Quebec City: The Good Coffee Lover's Guide [General]

2016 May 18
Sprudge has just published a story on the growing coffee scene in Quebec City at sprudge.com - might be worthwhile bookmarking for anyone heading to QC this summer and wants a heads up on where to find good coffee there (and maybe good donuts too).

They haven't covered the growing Ottawa coffee community yet; they are probably just waiting for a submission from a writer with an interest in Ottawa's coffee scene. Who might that be? Food is Fun?

2016 May 26
I no nothing about Sprudge and their writing ethics. Let's hope it is a fair and decent list of Quebec City coffee shops.

I have grown weary and leary of these list because it seems that the authors really don't do their homework and know little about the city. Too often the author has no solid connection to the city at all. I'm often left wondering if they've ever been to the city or if the list is just an exercise in content scraping to put together some click bait.

So who has ever heard of Savka Andic? I haven't. This person wrote about Ottawa coffee in January of this year.

theculturetrip.com

I can only assume that if the person has ever been to Ottawa it wasn't much of a trip. These types of lists might be a bit more credible if the person actually uses their own pictures from their visit to the cafe. If you do see these kinds of lists, check out the photo credits. It can sometimes give you clues.

The clincher for me is putting Francesco's Coffee Company on this list. Why on earth is it on a list of Best Cafes and Coffeeshops. Have you been to their location at 48 Jamie Avenue, Savka???? You won't be plugging in your laptop and tapping their WiFi. You won't be sipping lazily on a cortado or a flat white. But you can pick up a bag of beans if you want to. And if it is a bag of Francesco's beans you're after, there are far more convenient locations to get it in the city than trudging out to the industrial park.

For me this list stinks.

I would love to write about coffee highlights in Ottawa but the publication has to be solid (and pay!). Nowadays I am wondering who that might be.

I do think any kind of list carries more cred if it is done by someone who lives and breaths the experience everyday vs. those that fly into town for 48 hours and do the whirlwind tour based on recommendations they found on lousy review sites.

2016 May 26
I don't know much about Sprudge but I do read some things there. The author of the story I linked to has written 10 stories in Sprudge on the coffee scene in Quebec in the past 2 years, mostly Montreal, and is a sports journalist with La Presse. I assume he has an interest in coffee but don't know if he makes money from his writing.

2016 May 28
I have been to Maelstrom and Cantook and can confirm these are great coffee joints. Cantook has some excellent espresso and about 30 varieties to choose from if you are going the coffee route. It also happens to be the highest example of pretense and coffee snobbery I have encountered. Even worse than Stumptown.

2016 May 29
"the list is just an exercise in content scraping to put together some click bait. "

Et voila.