Fine coffee expresses its own personality

It's Friday afternoon at Museo Cafe, located inside Saskatoon's Mendel Art Gallery. Nearly every table is full and the chatter of 15 different conversations is punctuated by the hiss of steamed milk from a handmade Italian espresso machine.

I'm here at peak afternoon coffee time, 2:30 p.m. I've seen the lines at the downtown Starbucks and Tim Horton's snake on to the sidewalk at this time of day. But for some reason I didn't expect Museo to be so popular. It's a little out of the way for downtown types. The only residential neighbourhood nearby is City Park. But the cafe is booming.

There's a coffee evolution taking place on the prairies. Gone are the days when a 50 cent cup of black coffee from the local diner would suffice. People's tastes are becoming more refined. They want a barista who knows how to expertly coax a perfect shot of espresso out of a machine that looks closer to a piece of art than a kitchen appliance.

According to Jimmy Oneschuk, manager at Museo, coffee evolution comes from our expanding foodie knowledge. In both Saskatoon and Regina, people are appreciating the finer things in life. We're also ready to pay a premium for these things. From artisanal bread and oils, to fine wine and chocolates, our tastes are expanding. So it is with coffee.

Kristy Hume, manager of Encore Espresso Bar, credits frequent travel and an enhanced global perspective for this shift. Both she and Oneschuk speak of three distinct phases in the coffee evolution. Encore, Museo and several others such as Atlantis in Regina represent the third wave of coffee culture. It's becoming increasingly easy to find a cafe specializing in artisan coffee in both cities.

Oneschuk roasts all of Museo's beans in a City Park warehouse, allowing him to create custom blends. He lists the beans' country of origin, region, farm, harvest date and varietal on the package. His espresso beans go for $20 per pound and single origin beans are $15 for 300 grams. They're best consumed within a week and he usually sells out the same day he's roasted and packaged a batch. He works closely with a San Francisco supplier who personally visits coffee farms from Ethiopia to Brazil to source the beans.

At the height of the second wave of coffee culture in the 1990s, Starbucks was opening a new store every day. Neither Hume nor Oneschuk begrudge Starbucks' popularity. In fact, their niche coffee market would not have been possible without Starbucks blazing the trail and convincing people they wanted to pay $5 for a coffee. Both don't consider Starbucks their competition, either.

The hissing sound filling the air comes from Museo's La Marzocco espresso machine, a beautiful dual boiler handmade in Italy. Upon hearing that I don't drink coffee (it's always been too bitter for my liking), Oneschuk smiles. "Everyone likes great coffee but not everyone has had it yet."

He won't let me leave without crafting a perfect latte. He does this right at the table, pointing out how the oil streaks in the espresso show the beans have been perfectly expressed. He carefully pours the steamed milk, easily creating a leaf design to sit atop the milk foam. This design is done to highlight the perfect combination of oils in the espresso, which creates streaks in the milk.

He brings out a tasting sheet for me and I learn the strong notes of caramel and chocolate give way to maple syrup, Bakers chocolate and toasted almond.

This is the closest I've come to forsaking my blessed London Fog tea. I've never understood the lineups at the Tim Horton's drive-thru — why can't people just make coffee at home? But if the coffee tastes like Museo's, maybe I can understand.

From: thestarphoenix.com