Cafes in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Talk about your favorite cafes, local barista events, or plan your own get-together.
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SlowRain
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#1: Post by SlowRain »

I realize this is a long shot, but I figured I'd post about it anyway in case anyone here is passing through Saskatchewan on the #1 Highway and is looking for a cup of coffee in the Moose Jaw area as they heightail it though the province.

I didn't do a whole lot of research while I was there, just some quick internet searching, but I came up with two places:

Common Cafe - they offer coffees from Phil & Sebastian out of Calgary and Transcend out of Edmonton. The espresso they were using was from Phil & Sebastian, but I forgot to ask what it was. Whatever it was, it was quite good: not too roasty and not too bright. I also ordered a Chemex pourover from Transcend (I think it may have been the Hanapu). This one was quite good as well. However, it sat on the counter a long time after being brewed while they helped other customers before they brought it over to the table.

Chrysalis Coffee - this one seems to be family owned, and they do their own roasting. However, when I inquired about the roaster, the guy who seemed to be in charge just said his father-in-law did the roasting and he didn't know what roaster they used. I ordered a V60 pourover and an espresso. The espresso was okay, but the pourover was way over-extracted. I watched them make it, and it looked like the guy in charge was just teaching the barista how to make her first one (she was scraping the sides of the filter with a stir stick in between pours). They also seemed to have grinder problems because they were taking it apart while I waited.

Of these two, I'd suggest Common Cafe as the better place to go. Neither place was particularly speedy (Moose Jaw also has the slowest Starbucks I've ever seen), but Common seemed to be ahead of Chrysalis as far as knowledge and technique goes. Still, keep Chrysalis in mind for a later date as they may improve. I'll definitely check them out on my next trip--in another 4 years or so.