A note from our team leader

By Poul Mark | November 19, 2008

Who took the Mo’ money?

It was a sad day for humanity today when we noticed that someone had swiped our Prostate Cancer Fundraising Tin. So we now implore you to reach deep into you pockets and raise us out of adversity and rekindle our faith in personkind. Perhaps, given our experience, the best thing to do would be to donate to The Sausage Lattes online at http://ca.movember.com/donate/index.php or come in and donate to our more discretely located fundraising tin. Just 2 weeks left to do a months work! (Thea Moss)

Topics: Live at the Roaster | No Comments »

Crippled: Two Weeks and Counting

By Poul Mark | November 17, 2008

Well, it has almost been two weeks now, since I have endured my infuriating handicap. No, I haven’t lost a leg or a kidney, I have lost at times, and have had a severely handicapped sense of smell and taste due to my son who so generously passed along his cold to me. There is nothing like a robust virus to cramp a coffee guy’s style. It is amazing how much both coffee and wine and food, for that matter, have tasted like the handle bars on my old bicycle. Each time I run a coffee tasting, I stress how much our noses are part of our ability to enjoy the diverse world of coffee flavours. These two weeks have simply galvanized that for me, as I have suffered for too many days, the monocrome and bland world of taste. Some days I think I could handle a black and white visual world far better than I could a bland tasteless world. People often ask me jokingly whether I plan to ensure my tongue, ala Gene Simmons. It’s a question which I regularly laughingly pass off without much thought. That is until now, after two long weeks of severely limited taste, I now may give that tongue insurance policy another glance. OK, enough about that. Seriously, the point of this post (yes Virginia, there is a point) is to encourage everyone to revel in the flavours of your daily world. Do not take for granted the vast diversity that you can experience through your nose and mouth. So many of the simple pleasures of life are available to us through our mouth and nose, but in order to fully appreciate this world, we need to pay attention. In other words, it is important to STOP and SMELL the roses, the coffee, the herbs, the bread, the vegetable and to log into memory both the fragrances and the associated words, so that the next time you come across that same aroma, you will know it, own it. OK, maybe I am being a bit edgy, but then again, I haven’t really had the use of my faculties for two weeks.

Topics: Owner Opinion | No Comments »

Transcend turns to new green storage

By Poul Mark | November 5, 2008

Since my first meeting with Luke Harris at Transcend, and our passionate discussion about green storage, I have been ruminating on changing things at the shop. Well it has finally happened. We have made the leap to storing all of our green coffee in 5lb black zip lock bags which are intended to preserve the moisture in the bean, keep it away from light, dust and any other possible contaminating substances. We haven’t initiated climate controlled storage as of yet, that is likely in the works, but this initial step will go a long way in preserving the quality of the green that we import. Everything is now packaged in 13 pound batches, which makes it easy for our roaster Chad to just grab a bag and dump it into the roaster. Most coffee is stored near the coast and as such is used to a much higher degree of humidity. Alberta on the other hand is quite dry in comparison, and as such, we have been a bit concerned with our green loosing valuable moisture. We trust that our new storage system will go a long way to minimizing any moisture loss, and should we move to climate controlled storage in the near future, we will have an even more stable environment for our green coffee. Just one more way that Transcend is working towards the highest possible standard for quality.

Topics: Live at the Roaster | No Comments »

Chad Moss Featured in Edmonton Journal

By Poul Mark | November 3, 2008

One of the hard things in the world of specialty coffee, is getting the media and food critics interested in coffee like they are in wine and food. On one hand, I can understand their reluctance, as for so long in North America coffee was simply a tasteless brown liquid consumed for its caffeine effect. Things have changed a bit though, from the days of percolated (over-extracted bitter) coffee and nowadays we have so many more options. And while we are having success educating our customer base, it is still hard at times to convince the media and food types (including restaurant owners) that specialty coffee has rightful place along side the great wines and foods of the world. Thankfully Liane Faulder of the Edmonton Journal doesn’t fall into the category I just described. And while she would likely admit that she doesn’t know a whole lot about the world of specialty coffee, she is open to learning more, and in participating the process of raising the profile of both those who excel in the world of coffee, and the world in which they strive. Kudos to the folk like Liane and Marina Michaelides at City TV who have allowed coffee to have a spot in the lineup of things that are worthy of our attention.

Topics: Owner Opinion | No Comments »

Movember is Upon Us

By Poul Mark | October 31, 2008

After the serious business of the National Barista Championship and Technivorm distribution, the team at Transcend have decided that in November we shall let our hair down! Facial hair, at least! Every November, the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada challenges men to grow a mo’ to raise money for prostate cancer research. Henceforth, we invite everyone to become a member of Transcend’s Movember team: THE SAUSAGE LATTES

Mo’ Bros will spend Movember grooming their glorious facial hair. The catch: if there’s any existing hair, it’s all got to come off on the first of Movember (or whenever you join). For some, this is a challenge in itself! That’s where the Mo’ Sistas come in. Assuming most women won’t want to grow facial hair, they may prefer to provide moral support. For example: “Wow, Josh, you look great when you’re clean shaven”; and “Don’t worry Chad, I’m sure your Grandfather-in-law will understand why you look like a 1980’s used car salesman”.

Sound like fun? To get more general information, go to www.movember.com or ask a Sausage Lattes member. To just jump in and register. Go to the Movember Canada site and click on register; then “join a team”. Registration # 1338306; Captain’s email tippolina@hotmail.com Then, if you’re a dude, shave your whole face and take a before picture. If you’re a lady, go and convince someone to donate or participate.

But you don’t have to be on the team to help - come in to Transcend in Movember to check out the progress of the Sausage Lattes - and give them encouragement by tossing a donation into the pot. Remember, its for charity! (Receipts will be distributed in December) There will also be a party at the end of Movember to crown the best face and to pitch a last ditch fundraising effort.

GO THE MO’S!

Topics: Live at the Roaster | 1 Comment »

Almost a week later…

By Poul Mark | October 29, 2008

It has almost been one week since the finals. Too be honest, it has been tough, for everyone, not just Chad or Thea or me, but everyone. It’s hard to come to grips with the emotions and self-doubt (on my part anyway) of choosing to use 2% milk to highlight the espresso, knowing that we were docked marks for this in light of everyone else using whole milk. Chad threw it all on the table, and he rocked, and we all knew that was all that he could do. After that you leave it in the hands of the judges (who I am not slamming in any way, because they did a great job. Judging these competitions is not an easy thing to do).

We all know that it was a great learning experience, and we all know how valuable the competition was; and despite all of that, it is still a hard pill to swallow. We had a great time in Montreal, and a great time at the competition. It is great to get together with the crowd and throw down some espresso. We were at the show before anyone else on Monday to help Les and Lauro set up the stage, and we are always delighted to work with the coffee crew in ensuring that everyone has a great time. I won’t pretend that I agree with all that goes on at the Coffee and Tea Show, and I won’t pretend that I wish that the focus of the show had more to do with coffee, and less to do with syrup, milk and all the things that destract from the world of specialty coffee. We will be back next year, Chad and likely Josh will tee up and compete at regionals, and hopefully they will do Transcend proud at Nationals next year in Vancouver. We will cheer loudly as Sammy competes for Canada in April at the WBC, and we will enjoy the show all the more, without the stress of competition and having to lug equipment and coffee all the way to Atlanta. All in all, Montreal was a great experience, the food, the people, the wine, the city… and I will go back, to drink great espresso at Myriade, and Veritas, and will go back and revel in the food of Au Pied de Cochon, and will go back and walk the uneven streets of old Montreal. Until then, we continue to work, strive, practice, tweak and delight in the black nectar we all know as coffee.

Topics: Owner Opinion | 1 Comment »

KBT 741 & CD Moccamaster Coffee Temperature Tests

By Poul Mark | October 29, 2008

This is a re-post from January 18, 2008

As the company who distributes the Technivorm coffee makers in Canada, we talk to a lot of people about the virtues and benefits of the exceptionally well made Dutch brewers. Lately though, I am getting calls from people who complain that their coffee is not hot enough, which is something that frankly surprises me. Having said that, lets chat a bit about the brewing process and perhaps I can assist in helping to understand what is actually going on in regards to temperature both during and after the brew process.

Today I did a brew-off between the KBT 741 and the CD Moccamaster. I wanted to see how both compared in terms of brew temperature and final coffee temperature as well as taste profile. At the end of the process there was very little difference between the two.

Please note, that these temperature measurements were conducted with an industrial Fluke meter and temperature probe. A home thermometer will not yield accurate results.

Brew Time B. Temp at Arm B. Temp Basket Final Temp
KBT 741 6 min 200 F 195 F 179 F
CD 6 min 200 F 195 F 179 F

In both machines I used regular tap water, and an oxygenated paper filter. I used 6 scoops of fresh Guatemala Trapichitos in accordance to Technivorm’s instructions. After brewing the final temp in the carafe for both units (1 minute after the brew completed) was the same, 179 F, which actually surprised me, as I had surmised that the hot plate on the CD would make more of a difference. When comparing the taste of the two brews, I actually found the KBT to offer up a bit more complexity than did the CD. To finish my little experiment, I did another brew in the KBT but this time I brewed with a Swiss Gold filter and I had the carafe preheated to 135 F (in the first brew-off the KBT carafe was at 63.5 F). Testing the final coffee temperature after one minute like the last brew-off, I found that the coffee temperature was 181 F, an increase of 2 degrees F from that of a cold carafe. For those who like to drink their coffee very hot, which by the way mutes the flavours and complexity of the coffee, pre-heating the carafe does make a difference. Regarding the taste comparison between the coffee brewed with the gold filter, I noticed a significant difference. The nuances of the gold filtered coffee were much more apparent, the coffee possessed more complexity and more sweetness and fruit. The difference was actually more significant than I expected.

On a final note, I brewed the exact same amount of coffee in the Cusinart brewer we have at the shop and found the following results: The overall brew time was 8 minutes and the brew temperature never got above 183 F (17 degrees F lower than the Technivorms) with the coffee at the bottom of the basket at 163 F (28 degrees lower than the Technivorms). The final coffee temperature measured one minute after the completion of the brew was 173 degrees F (6 degrees F less than the Technivorms). The biggest difference is in the taste, as the coffee is under extracted and comparatively flavourless compared to the coffee brewed in the Technivorm.

After all of this, I get to remind myself why it is that Transcend Coffee will only sell the Technivorm coffee brewer.

Topics: coffee equipment | 1 Comment »

Further Update

By Poul Mark | October 22, 2008

Further to our last post, we now know a bit more about the judges perspective on Chad’s performance. Apparently they weren’t thrilled with Chad’s delivery of his cappuccino’s which is entirely a matter of perspective as Chad had chosen 2% milk for his capps to accentuate the espresso. Unfortunately, the judges are used to a bit more texture and thickness to the foam than Chad was delivering. Alas, this is the reality of competing as judges are going to evaluate on the basis of a standard built on consensus, which is perfectly reasonable when you win. Not to complain too much, the night finished off with a high note as we dined at Au Pied de Cochon, which according to Chad is the best restaurant that he has ever eaten at. It was a great way to finish off a pretty bad day. OK now it is definitely time for sleep.

PS. On a positive competition note, at least Chad’s espresso and sig drinks got high marks, which confirms that Transcend is on the right track. Chad worked his butt off, and I am so proud of him, and so sympathetic with the hard loss.

Topics: Transcend on the Road | 1 Comment »

Big Thanks to All our Supporters

By Poul Mark | October 22, 2008

If you haven’t heard Chad finished 4th. While we are tremendously dissapointed we are greatful for all the support that we have had. Fourth best Barista in Canada is nothing to sneeze at, but nonetheless it is a bitter pill.

Topics: Transcend on the Road | 2 Comments »