Thanks Dan, that is what I was referring to.

As previously mentioned Hines / Origins on Granville island do a good job - I have not been there in some time as I pass by ECM more frequently and they carry the espresso blend - the blend is a little pedestrian to my evolving tastes but reliable. The Elysian beans are roasted by 49th but they have a more nuanced profile, lucky for me the new cafe is a 5 minute walk from work. You can also buy Vivace beans up at Re-Entry at 30th & Main - I stopped buying there because they kept trying to sell me 2 week old beans as fresh off the boat. The new Black Cat blend is pretty fine and roasted way lighter than the incarnations of the last few years. The great thing about Moja in north Van is the Victoria Arduino Lever they use. Its also worth trying to get fresh beans from Milano (Turks) on 8th & Columbia (near MEC) if the beans are fresh some of the blends are very unique. If you want to see really black beans , many many shades of black, stop in at Yokas on west Broadway near Trutch, the couple who run it have been at it for 25 years or so, funky old roaster in the corner.

I dropped by Origins on Granville Island on Sunday. I had a hell of a time actually finding though. Eventually I did find it and it was closed Peering through the window it looked like a really cool place. Very rustic feeling with lots of old espresso and coffee related relics scattered about. Definitely somewhere I will return to and check out. Too bad they didn't list their hours on the door.

I haven't been there as I never make it to the island during the week. I did however find his espresso at ECM on 1st and Boundary (by Bosa Foods) and am just making my way through it now. Very good and inexpensive when compared to other brands - paid $11/pound.

Well I was in a bit of a pinch the other day and needed beans pronto so I went 1 block down to Cafe Artigiano (you locals will know it) and bought a bag of beans. I found a bag that was roasted 4 days prior. For those non-locals, Artigiano is a local chain that was once owned by (correct me if I'm wrong) the 49th Parallel people? It's the kind of place where people go who are too cool for starbucks but still really don't know anything about what they are drinking. Can you say "Caramel macchiato frozen thingy with extra whip and sprinkles and fairy dust"? Nothing against Artigiano, this is just my feeling of the crowd that goes there. Anyhow I haven't heard much about their beans so I wasn't expecting greatness. I've been solely making iced milk drinks with the beans for the last couple days given that we're in the midst of a record breaking heat wave and those have been just fine. This morning my office was out of ice so I thought I'd try the straight nectar of the bean. Wow. I don't know if I had low expectations or what but I'm going to rate that shot with the top 5 shots I've ever had. This was probably one of the first shots pulled on the La Scala this morning too. I'm going to have to try this a few more times to see if I can reproduce.