I live in Vancouver (Canada) and I'm trying to find some different beans to try out. I generally switch between Black Cat and 49th Parallel's Epic blend. Can anyone suggest some different beans I can find locally? I don't want to order them. I want to be able to go out and buy some whenever the urge strikes me.

Thanks!

Here are a few that I've purchased beans from:

1. JJ Bean has a few different espresso blends. The roaster is on the Powell street location but all their locations sell beans. My favourite is Espresso Palomino but I am not sure if they still sell this blend.

2. Ethical Beans on Kootenay St in Vancouver. They roast at the back of their cafe. Whatever they sell in the supermarkets don't have a roasting date. If you go to the cafe you can ask for freshly roasted beans.

3. Agro Cafe roasts and sells fair trade beans. Two locations. One on Hamilton Street in Yaletown and one on Granville Island.

Hope this helps.

I posted a reply to your question on coffeegreek:

Have you been to Elysian Room? There is one on 5th Ave just off Burrard (there is also another one but I cannot recall the address). Their beans are roasted by 49th. If you like BC and Epic you should also like this blend. In terms of flavour I find it more chocolately then both. It is $18/pound so a bit pricier.

There is also JJ Bean. I haven't tried them in a while and a few places on Commercial Drive that you may wish to check out. I've attached a link to a guy in Seattle that recently did an espresso tour of Vancouver - Mark Price had mentioned it somewhere. I am definitely looking at trying out the place on Davie Street and on Commercial.

http://ineedcoffee.com/09/vancouver-espresso-vacation/

The only other kind I have tried (other then Saltspring and Kicking horse from stores - usually on the stale side) is Moja. There are in North Vancouver. I found their blend to be more bright and acidiy (citrus) then BC, Epic or Elysian. As it ages (4-6 days from roast) it tends to get smoother but still not in the same league (at least for me) of the above 3. It is $15/pound.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you try anything new that you like

http://coffeegeek.com/forums/espresso/blends/429793

tlo wrote:Here are a few that I've purchased beans from:

1. JJ Bean has a few different espresso blends. The roaster is on the Powell street location but all their locations sell beans. My favourite is Espresso Palomino but I am not sure if they still sell this blend.

2. Ethical Beans on Kootenay St in Vancouver. They roast at the back of their cafe. Whatever they sell in the supermarkets don't have a roasting date. If you go to the cafe you can ask for freshly roasted beans.

3. Agro Cafe roasts and sells fair trade beans. Two locations. One on Hamilton Street in Yaletown and one on Granville Island.

Hope this helps.

Good to know about ethical - I have often thought of buying some, had in the past but was often stale. Maybe will check them out the next time I am going to Bosa.

Never tried Agro. Are they in the public market?

Find John and Bronwyn at Granville Island. Hindz, I think is the name they use. They are in an artists studio down near the Granville Island Hotel on the L. hand side. Frankie at the La Marzoco dealership on Boundary and 1st always has some interesting local stuff as well.

thefly wrote:Never tried Agro. Are they in the public market?

I've never been to the Granville Island location. I don't think they are in the market though.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I had tried Argo but Have had freshness consistency problems with their beans, same with JJ. I even find the Black Cat bought from Wicked Cafe seems to have a short shelf life, and that's while storing in my vacu-vin container. I keep going back to 49th not because of the taste, (which is good mind you), but for the consistency and seemingly long shelf life. I only make espresso for myself so it can take me a while to go through a lb. I will have to try the Elysian seeing as they are the same roaster. I did notice ECM (or Frankie), has a nice selection of beans. I picked up a few different bags a while back but again found most of them were not so fresh. Maybe my Oscar is just unforgiving. Maybe it's me!

Try separating the bag into a day or two portions and freezing them. I use ziplock bags and double bag them. I remove a bag and let it warm up (still sealed) for a few hours before using.

There is a thread here that discusses an informal study done whereby it was determined that this does not negatively affect the coffee. What will kill the coffee is storing a large bag in the freezer and opening and closing it - this introduces condensation.

As for BC - the best days are 4-8 days past roast. Wicked gets their shipment on Thursday. Hits the shelves either Thurs or Fri. At this time it is 1-2 days past roast.

Thanks fly. I used to do the freezer thing before I got the vacu-vin. I may try separating into 2 lots, one in the vacu and one in the freezer. My issues with BC weren't with initial freshness, just that it seems to go downhill rapidly compared to 49th. Perhaps storing some in the freezer will help this.

I have read the many threads on storing beans My laziness often gets the best of me.

I have experienced the same thing for BC. As such I just have 2 days worth opened at a time. I am then usually drinking it at its peak.

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.