ottawa foodies

I didn't see the article in the Citizen until after I'd visited The Happy Goat. - a new business, and dealing in fair trade coffee.

The owner is well-informed, and more than willing to talk, so be prepared to check out his roasting operation, and website. Take some time, and see what he has.

Check out happygoat.ca. I can't make a higher recommendation.

Just bought their Red Sea coffee (care of Piggy market) and rushed home to make a pot. Described on the packaging as a "challenging" coffee, with notes of cherry, etc flavours... this coffee is one of the best I've had in Ottawa. Brightly flavoured, sweet and no notes of bitterness... delicious!

i really like ideal coffee... i often buy my beans for the week there, you get a free coffee with every purchase of bean... what i don't like is that their take out cups are styrofoam :(

I came to I Deal Coffee on Sunday and consumed the two best cups of coffee in my life. They purchase a variety of green beans (possibly fair trade though I didn't inquire) and roast them on site with their own blends. They sell the beans, the roasted blends of beans, ground coffee or the freshly brewed stuff. They have two blends; a light and a dark which are roasted daily and ground on site soon before brewing. Both were absolutely stunning, full of a rich flavour that fills your mouth and enough caffene to give the proper effect of coffee. They serve it in mugs if you drink it there and you can even see their excellent roaster on site.

I have tried Bridgehead, Umi, Raw Sugar, The Ottawa Bagelshop and more. This place beat all of them in terms of coffee quality, by a moderate margin. If you like coffee, at the very least _try_ one cup of either blend. It's right beside Elizabeth Bruyere and you can take the OC (#9) to get there.

I'm still peppy the next day. :)

lady who brunches: You just admitted it yourself, the 16oz is 25 cents more! And my review was from a year ago, it's possible that any one of those places have changed their pricing since then. Actually I know for a fact that Starbucks did increase prices, and I'm about 80% sure Bridgehead did as well.

The Lavazza coffee at the Westboro location is incredibly, and has become my regular coffee place these days.

Not too sure what Candice means about prices: It's about the same or less than what you would pay at Bridgehead or Starbucks. 16oz (Grande at Starbucks) is $2.25 with tax. Well worth the extra quarter!!!

They have good Lavazza coffee here (Westboro location)! And they serve decent espresso. Not as good as we had in France, but still very good. Nice crema and not too bitter.

However, their coffee is a bit more expensive than at similar places down the road (Bridgehead, for example).

Francesco blends are now available in Hintonburg at the new bike/coffee shop called "Cyclelogik powered by Caffeine" (1111-A Wellington Street - www.cyclelogik.com).

The coffee is awesome and the place has a unique atmosphere.

PS - they also offer indoor cycling classes.

I usually get my espresso from Francescos. Their "el creamoso" espresso is the best espresso I've ever tasted bar none. Josh, (the owner ?) explained that the product is roasted twice weekly.
Recently I tried their Dark Roast Guatemala and thought it was excellent.
I agree that the staff is friendly and knowledgeable.

Highly recommended for the coffee gourmand.

(|)

Best espresso in town..lots of crema, lots of flavor, no weird bitter after taste that i sometimes get at other coffee shops. I love the lattes there.

The store is quiet, but the staff are friendly and knowledgeable. Nice selection of fair trade and organic coffee beans for home brewing. yum.

Thanks FF I'm looking forward to reading everyone's comments, and giving it a try!

Alley cat, there was an informative forum discussion on the topic of home roasting, mostly thanks to zymurgist: ottawafoodies.com/forum/232

As an aside, if you know anyone who attends the Bells Corners Cooperative Nursery School, they sell Equator beans/grounds throughout the school year as a fund raising activity.

If you can't make it out to Almonte, Equator does mail-order as well. We make sure to order before Tuesday mornings,as suggested on their web site, and we receive it the same week, usually on the Thursday. We would love to start roasting our own beans, does anyone have recommendations for their favourite brand or type of coffee roaster, and any tips for roasting?

I buy a lot of my beans, both roasted and green, from Equator in Almonte. If you can make the trip out to their store in Almonte, I've noticed the freshness can make a difference compared to what you might get at local grocery stores (some of their packaging in the past has had dates on it). Regardless, it's (IMHO) great coffee, not to mention organic and free-trade. For home-roasters, they appear to sell just about all their varieties green as well.

This is the only place in town I know of that sells the tasty Portuguese Delta coffee. When I was there today they had whole bean, regular grind, and espresso grind available for sale.

Fantastic place. Only source for coffee. Really knows his stuff. Have purchased coffee, tea, espresso machine and many other toys and treats.

A really nice family runs this place.

I picked up some Ethiopian coffee yesterday at the market and enjoyed it very much this morning for breakfast.

Very nice coffee -- in my cappuccino (inset) the Bolivian espresso tasted just like the Bolivian I roast at home. The coffee drinks are well prepared and the sizes are exactly the way I like them! (6 oz cappuccino with 2 shots of espresso, 10 oz latte, macchiato has just a small dollop of foam, etc)

My wife commented that she prefers the latte I make, but only when I luck out with the TruTaste milk from Costco, which steams much better than anything else (including TruTaste from other stores) for some reason...

I was hoping to have a treat with my coffee but most of what they had was gluten-free stuff that didn't look too appealing to me. Perfect if you're celiac, but not so great if you're not.

I ordered a medium and got this gigantic cup! Almost sized like a latte. This was a late-night decaf and tasted very nice.

I am not a coffee fan. I tried their cappuccino and it was foamy. However, the tempurate got cold very soon. It is a very relaxing place to enjoy a cup of coffee with good conversation with your friends.

It's as though they mixed sawdust with toe nail clippings, laced the concoction with Windex and added a hint of Nestle Instant Coffee Mix. yummy :)

A few weeks ago, while I was working at Bank and Cooper, I slipped out for a coffee. The Bridgehead at Bank and Gladstone had closed early, and a friend insisted that Second Cup's coffee had gotten better.

They were seriously wrong. It had the worst oily aftertaste, and there were grinds in my first sip. I mentioned this to the barista, who merely shrugged and told me that all their coffee had grinds.

The Vanilla Bean Latte is to die for...

We ordered an urn of coffee for our wedding from Bridgehead; 50 cups of coffee for about $35, including milk, cream, sugar, cups (which we did not use).

I was really impressed with the service; they misplaced our order and replaced it free of charge. (The misplacement had to do with a change in staff and a leaving staff member not following through).

All in all, very pleased.

Definitely the best coffee chain in Ottawa--fresh, not over-roasted and smooth, smooth. smooth. They're a bit slow on the service. But it's worth it.

(Also, for Brunchies, Stoneface Dolly's serves it as their standby coffee)

My favourite coffee in Ottawa. I love the Brazilian and Mexican roasts.

I recently tossed my masculine insecurities aside and ordered a "French vanilla latte" at Bridgehead. It was deeeeelicious! :)

Can you elaborate on your "game"? Is Planet Coffee giving out used sleeves with their coffees?

I've been a loyal Planet Coffee customer for a few years now because the coffee is good, the staff is friendly and it's close to my office.

My colleague and I have been playing this game where we collect our coffee sleeves and yesterday we returned them (around 250 in total).

I think we saved them about $10 in coffee sleeves. :)

Coffee is served in styrofoam cups when you get it 'to go'.
I like my coffee bold, so this was a little bit dissapointing.

Their cappuccino is the best I've had in this town. It's strong, full of flavour and served very hot. It's got nothing less on a French and even an Italian cappuccino.

I couldn't finish the coffee I had there this past weekend. What flavour there was was dull and flat.

The coffee counter is right next to the sandwich counter and it is similarly fast-paced. You can get your coffee for here or to go, but there's really nowhere to savour it in the store. So be prepared to inhale it at the counter standing up, European style, or take it out in a paper cup. Illy coffee is a relatively harsh (but iconically Italian) product. $2 for one shot; $3 for two. Sugar recommended. Complimentary amaretto cookie greatly appreciated!

Unfortunately, if you also get one of the delicious pastries then you'll have to eat it standing up too, an activity that strikes me as decidedly non-European. I decided to carry it out on a napkin and enjoy it amongst the melting snowbanks of George Street instead. This was a delightfully chewy (meringue base?) biscotto slab containing almonds, pistachios, white chocolate, and dark chocolate. Well worth the $2.50 compared to what you'll find at other coffee houses in town! They source these specialty biscotti from heavenlytaste.ca in Montreal.

The coffee counter guy writes your order on a card and you take that to the cash up front to pay.

la bottega serves illy coffee - regular, decaf and dark roast. i tried the dark roast and i was very impressed!

They have the nicest dark roast decaf. We love coffee but can't do the caffeine, that normally means bland, tasteless, or even worse, instant! We buy the bulk decaf from the bin for the same price as all of their other coffees. (Don't buy the kilo bag of beans, it is the same stuff but more expensive) Delicious.

Update - Int'l Kafia Coffee business hours are now Tuesday to Saturday 8-4. Heavenly coffee and the best prices around!

I've checked out most of their coffees, (but not the blends), and the people I've gifted said it's great.
I've had a cup or two from the giftees, and I agree.

Prices are up from 2007, but the coffee is worth it.
Easy to get to, just off Carling / Kirkwood.

This is the only place that I'll buy my coffee from (although Hasbeans in London, Ontario is really good, too.) They sell enough beans that it's almost always fresh, and it smells like heaven if they're roasting while you're there.

Ridiculously affordable prices, too, at around $7/lb. for the good stuff.