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Devilishly Good Coffee

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Devil’s Head coffee is as fresh as it gets

In the past couple of years, a few small-batch coffee roasters have shot up in and around Calgary.

Places like Motherlode Coffee, Strathmore’s Loft Coffee and River Park Coffee Roasters.

Places that lack the brand-name recognition of much bigger players. Places that might have a few tables/seats or none at all, where delivery or pickup may be your only options. But places that put a premium on quality and freshness, where the “best-before” date is definitely not six vacuum-packed months down the road.

I obviously have a few busy months of sampling ahead of me. But in the meantime, I keep going back to Devil’s Head Coffee, which ticks all my boxes.

First and foremost is the excellent quality of the coffee, featuring a dozen single-origin and custom-blended beans from farms and co-ops around the world. Those beans are small-batch roasted several days a week.

Roasted on the 21st, delivered on the 25th

And Devil’s Head does what every coffee roaster should do but usually doesn’t: print the roast date right on the bags. That way you know the coffee is fresh—a critical consideration given coffee is at its tasting peak for only about a week.

I’ve been to the roastery only once (they have a little coffee bar), which is way down in industrial southeast Calgary. No matter. They deliver to every part of the city at least once a week, and it’s free if your order is $35 or more.

If I time it right, the coffee beans arrive a couple of days after I order them. And yesterday set a record; I ordered in the morning and had a parcel on my doorstep that afternoon. Beat that Amazon!

Like everything, prices have gone up a bit and now stand at about $22 or $23. But that’s for a full pound, not the three quarters or less you often see. So I figure it’s good value, especially considering the free delivery.

A couple of other things I like. If you’re shopping in person, you can bring your own bean containers and receive a discount… and reduce waste. And as a former mountaineer, I appreciate the owners’ (Chris and Tanis) climbing background in the company’s name (a recognizable peak in the Ghost Valley) and the bean offerings.

Devil’s Head Coffee
Bay 5, 5700 Barlow Trail SE, Calgary
Monday to Thursday 9 am-5 pm, Friday 9 am-4 pm. Closed weekends.
403-561-8274

In Praise of Road Trips

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A Christmas dilemma: the joys of flying versus the open (hopefully snow-free) road. Your choice.

Beer of the Year?

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This black-as-night imperial coffee stout is my fave beer of 2022

You just can’t beat serendipity.

So, we’re in Canmore’s Angry Bear Growlers, sampling a healthy number of the 60-odd, mostly regional, beers on tap and having a grand time with our pourer, Euan.

Euan poured us multiple samples at Angry Bear Growlers in Canmore

In walks a sales rep from nearby Canmore Brewing Company to replace a spent cask. He happens to mention a new beer the brewery and Lacombe’s Blindman Brewing have concocted. It’s an imperial coffee stout—three magical words to my ears—so it takes no convincing for us to toddle a few blocks over to the brewery to pick up a four pack.

Blindman Brewing in Lacombe, Alberta is a partner in this mad concoction

It’s called Brewers’ Breakfast and, should you heed the morning admonition, this oat-laced stout has got enough wallop to propel you out the door or back to bed, your choice.

Not surprisingly, it’s labelled a “strong beer”, weighing in at 8.5% alcohol. In the brewers’ words, it contains a “truckload of roasty, toasty and chocolatey malts from Red Shed Malting (Red Deer County) and an overzealous dose of freshly roasted Mocha Java coffee from Eclipse Coffee Roasters” (Canmore).

I might call it a thick sweater to coat and roll around your tongue on a frosty winter’s day, when the long nights are as black as this brew. Indeed, late in December, I think I’ve found my beer of the year for 2022.

If you fancy a brew with full-on intensity, you might want to pick some Brewers’ Breakfast up while this seasonal ale is in stock.

Angry Bear is happy to seal anything on tap in cans for takeway

Canmore Brewing Company
1460 Railway Avenue, Canmore, Alberta
Taproom opens at 1 pm daily except closed Tuesday
403-678-2337

Angry Bear Growlers
105, 304 Old Canmore Road, Canmore
Opens at 3 pm daily except closed Monday
403-675-9910
Note: Besides growler sales, Angry Bear will seal any beer on tap in 16-ounce cans.

Day Trips From Calgary a Great Christmas Gift

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If you’re looking for a great, locally produced and locally focused Christmas gift, may I humbly suggest my Day Trips From Calgary book, just out in its fourth edition.

Why? It unveils nearly 100 things you can see and do on day trips within a two-hour drive of Calgary. They range from visits to world-class museums (like Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump) to nearby picnics (Big Hill Springs Provincial Park). From native-grass walks (the Whaleback) to scenic drives through prairies, foothills, mountains and badlands.

The Whaleback in southwest Alberta

Did I mention these are day trips, where you can just hop in the car and discover all the great landscapes of southern and central Alberta… and be home in time for dinner?

In other words, no horrors of airports, flying or wondering about the maskless coughing of a seatmate? Or, if you’re driving stateside, about lines at customs and dollars that cost nearly $1.40 Canadian.

Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park in eastern Alberta

Did I also mention it’s expensive to travel internationally these days, whether it’s flights, hotels or car rentals (yikes!). On a day trip from Calgary, your primary cost is gasoline, which has recently come down to under $1.30 per litre.

So why do you need my book? Well, it’s been in print since 1995 and sold more than 60,000 copies, so at least some folks think it’s worth keeping in their glovebox. It’s got a ton of trip ideas and enough detail to provide a rather complete natural and human history of Alberta, from the Crowsnest Pass north to Wetaskiwin, from Dinosaur Provincial Park to Lake Louise.

Historic Flat Iron building in Lacombe

Plus, in this edition, there’s a fairly comprehensive list of good, affordable eats and drinks in cities, towns, hamlets and roving food trucks (You knew there had to be a tie-in to Marathon Mouth). The photos are mostly new and better; thank you iPhone Pro.

Fabulous Homestead Bakeshop in Fort Macleod

It all adds up to nearly 400 door-stopping pages, for a steal-of-a-deal price of about $25.

Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park

Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park in central Alberta

Where can you buy it? Pretty much all the great, local, independent booksellers—Owl’s Nest Books, Pages on Kensington, Shelf Life Books  and even Cafe Books in Canmore—carry it. As do the online giants Amazon and Indigo Chapters.

On the Road Again

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Two-and-a-half years later, it was time to head out on another road trip to the southwestern US, featuring all those red states south of Alberta: Montana, Idaho, Utah and, mostly, Arizona. Twas a grand time for warm, early winter hiking.

Along the I-15 in northern Montana

Lovely walking paths above Butte, Montana

Moose near Melrose, Montana along the I-15

Irrigation ice-up near Dillon, Montana

Always have to stop for a burger at In-n-Out

Along the Zen Trail in St. George, Utah

Petrified sand dunes in Snow Canyon State Park, near St. George

River rules at casino in Laughlin, Arizona

Flatiron hike outside Apache Junction

Antelope slot canyon tour in Page, Arizona

View from the I-15 in Fillmore, Utah

Best Western Paradise in Fillmore

Wind turbine blades heading north to Canada

Best almond croissants in the world at the Homestead Bakeshop in Fort Macleod, Alberta. Welcome back to Canada!

You Can’t Have Too Many Farmers’ Markets in Calgary

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Folks are flocking to the new Calgary Farmers’ Market location

If you ever thought Calgary was oversaturated with farmers’ markets, think again.

When the Calgary Farmers’ Market opened its long-awaited second location last week, in the city’s west end near Canada Olympic Park, there were 35,000 shoppers and gawkers who passed through its doors, a vendor told me… in one day!

Its high-ceilinged, 55,000-square-foot indoor building, and its some 75 vendors, seem capable of handling such mobs. I’m not so sure about the traffic.

A majestically long, high-ceilinged building

When I visited on a glorious Friday morning, a week later, it was a game of musical cars, with multiple motorists waiting for someone to leave so they could park. The traffic spilled over from the paved lots to a gravel yard to the north.

It’s not like everyone was rushing to save money. I saw lots of meals, from the various food vendors costing $15-plus dollars. The produce and other foodstuffs are nice but not exactly cheap, for anyone expecting a rural, bare-bones experience.

Fresh fruit is always a draw

But this is Calgary, where folks are accustomed to, and maybe even expect, upscale farmers’ markets. Indeed, it’s a pleasant place to shop, wander and meet with friends.

And the aisles are sufficiently wide to avoid the indoor traffic jams—known as stroller Fridays— that plagued previous incarnations of this market.

Luc’s cheeses are a mainstay at both Farmers’ Market

Phil &Sebastian is returning to Calgary Farmers’ Market after a long absence
You should order one of Renay’s fabulous, gluten-free birthday cakes

Calgary Farmers’ Market West
25 Greenbriar Drive NW, Calgary
Wednesday to Saturday 9 am-7 pm, Sunday 9 am-5 pm