Not sure if you are still in Montreal, but their's an appp for coffee shops in Montreal
http://adbeus.com/

My favorites are:
Myriad
Humble Lion
Cafe St-Henri
Pikolo
Kitsume
Melk

Enjoy

mfogliet wrote:Check out the newest Cafe Myriade in the basement of Club Monaco on Ste Catherine. I was visiting a few weeks ago during a slow period and let behind the counter.

Are you saying they let you behind the counter?

I'm at the same location now. They are pulling Café St.Henri's godshot beans. It is certainly adequate, but it was no godshot. It was interesting without being lemons, and for that I was grateful. However, it's disappointing to see a custom Kees set to 198 / 199 / 200 degrees and then they are dosing with a thwack thwack thwack. Weakest link. The PID was reading 198.

With my eye on their coffee cream doughnut sprinkled with corn flakes cereal, I ordered a latte to go along with it. Judging by the half eaten doughnut surrounded by two adults and a six year old, it will not be ordered a second time. As for the latte: it is an annoyance of mine when I need to let my latte cool before drinking it. Idk which coffee they used for my latte, but it was pulled at 200.

I haven't giveñ up on Myriade. They have another location down the street that I'll try.

--phillip

Edit: just seeing your post, Paul. My reply was sitting half completed since this morning. I'll try those other ones before I leave (Sunday). Thank you.

I tried a second location of Myriade this afternoon - Rue Mackay. They were pulling 49th Parallel's Epic espresso for straight shots and lattes. I suppose they were both okay, but still too damn hot - especially the latte. One of the noticeable differences between here and the Club Monaco location is that at CM they made a large pile of grinds and then used one of those Callaghan (I assume) dosing tools, at Mackay they "under dosed" and then used the dosing tool to fill in the spaces. Hopefully each was intentional.

One other bit: Because I usually ask a couple of questions about the coffee, baristas ears often perk up and I then become engaged in coffee conversation. There was no such chat at Club Monaco, and very little at this Mackay location. Sometimes people are busy, but more often than not I have found this a good indication of their passion, and that flows through their portafilter. Indeed, I've had baristas stop what they were doing during the busiest of days to share their love of beans or machines (including James Freeman). One of my fondest memories of coffee chat was at the Mint Plaza location of Blue Bottle in SF one day when the line stretched around the corner (which is why I rarely went there). Long story short, the barista and I chatted and chatted, and then, because I asked, she started pulling coffees on their lever machine that she wasn't supposed to (officially). I think we drank 7-8 espressos between us (I was charged for one). Then there was an epic time with another passionate guy, Phillip Ma, at Ma'Velous, but that's another thread.

Humble Lion. Here I was able to talk shop a little bit - which was very nice. This was also the location of one of my better espressos, and lattes. In fact, they had 8 oz latte, which I much prefer over 10 oz (though at home I drink a 6 oz). Unfortunately, I forget what they were pulling. I'll happily visit a second time to figure it out.

One other bit: they sell Mast Brothers chocolate. This means a lot to me as a possible indication of their care for good food. I first had MB chocolate several years ago and it was the first time that I experienced chocolate in an entirely different way. That started me on a road to roasting cacao with my Behmor, but that is another different thread..

-phillip

phillip canuck wrote:Are you saying they let you behind the counter?

Yes. That's me at the steam wand.

Though it's been a couple of days, I'm going to take a few posts to write about Friday and Saturday.

Friday Morning. Kitsune I really liked this place. Very nice baristas, and a good espresso and latte that was my favorite cafe at this point during my trip. I would definitely go back. They were serving Detour Coffee, and I did enjoy Punch Buggy blend.

Friday. Old World Glory. 9pm.

When searching for Montreal cafe threads, I came across this single post thread: RIP Cafe Milano's (Montreal) espresso machine , where Cafe Milano is brought up. On this recommendation I had Cafe Milano on my list of cafes to visit.

I haven't been to Italy, but Cafe Milano is the image and taste of many Italian cafes that I've thought about. This espresso has no flavors reminiscent of floral, citrus, or chocolate. This is no speak of countries of origin, certainly nothing about terroir. This is 1st Wave espresso, and proud of it. Think of the taste of Vienna burnt Robusta-rubber... but in a good way. Well, 99% of the way to being good. The espresso did put hair on my chest, but it worked wonders in my cafe au lait (what 3rd Wavers would call a 6oz latte). I came close to ordering another, but it was approaching 10pm.

My Cafe Milano experience was about much more than espresso. The barista was a machine of effortless simplicity. I don't know how many dozens of drinks I saw him quietly bang out in the hour that I was there, and neither did he. I asked him how many drinks he made tonight, and his response without blinking was, "If I knew that, then I wouldn't come in". He added that he it was a slow night. That was hard to believe as he fanned out a dozen saucers like a card dealer at an Atlantic City casino and had them ready to go in a couple of minutes. I have never seen a stainless steel milkshake container used so well - damn efficient when you know what you're doing. He was doing the work of three 3rd Wave coffee shop guys and girls - and like it was nothing.

Then there's the people. The restaurant portion of Cafe Milano has got to hold at least 200 people - and it was packed. The cafe is separately connected - it's an espresso BAR. To me, this says community. And, I just love so many people hanging around drinking espressos.

Friday Night. Old World, part II. 11pm.

After Cafe Milano we went on a walk (mostly) / bus ride in search of my bagel shop . As luck would have it, we stumbled upon a second late night Italian espresso cafe, Cafe Olimpico.

The first (5th today) shot I had was the hottest I had in Montreal, if not of all time. However, it was clear to me that they were playing and testing - a lot of shots were being pulled. When I heard them talking 1.3 bar, I joined in the chat and made a few friends for a bit. The owner's manual was open and they were discussing how things worked. Turns out that they had powered up two (2!), identical, three group Cimbali M39 machines less than 24 hours previous. The owner (I assume) pulled me a second (my 6th, and now it is after midnight) shot that was much cooler, but still too hot. There was now a barista, the presumed owner, three friends of Olimpico and myself talking shop - definition of a good time? I sure would like to go back there on a night when everything is dialed in and those SIX groups are getting a workout.

On Saturday I visited my last two cafes, the first of which was le moineau masqué

I will say that there are 3-4 cafes (borderline cafes) that I visited which I didn't mention because (a) I didn't have anything good to say about them, and (b) I don't think they would refer to themselves as strictly cafes / coffee shops. They were places that I was pretty sure were not very good, but I thought I would try - just in case.

That said, there are many things to like about le moineau masque - like the croissants, freshly squeezed orange juice (in front of you), shaded patio and the lattes are pretty good. My espresso experience left a lot to be desired. Suffice to say that there are plenty of good espresso cafes in Montreal.

Last cafe. My BEST recommendation.

If I only had time to visit one cafe while being in Montreal (3rd Wave), then decide easily to make my way happily to Pourquoi Pas . I visited on Saturday afternoon, and purposefully made my way back on Sunday morning before departing Montreal after two wonderful weeks.

I knew espresso joy was near when I saw written on two large glass jars (holding the two espresso choices) numbers representing:
grams in / grams out / time for preinfusion / total time.

Better yet was when the barista pulled my first shot, and then relegated it to the sink when it failed to make the total time goal.
Better, better yet was that she then narrowed the grind. It was a great shot. They pull pilot coffee roasters - and I was very impressed with the three varieties I tried over two days: Big Bro , El Quizarra, Silimakuta . I ended up buying at the shop El Virgilio, which is now 7 days post roast - and I won't get to pull my first shots with it until day 8 at best, probably day 9.

As for the latte: it was the perfect (for me and my wife) drinking temperature, very well textured and caramelized milk. Hands down the best latte we've had in Montreal. (For us).

Sunday morning brought me a different barista, but he was every bit as committed and successful as the previous barista. I was very happy.

The only potential sad news is that sometime recently the cafe was sold from the original owner to two business people that may not be as committed to quality as the bottom line. This comes not from anyone at the cafe, but from a different cafe owner elsewhere in Montreal. Time will tell.

The photo is of the sign for Pourquoi Pas. I just like it.

Thank you, Montreal. You are a very good espresso town.

-phillip