http://www.cafemyriade.com

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Cafe Myriade: 1432 Rue Mackay – Montreal QC – 514 939 1717

M – F: 8AM – 8PM

Sa: 9AM – 8PM

Su: 10AM – 6PM

Holy consecutive day updates man.  I guess I’m getting ready for the new website where I’ll want to contribute regular blogs to glorify our new online home.   Anyway, today we received a dozen pounds of our Kenya AA Mount Kenya roasted to be extracted for allongé.  We’ve had many different coffees in the allongé grinder the last few weeks and I imagine this will bring a little consistency in that respect.

Speaking of espresso, we also recieved a single-origin espresso this week for the first time since we opened.  The Brazil Fazenda Apucarana won’t last long this week, but if received well we’ll be sure to bring in more.  Watch for the Kanya AA Ruera and Colombia Timana as new daily drip offerings as well.

Also, we plan to have a Tea Social next Monday around 4:30 in the afternoon.  What’s a Tea Social, you ask?  Essentially, we’ll be brewing three or four pots of tea for sampling pleasure and providing information and discourse about the teas in question.  We hope to make it a weekly occurence and grow the event to bring together new and seasoned tea lovers.  We’ll charge a nominal fee ($4.o0?) and keep brewing until everyone’s social’ed out.

Lastly, I’m aware that the website is not online.  We’ll see what comes first, the website or the terrasse.

We’ve been approved for a patio by the city of Montreal, hopefully by month’s end we’ll have outdoor seating in keeping with the ambiance of the inside of the cafe.  Also, I’ve been informed that at long last, our website is ready for launch and should be functional very shortly.   Thanks for your patience.

Also, it’s worth noting that home-appliance company Krups is sponsoring an effort to determine Canada’s best independant coffee shops.  Head to www.krupskupofexcellence.com and cast your vote, we appreciate your support.  If we somehow manage to get the most votes overall, I suppose we’d have to have some kind of pancake breakfast by way of thanks.

Lastly, our current hours of operation are as follows:

Mon – Friday: 8AM – 8PM

Saturday: 9AM – 8PM

Sunday: 10AM – 6PM

For the holiday Monday (the 18th) we’ll be open from 10AM – 6PM.

Canada is developing into one of the world’s more competitive coffee nations, consistently placing in the top ten (or seven) of the world ranked baristas.   We recently appointed our first cupping champion in Barrett Jones, and many of us baristas recently received an email advising that the World Latte Art Championships approach at the end of June, and Canada is currently unrepresented.  We didn’t have a formal championship to determine a competitor, and truthfully the resources required to ascertain appropriate representation are probably beyond our means at this point.  I was interested in vying for the role in some sort of  pared down online competition, but realistically this year’s winner will end up being appointed in lieu of battling it out.

Enter Colter Jones of 49th Parallel.

Multiple-time Millrock finalist, past National Barista Champion, nerves of steel and smile of gold; I can think of no better person to steward the mantle of Latte Art Champion until potential inaugural competitions are held for next year’s championship.  I know I’ve lost readership with infrequent updates, but if you know a Canadian barista I’d appreciate this mini-campaign being forwarded.  Cafe Myriade supports Colter Jones, who else is on board?

Happy Easter all, here’s a head’s up on when we’ll be open over the holiday weekend.

Friday April 10th: 8AM – 8PM

Saturday April 11th:  9AM – 8PM

Sunday April 12th:  10AM – 6PM

Monday April 13th:  10AM – 6PM

Have a happy and safe holiday!

There’s an interesting read in three parts posted at The Shot, which concludes with a condemnation of the evolving importance of the barista.  There are many points I agree with and many I strongly do not, and the divergence usually occurs when it’s assumed that being a good barista means being a possessor of strong service skills.  The two skillsets, and to be sure they’re both skills, are completely independant of one another.  A bad barista can give great service regardless, and clearly a great barista is capable of poor service.   To generalize that baristas are as a group the most novice and least experienced, as the author does,  is kind of scary given that there’s no possible way to extricate them from the crucial communicative role they have with the customer.  I don’t think baritas are any less informed or able as a group than roasters or farmers, and I guess I’m a bit confused by that whole point.  Anyway, moving on…

I too argued once with Scott about barista competitions being counterproductive as a whole for the industry, and it begat a conversation that ultimately changed my mind a little bit.  The article missed the point and spirit of competitions.  I’ve never met a winner of a competition who believed that by winning, he was a superior “barista.”  The winner is the person who accumulates the most points awarded that day, and in my experience nobody takes that beyond the confines of the competition.  Now, that said, I’ve been lucky enough to work bar with two of Canada’s national champions and both were exceptional baristas in a cafe setting as well.  Both are charismatic and a hit with customers in addition to mastering the coffee they work with, and to me there’s little more to ask of someone in that role.   Competitions function well for baristas to meet and learn from one another, for the public as a gateway to learning about the finer qualities of drink building and service, and for the media to publicize an incredibly small niche of a market.  Perhaps they don’t succeed in crowning the “best” barista, but no less so than any competition judged on subjective criteria.

The last point made in the column is something I’ve already touched on; great service has nothing to do with making coffee.  I’ve heard Jamie McCormick and Abraco produce great coffee from a number of my peers, but his ability to connect with his customers is irrelevent to that.  I think both are essential for a good experience in a shop, and that’s true of any industry, not just coffee.  Baristas are unique in the sense that, unlike chefs (in keeping with that comparison), they’re responsible for building the drinks while relating to the customer.  There’s no kitchen to hide in, no team of waiters providing a layer of insulation.  Very often the relationship between barista and customer is a game of inches, adding more pressure to add the performative element that’s completely unnecessary for most culinary professionals.

So yeah, I guess you might not find the likes of Jamie McCormick in a barista competition, but that doesn’t mean anything so far as I can tell.  It doesn’t mean anything to me because of the guys you do find at competitions, perhaps just as skilled and friendly in every way.  I’m proud to call myself a barista and represent my craft to a coffee drinking public that hasn’t necessarily been initiated to the culinary approach that many of us share.  Taking the barista out of the spotlight as a means to further the “progression” of quality coffee makes little sense to me, especially given that so many baristas pursue their craft out of enthusiasm and passion instead of the material motives that have yet to become available to them.

I won’t comment much on the portion on coffee geeks, as this is dragging on too long as it is, except to say that some of the most important progressions in reducing variables in extractions and brewing have come from amateurs, not professionals.  Let’s not bite the hands that feed, yeah?

It appears as though, just like last year, Canadian Regionals will begin in June-ish and run through August leading up to the Nationals in Vancouver.  So who’s in?  Count on two Myriaders, if they let us.

First, congratulations to Mike Phillips for winning the United States Barista Championship.  I worked through the weekend so unfortunately missed seeing the events unfold live, but plan to revisit the videos of the finalists to see if I can’t pick up a few new tricks.

I was pointed to an insightful post by James Hoffmann about the cost of competing, and within it he raises a great deal of valid points.  The cost of competing can get expensive quickly, there’s no debating that.  I’ve been fortunate enough in the past to have various expenditures taken care of for me, most notably my espresso and cappuccino cups provided by Terra Keramik, but by and large I’ve financed my own competitions on a students’ budget.  The point of raising this is to at least offer that hope to those working for cafes and companies unable to invest the money and time into training and preparing for a barista competition.  I’ve never had formal competition training before, and actually prepared wholly for the 2007 Canadian Nationals by watching videos of James Hoffmann and Colter Jones.  I had a great deal of good fortune in that competition that allowed me to place as high as I did, but still feel I proved to any aspiring competitor that you don’t need a giant behind you to succeed in competition.  In Canada especially, our national champions have all come from Cafe Artigiano, leading many to assume the economical advantages of working for a big company stack the odds in favour of their baristas.   What many also fail to realize, however, is the extraordinary work ethic of Sammy Piccolo, Colter Jones, and Mike Yung.  Regardless of whom these baristas worked for or with, they would have won their respective competitions.

Since I started, the climate of competing (at least in Canada) has shifted considerably.  The calibre and talent level has increased to a stunning degree, which is exactly what we want to see.  The aforementioned work ethic is contagious;  more baristas are interested and I expect this year that all four regional competitions will be filled to capacity.  Going back to some of what James was commenting on, I think a lot of the costs associated with these events have been inflated by baristas looking for an edge.  The feeling of being forced to “keep up,” so to speak, is compelling and nobody wants to be done in by appearances.  At the last regional, I was outraged that one of the judges commented that my signature drink glassware was boring.  I was shooting for a classic look, and it irked me that in my mind, I had been misjudged.  I, like James, lamented that competitions would soon price themselves out of range for the average skilled entrant, thus disqualifying many qualified potential champions from even throwing their hat into the ring.  And that’s even before travel and accommodation costs factor into any budget.

I was given a fresh perspective at this year’s nationals.  George from Crema competed with about what the average person could fit into a carry-on bag.  His pared down routine fell just short of the finals, but in no way did he appear less polished than any other competitor based on his aesthetic setup.  I very much encourage any prospective competitor with budgetary concerns to watch his video to see how far you can get on just a little.  Of course, you have to consider George’s “awesome” factor, which charts approximately 67% higher than the average barista.  I think it’s his bone structure.

In summary, don’t be afraid to compete based on cost.  There are affordable options for all the essential equipment, and a minimalist approach when done effectively can be extremely refreshing.

Regional date announcements for the Canadian Championship should be announced soon.  Let’s see if I can actually win one this year.

I haven’t bothered to write about Starbucks’ instant-coffee initiative because I haven’t bothered to think about it, really.  But no matter, because in an overlooked post on cleanhotdry, superfriend-of-Myriade George has done it for us.  It’s stunning to be reminded of how inexpensive great coffee remains in comparison to other culinary treats to which we in the industry hasten to compare ourselves.