the beans right there in the shop. That means that the beans are much more fresh than any place like Tim’s or Starbucks, hence the great coffee.

Perfect. It’s big, lots of space. Every table on the wall has it’s own electrical outlet so I can plug in. A lot of cool people come in and the staff seems to talk to people all friendly like. Plus they have lots of selection of food, snacks and cookies (ginger snaps... SNAP!). So I’m pretty sure this is going to be my office for the next couple of weeks. Wrong. And it wasn’t the crumbly croissant that upset me. I could easily change to just cookies. But the big reason that inspired me to begin my new search was the MUSIC. I wouldn’t have even minded no music at all, but I was horrified to realize that the music they were playing here was all wrong. They play 80s and 90s top 40 satellite music that the staff has no control over.

After two hours, a nice coffee and then smooth Chai to calm my nerves, the music had become as annoying as two white beagles locked in a Volvo. I became obsessed with what would be the next gay song. Obviously with top 40, there were some decent songs coming up, but there was a consistency of puke that just couldn’t sit in my stomach any longer…

At first, “Turn the beat around” made me smirk. Mariah Carey “Dreamlover” and some Enrique crap made me worry a bit. But when I heard 2 unlimited “are you Ready” and Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby”, it hit me like a blind date with Lisa Kudrow that this could never be “my café”, and I would have to start a new search. So I thought about it and there were like 10 other cafes in between my house and JJ Bean anyways. Let's take a look at what makes a good cafe...

Friday, November 2, 2007

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
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