Canadian Roaster Recommendations - Page 2

Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.
mathof
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#11: Post by mathof »

Kimbo does an Arabica blend that I liked when I tried a bag from their UK distributor:

https://www.mykimbo.co.uk/products/gold-beans

And of course Illy only uses Arabica beans in its single origins and blends.

PIXIllate (original poster)
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#12: Post by PIXIllate (original poster) »

Spitz.me wrote:Sure, I have a few to recommend that I'm sure you can find easily in Canada. The list below is in the order of preference.

Lavazza Gold Selection
Kimbo Superior
Lavazza Super Crema
Lavazza Top Class
Kimbo Extra Cream

There are a handful of awesome threads here that have a number of experiences posted to learn from.
Thanks for the information. Would you say that the likely grind level required for the Gold is significantly different from the one I tried? Would you rate it significantly above the Superior and Super Crema? The Gold is $45 CAD and I'd hate to get it and not even be able to pull a shot. For that price I can buy about 700g of fresh roasted beans from a good roaster.

Another related question, are there any North American roasted coffee's that nail this basic profile?

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Spitz.me
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#13: Post by Spitz.me replying to PIXIllate »

$45 for two 340g bags of coffee sounds like a lot of money.

I digress...

I'd start with the cheaper versions like Super Crema or Superior if you can find them. I have never had a problem pulling shots with them. Again, I'll reiterate that I've never used a flat for these coffees, or more specifically, the Vario. I can't say if the Gold will require a coarser grind compared to your blend. Sorry

You may hate these blends and never buy another bag. I'm not in love with them. I drink espressos and rarely ever drink a milk drink. Those who largely drink milk drinks might prefer these Italian blends because they can be had for relatively cheaper and they do very well in milk.

I wouldn't say that I'd take any Italian blend that I've tried over a nice old Skool freshly roasted blend. I probably only buy a bag or two of the Italian blends a year, compared to seemingly countless bags of fresh and tasty stuff.

Dip your toe in and see if it makes sense whether it's 30 or 45 dollars, that's up to you. The cafe e aroma is cheap for a reason.

I haven't tried any Canadian roasters that use robusta to mimic the north Italian blends. I'm sure they exist, I'm just not the person to ask. I tend to buy espresso blends that emphasize comfort taste like chocolate, nuts and "sweet".

Malabar Gold uses Robusta. It's honestly no better than a good Italian blend with low ratio of robusta. IMHO, major over hype on the blend based on its American price point.
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bluesman
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#14: Post by bluesman »

49th Parallel is a wonderful Canadian roaster. We first had their coffee when it was featured at the La Marzocco cafe in Seattle a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Their Old School Espresso is a wonderful classic Italian-style blend that I love - I can't imagine that you could go wrong with it, based on what you seem to want.
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PIXIllate (original poster)
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#15: Post by PIXIllate (original poster) »

Spitz.me wrote:$45 for two 340g bags of coffee sounds like a lot of money.

I digress...
The Daterra Farms beans I'm buying are about $18-$19CAD per 340g or about $45/1000g on subscription. Basically the same price as the Lavazza Gold.
Spitz.me wrote:I'd start with the cheaper versions like Super Crema or Superior if you can find them. I have never had a problem pulling shots with them. Again, I'll reiterate that I've never used a flat for these coffees, or more specifically, the Vario. I can't say if the Gold will require a coarser grind compared to your blend. Sorry
The Super Crema is about $30 from Amazon. That might be a place to start. I can't find the Superior to compare price. I appreciate your advice.
Spitz.me wrote:You may hate these blends and never buy another bag.... I'm not in love with them.... I drink espressos and rarely ever drink a milk drink.... I tend to buy espresso blends that emphasize comfort taste like chocolate, nuts and "sweet".
Understand and agree with this. That is the profile I'm after generally speaking. Do you have any suggestions for fresh roasted things that fit this profile? I see you're in Toronto. Right now I'm ordering from Idrinkcoffee.

PIXIllate (original poster)
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#16: Post by PIXIllate (original poster) »

bluesman wrote:49th Parallel is a wonderful Canadian roaster. We first had their coffee when it was featured at the La Marzocco cafe in Seattle a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Their Old School Espresso is a wonderful classic Italian-style blend that I love - I can't imagine that you could go wrong with it, based on what you seem to want.
I've only tried that once pulled on a Cremina. I remember there being a lot of acid given the descriptors. Maybe I'm misremembering.

violin_geek123
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#17: Post by violin_geek123 »

I just ran out of fresh beans for my Robot and am pulling shots with some MEGA stale Costco dark roast Colombian supremo. The coffee is not good, but I managed to get normal shots from it. Grinding finer and finer on my Helor with a 17g dose ended up with massive channeling despite WDT. Upped the dose to 19g and am now pulling pretty normal shots with lots of crema even though the beans are super stale.
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Spitz.me
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#18: Post by Spitz.me »

PIXIllate wrote:The Daterra Farms beans I'm buying are about $18-$19CAD per 340g or about $45/1000g on subscription. Basically the same price as the Lavazza Gold.



The Super Crema is about $30 from Amazon. That might be a place to start. I can't find the Superior to compare price. I appreciate your advice.



Understand and agree with this. That is the profile I'm after generally speaking. Do you have any suggestions for fresh roasted things that fit this profile? I see you're in Toronto. Right now I'm ordering from Idrinkcoffee.
If you're really just chasing a really nice and easy to drink comfort blend then there are lots of great options. I have never liked anything I got from idrinkcoffee. Everything seems like it's roasted to the same level regardless of what roast level is disclosed on the bag. I have just never had anything that was good. I'd get a light roasted coffee that tasted burnt... so, I'm just confused by their terminology or roast profiling.

As mentioned, the Old School from 49th is nice. Lately I'm preferring blends that emphasize sweetness like the comfort blends with some berry or dry fruit element. The Middle School Espresso is more to my liking.

Social Coffee Company from the GTA area here is really good and they have the Liberation is really nice. I find that the People's Daily is too ashy for my liking. I also really like the Ardi if you want to go outside your zone and taste something fantastic. It's also AMAZING in milk. Social Coffee Company

Pilot Coffee in Toronto is also a fantastic roaster that offers their versions of these blends. The Monument is OK, again it's just a little too DARK and doesn't age well. The Academy and Heritage are nice.

Again, there's an odd allure of the Italian blends that gets me to buy a few bags a year to try. They just don't taste as bad as a stale 100% arabica blend that I'd get from a local roaster. I find that Pilot's Monument blend has a small window of greatness before it just becomes super smokey and I can't finish the bag.
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PIXIllate (original poster)
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#19: Post by PIXIllate (original poster) »

Spitz.me wrote:I have never liked anything I got from idrinkcoffee. Everything seems like it's roasted to the same level regardless of what roast level is disclosed on the bag. I have just never had anything that was good. I'd get a light roasted coffee that tasted burnt... so, I'm just confused by their terminology or roast profiling.
Interesting. Maybe I'm missing better things out there.
Spitz.me wrote:As mentioned, the Old School from 49th is nice. Lately I'm preferring blends that emphasize sweetness like the comfort blends with some berry or dry fruit element. The Middle School Espresso is more to my liking.

Social Coffee Company from the GTA area here is really good and they have the Liberation is really nice. I find that the People's Daily is too ashy for my liking. I also really like the Ardi if you want to go outside your zone and taste something fantastic. It's also AMAZING in milk. Social Coffee Company

Pilot Coffee in Toronto is also a fantastic roaster that offers their versions of these blends. The Monument is OK, again it's just a little too DARK and doesn't age well. The Academy and Heritage are nice.

Again, there's an odd allure of the Italian blends that gets me to buy a few bags a year to try. They just don't taste as bad as a stale 100% arabica blend that I'd get from a local roaster. I find that Pilot's Monument blend has a small window of greatness before it just becomes super smokey and I can't finish the bag.
Thanks once again for taking the time to share this. It looks like 49th might be worth an order. Are those some of your favorite for that kind of profile?

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Spitz.me
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#20: Post by Spitz.me »

PIXIllate wrote:Interesting. Maybe I'm missing better things out there.



Thanks once again for taking the time to share this. It looks like 49th might be worth an order. Are those some of your favorite for that kind of profile?
Yes, I'm recommending my go-to blends.

Manic Coffee in Toronto is now shipping their blend too. They're blend my most regular purchase. It's really nice and sweet and forgiving.
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