Discover your "rural roots" in Bancroft

Sorry about my absence of late readers, I was really busy with work, life, monotonous routines, dull coffee at times (ecckkk)  etc. etc......I'll try and post more frequently from now on:)

Driving through Bancroft yesterday, and I popped into one of my favourite coffeehouses there......the Rural Roots Cafe.  It is always a welcome treat after the hour long drive over from Haliburton on the 118....stretching your legs and delicious caffeine injection.....what could be better?
Anyway, this great cafe is located on Flint Street, just off Hastings Street N.
A sign at the front of the place says "Espresso Yourself," which perfectly captures the fantastic atmosphere and joie de vivre of this coffeehouse.    The proprietors, Sherry Hayes and Jane Mayberry, were very friendly and courteous.  They've owned the place since early 2012, although it had been a Bancroft fixture for years before under the ownership of Christa Brownlee.

Its warm yellow and red colour scheme blends well with the dark wood wainscoting.  Large picture windows look out onto the snow strewn landscape of Flint Street just beyond the glass, letting in loads of natural light.

They offer fair trade coffee from the Muskoka Roastery Coffee Co.  I tried the Jamaican Me Crazy flavour, which as always, was excellent.    Small, medium, and large sizes of this and their other fantastic brews (light and dark roasts, decaf)  can be had for $1.45/$1.75/$2.35 respectively. 

Beautiful local art adorns the walls, by such artists as Cheryl Ellenberger from the Red Dog Studio (ellenbergerc@hotmail.com).  A bookshelf in the middle of the cafe seating area featured pottery coffee cups for sale by Maynooth artisan Karen Gray (thepottersstudio.com).


The Rural Roots Cafe is also a full service bakery and restaurant  featuring local whole foods and baked goods.  While I didn't sample the cuisine, people all around me were raving about it. 
A freezer at the front of the cafe has frozen baked good products, including gluten free items.

Free wi fi is also an added treat, although nowadays it's pretty much standard in most coffeehouses.  It is password protected, so ask the very friendly counter staff what the password is when you order.

So, the next time you're up around Bancroft, and need to pay homage to the most wonderful bean ever discovered, pay a visit to the Rural Roots Cafe!

Take a "Detour" for some fine brew.......

Situated along the historic Main Street of Dundas, Ontario lies Detour Coffee Roasters, a terrific coffeehouse housed in one of the many beautiful classical buildings of this 165 year old town.  Passing through this quaint yet vigorous place, I decided to get a coffee......yeah, I know...big surprise:P lol

 Walking through the front doors, the smell of ground coffee greets my nose, and the low din of conversation hits my ears.  Old style wall heaters frame the room, while the scuffed, yet freshly polished hardwood floors proudly shout out their history and character.  Wooden benches from yesteryear line the outer walls, while refurbished metal chairs lay across from them.  Pleasant metallic photo/artwork by Alex Abdilla adorns the muted green walls.

Detour also boasts a lovely outdoor patio to enjoy your brew if the weather’s nice, although a sign on the door cautions patrons about falling walnuts from the overhanging trees (a typical scenario in the autumn), so you’d best be careful.:)

 The dark roast coffee brewed freshly by the cup is excellent…..flavourful without any bitterness or tartness….the antithesis of some of the dark roast Starbucks coffee beans in my humble opinion.  It comes in a 10 oz. size and rings in at $2.36……not cheap for sure, but good coffee is worth spending a few extra pennies on, am I right?  All in all, great coffee and great ambiance.....what's not to love?

A framed plaque on the wall by the front window says it all..... the city of Hamilton awarded Detour Coffee Roasters its 2012 Award of Excellence for preserving the town's heritage and contributing to the continued vitality of Dundas' economic vitality.  I totally agree with this assessment. 
You should definitely take a "Detour" like I did, and check this place out:))

 

 

 

a fantastic coffee experience with "friends"....

Amici means "friends" in Italian....and this is the name of a great cafe I happened upon on my way downtown yesterday.  The Amici Café and Gelateria has been operating at Hurontario St. and Lakeshore Rd. in Port Credit since July of last year.  In its initial year of business it won the Top Choice Award for excellence, as gauged by respondents throughout the GTA. 

The Cafe and Gelateria is an offshoot of the Amici Sports Cafe on Cliff Road in Mississauga.  Under its current owners, Paul and Serena Rochetti, this original cafe been offering an Old World Italian cafe experience since 1995.

There is only one brewed coffee to choose from, but it’s extremely tasty….a medium roast with rich undertones called the Metropolitan from the Java Works Coffee Co. (small, medium and large all under $2 before tax).  Also, they have more complex espresso based drinks, as well as dozens of flavours of their famous, award-winning gelato.  I'd tell you more about the gelato, but hey, this is a coffee blog:P lol

The Café itself has a modern clean and bright design with metal table and chairs, large windows and  bright green and white tones  throughout.  Also have an outdoor patio to enjoy your coffee, which is where I was writing this piece a couple of hours ago.  A couple of large plasma TVs share news items from the upper walls.

The only drawback is that they don’t offer WiFi (hence me writing the bulk of this blog entry last night on Word Perfect) but that’s a small gripe when weighed against the delicious brew I was chugging back not all that long ago.  I’ll definitely be back for more of their fine coffee....and soon!

coffee from another planet.........

Coming through Guelph this morning, I decided to drop into a Planet Bean Coffee location for the first time.   Me wanting a coffee?  I know you're shocked but it's true:P  Seriously, though it's always an adventure to try coffee at an as yet undiscovered (for me) cafe, and this adventure did not disappoint. 

Planet Bean has been roasting coffee in Guelph since 1997, and the beans are freshly roasted, never stored for any length of time.  They offer a full range of dark, medium, blended roasts, and decaf, for sale by the cup, or in bulk.  Of course, as you'd expect, they also offer an array of espresso based coffee drinks.  I tried out their dark roast of the day, Freedom Fighter, which was rich, flavourful and absolutely fantastic. 

Their coffee beans are fair trade and organic.  They're also a member of the Ethiopian Coffee Network and actively promote Cafe Femenino (which helps Peruvian women coffee farmers to improve their quality of life).  The roasting team are members of the Roasters' Guild, and the baristas at each of the two locations belong to the Sumac Community Worker Coop, which relies on a cooperative approach to running their coffee business.

So, next time you're on your way through Guelph, make it a point to stop by a Planet Bean location.  Go to planetbeancoffee.com for information on locations.  You'll be very glad you did....I sure was:)

a hidden gem right on Lakeshore Road in Burlington........

I was out driving this evening, when I passed by this unobtrusive coffeehouse in Burlington, and decided to check it out.  Lakeshore Coffeehouse sits just before you get to Brant Street on Lakehore Road.  It opened up its doors in 2005.  From the inviting black awning out front, to the pleasant artwork and knickknacks displayed around the place, to the inviting fireplace bookended by two easy chairs, this coffeehouse has a real European feel to it.  Definitely a place you'd want to spend some time enjoying your brew, and I don't know........reading your favourite coffee blog, perhaps? :))

Speaking of brews, they have a medium and dark roast coffee available; on that day they were the Mexican and the Bolivian.  Being a dark roast kind of guy, I chose the Bolivian.  I was not disappointed.  What a sensational coffee-strong and smooth with a pleasant aftertaste.   The barista was also extremely friendly and knowledgeable about the products.

If you're fixated on having a flavoured brewed coffee, none is available, but they do have an ample array of flavour shots to choose from.  Not that big a deal if you're intent on having solely brewed coffee (minus any flavour shot) as the medium and dark roast would satiate most coffee aficionados' desires.

If you're looking for a place to get some work done, whether it's studying, working from home (at a coffee shop), or just indulging in your coffee addiction, er...appreciation, then the Lakeshore Coffeehouse is the place to be.

In the middle of a Mudslide, and I'm not dirty at all.....

An Artisano Mudslide, that is....a truly great chocolate, vanilla and Irish cream flavoured coffee from the aforementioned Artisano Bakery and Cafe.  As a voracious consumer of coffee, especially the flavoured ones, the Mudslide is pure nirvana in a cup.  Ask the staff at the Oakville location....I'm pretty much there every evening........

Another coffee that is equally enticing is their Christmas Blend, which combines chocolate and orange notes to produce a brew that is out of this world.  It's available later on in the year....you know, at Christmas:P  They also offer dark, medium, light and decaf roasts, as well as more elaborate coffee drinks.  There is also a full service food menu, where you can indulge in breakfast, lunch or dinner.

The first Artisano was opened in Etobicoke in 2006 by brothers Mike and Joe Simeone.  Truly a Canadian success story, this excellent Bakery Cafe has expanded to seven locations as of early this year.  You can go to ArtisanoBakery.com to find a location near you. 

Go check one of them out yourself, and experience a Mudslide......a whole lot of fun and you won't need a clean up afterwards.

a "bird's" eye view of a coffee shop up North......

Robin's Coffee and Donuts is a great franchise quite prolific up in northern Ontario-as omnipresent as Tim Horton's is down here in southern Ontario.  They're also quite abundant in eastern and western Canada. 

The Robin's story started with one coffee shop in Thunder Bay 37 years ago, and has since blossomed into over 130 locations across the country today.  By 2016, that number is expected to surpass 300 franchises.  .  They offer a signature blend, a fair trade organic blend and a Swiss water decaf blend.
They are privately owned and are 100% Canadian.  Score one for Canada!

Their signature blend coffee is wonderful, made with 100% Arabica beans.  Dare I say it's better than a Timmy's.  In fact, it most often kept me going on those long drives between northern towns.  Although Tim Horton's was not as prevalent, if there was a choice between Tim's and Robin's, I'd go for the Robin's ....it's that good.  Petro Canada fueled the van, Robin's fueled me.

The next time you're up north, and I mean waaay north (farther than Muskoka:PP) grab yourself a genuine treat and sample some Robin's coffee.....it'll make you drive faster and farther than you ever thought possible:))


***On a more serious note, I'd like to take a moment to remember all the brave souls who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City.  Please join me in raising a cup of your favourite coffee to them.  Their memory lives on forever.***