As indicated previously, I’ve stopped actively maintaining this blog as I no longer live in the Okanagan. I’m not ruling the possibility of the odd post here and there, but the frequency of posting will be very, very sporadic. I wish I could tell you some sites or blogs to check out related to coffee in the Okanagan, but I don’t know of any others. Happy drinking.
Latest
Okanagan Barista Jam
A couple weeks ago Blenz Vernon played host to Vernon’s first official gathering of coffee nerds, the Okanagan Barista Jam. This event was put together by a few hard working people with the purpose of getting some of the scattered coffee community of the Okanagan in one place for an evening. While the centerpiece of the night was a loose and really fun series of head to head latte art pours, I think the most important aspect of the night was the opportunity for like minded coffee nerds to meet and geek out for a few hours.
Kamloops’ Cafe Motivo sent no less than four staff to come participate, three of Blenz baristas poured, one from Vancouver, one from Vernon’s Bean to Cup, and yours truly. In addition, there were those who came to watch and chat, but didn’t particpate in the jam itself. I suspect I may have missed one or two here. The turnout was high, especially as this was a first time event.
In the context of coffee in the Okanagan, I think this event signified a few things:
1) The scattered coffee community here is coming together and enjoying it.
2) There are those willing to put in the effort, time, and money to pull off an event like this.
3) There is a receptive group of people to participate and watch such events.
4) There is some commitment to quality and community.
When I started this blog eighteen months ago, an event like this was essentially a pipe dream, it’s great to see things moving fast here. Especially in Vernon!
The next jam is slated to take place in Kamloops, at Caffe Motivo on May 30th. Check out the Okanagan Barista Jam page for more info.
Adieu
Astute readers will notice that it’s been nearly a month since my last post here. Due to a number of factors, this blog has slid a fair way down the priority list in the last few weeks. It’s been a very, very busy time, and consequently it has been difficult to find time and inspiration to channel towards writing here.
One thing I would like to highlight is the recent Okanagan Barista Jam that took place last week in Vernon. This was a tremendously positive event, one that I really enjoyed. I will write about my experience and impressions from the event in my next post.
In the mean time I would like to get to something I’ve been thinking about for some time: After much deliberation I’ve made the decision to leave the Okanagan for Vancouver. There are many, many reasons, but the primary one is that I simply can’t make a decent living here. I’ve been chasing potential for the last eighteen months, but have been left struggling for either decent hours, decent pay, or simply a job in which I can use my experience to contribute.
Founding and writing for this blog has been a terrific experience for me. I’ve made so many connections with so many great people. There are many wonderful people that toil in the coffee trenches here for little recognition or barely any pay, doing it primarily because they love it.
The flipside of this is I’ve also seen so many of them leave, whether because they simply can’t make ends meet on what they are paid or because what they bring to the table is for one reason or another not recognized as valuable. If these people were induced to stay -if staying was worth their time and effort- we’d probably see a strong and vital coffee community in the Okanagan.
I’ve gained a ton of confidence in my convictions and experience, and they are now leading me away from the Okanagan. I’ve written here about wages, about respect for experience, about equipping workers with valuable training and skills. I’ve written about quality, about giving people something that is worth paying for, I’ve written about the need for individual businesses to see beyond their figurative noses so that they can help create a vibrant and creative local community. And these things are happening more and more. Since I started writing there’s been barista jams in Kelowna and Vernon (and one planned for Kamloops), there’s been public coffee cuppings, and some great web presence and interaction between coffee people here. I feel like in some small way this blog has planted, or at least watered, the seed for a coffee community here.
So, though this will not be my last post here, this is a farewell of sorts. I’ll be moving at the end of June. I can’t write Okanagan Coffee Blog if I’m not living in the Okanagan, so I will cede authorship. More on that in the next few days.
I’d like to thank everyone I’ve connected with through this blog. Baristas, shop owners, roasters, coffee nerds and everyone else. I’d especially like to thank those who go above and beyond in their treatment of others in the community, who provide their employees with valuable skills, a decent wage, and a democratic and open workplace. This blog has been a conduit for many good things, and I sincerely hope someone will take up the cause of chronicling and celebrating coffee in the Okanagan!
Okanagan Barista Jam
I’m excited to be a party to Vernon’s first barista jam later this month. I was hoping we’d see some great events like this this year, and this is the second one in the Okanagan so far! Sounds like this will be a regular event, with the first one held at the Vernon Blenz.
For more details, and contact information, check out the Facebook event page.
The Coffee Catcher
French press coffee is great, easy to prepare, tough to screw up, flashy hardware, all around a good way to make coffee. But for some, the large amount of fines (ultra fine particles of ground coffee produced, ironically, at course grind settings) is a big deal. These fines can lend a grainy, or even gritty texture to the cup, as they do not get filtered out by the typical metal filters that most presses are outfitted with. Moreover, the fines may continue to extract in the cup, making it bitter and possibly undrinkable.
There are ways around this, most of which involve an extra step in the process of brewing french press coffee, such as scooping the grounds off the top or putting them on top of the filter assembly then pulling them all up and out with the filter at the end of the brew. Another alternative is filtering the coffee through paper after the brew, but this wastes a paper filter, cools the coffee, and removes the oils that give press coffee so much of it’s character (in contrast with paper filter coffee). All of the above complicate things further.
After I reviewed Kaffeologie’s metal syphon filter, they offered to send me a pair of Coffee Catchers to check out. I remembered hearing about the catcher from their Twitter feed and website, but was initially pretty skeptical, as it seemed like a gimmick that wouldn’t do much that the above press methods couldn’t do. I was very wrong.
The Coffee Catcher is a device designed to make the preparation of good french press coffee cleaner and easier. The catcher is disarmingly simple in both design and use. Essentially it is a disk of fine metal mesh sandwiched between two steel disks of a slightly smaller diameter with four small oblong slots, along with a detachable metal handle for placing and removing the catcher.
To use the Coffee Catcher, you simply put it in the bottom of your press, add coffee, add water, steep, and press asyou would normally. The catcher works by trapping fines and “sludge” under the disk and away from most of the subsequent brew. Fines are pushed through the mesh when water is poured, but cannot come back up (for this reason it’s advisable to add coffee, then pour water fairly assertively on top). After pressing, decant the coffee and look through the bottom of the press to see that trapped sludge that would otherwise be in your cup. Cleanup is fairly easy to, simply hook the catcher on it’s handle and pull all the ground up and out of the press.
The result of all of this is a startlingly better cup of press coffee, with tons more flavour definition and clarity, and a far extended cup life, all with essentially zero extra effort. The cup quality easily competes with filter coffee, while still retaining the oils that give press coffee a distinction in body and mouthfeel. If I was a cafe that served press coffee I would hurry to outfit every press with one of these things.
Of course, as coffee nerds are apt to do, we can complicate things by using the catcher in a variety of different ways, including the use of two at once. This is something I may explore in future posts, but for now I’ll leave that for you to explore.
To order or further explore coffee catchers, check out Kaffeologie’s website and blog, order now, and 50% of the price will go towards tsunami relief in Japan!
