Tag Archives: Calgary coffee

New High-End Coffee Shop in Calgary

Leave a reply

Paradigm Spark is a new high-end coffee roaster and cafe on the eastern edge of downtown Calgary

I encountered Paradigm Spark, and its owner, David Kim, when it was a pop-up coffee bar inside the Beltline’s Butter Block bakery. A few days later, it was gone. But thankfully it reappeared, some months later, as a stand-alone coffee roaster, barista classroom and cafe on the eastern edge of downtown Calgary.

Yes, you can order standard espresso-based drinks, albeit from elevated beans. But here is a chance to step up to pour overs or flights of single-origin beans from, say, Colombian Indigenous small growers, and pair it with an inhouse-baked croissant.

Owner David Kim at the pour-over coffee bar

Like what you’ve tasted? Then pick up some Paradigm Spark roasted beans or, if you’re feeling flush, connoisseur David Kim roasts.

Welcome to Calgary a place that takes its coffee very seriously.

Paradigm Spark
422 11 Avenue SE, Calgary
Daily 7:30 am-7 pm
403-918-4957

Superb Calgary Coffee and Pastry For Only $5

Leave a reply

Fabulous Butter Block muffin and Q.lab coffee

It’s increasingly hard to find a good coffee and pastry in Calgary for less than $10. So, here’s an outstanding pairing for only $5.

Of course, there’s a wee caveat or two. As in buy one, get one free (Can I just get the free one?) And you have to hit two places. But it’s still a hell of a deal.

Who doesn’t love a free coffee?

We start at Butter Block, in the Beltline’s Devenish Building, to pick up a superb croissant, muffin or tart for about $5. We then wander, a stone’s throw away, to Q.lab, arguably the best coffee shop in Calgary. Q.lab doesn’t serve food, but they let you bring your own, hence the stop at Butter Block.

Q.lab coffee in Calgary’s Beltline

Here’s the caveat. You need to buy a pound or more of their excellent Chronicle-roasted beans, which you probably need to purchase anyway, and for only about $20 a pound.

The good news is that having bought said beans, you get a free coffee. Which can be a fine espreso-based drink or, my preference, a lovingly prepared pour-over coffee (from your choice of more than a dozen bean types).

A perfect pour over

So here’s the math. About $5 for the pastry and zero for the coffee drink, which would normally cost upwards of $6 if you didn’t buy any beans.

My head hurts. I need some caffeine.

A swan song

Butter Block
111, 908 17 Avenue SW, Calgary
Weekdays 7:30 am-5 pm, weekends 8 am-5 pm

Q.lab Coffee
926 16 Avenue SW, Calgary
Weekdays 8:30 am-5 pm, Saturday 8:30 am-4 pm. Closed Sunday

Calgary Coffee Circuit

Leave a reply

Vintage Caffeine the latest coffee shop in Hillhurst

Calgary has its Barley Belt, a collection of craft breweries in the city’s southeast. Perhaps it’s time to declare a similar coffee circuit.

Quietly and quite recently, four coffee shops have opened along a few blocks of 19th Street in the northwest neighbourhood of Hillhurst. Here’s a brief description of each.

I invariably take my coffee black, typically an Americano/Canadiano. But in the interests of research, I’m willing to add some white liquid to the mix.

At vegan Vintage Caffeine, (101 19 Street NW) that means the dairy-free “milk” is instead oat, soy or almond. I’m not ready to switch to white, but my oat milk cappuccino (Fratello beans) tastes pretty darn good, paired with a house-made chipotle empanada.

Vintage has gone vegan

Now here’s a true partnership. The aptly named Pocket Coffee (317 19 Street SW) is owned by attached Dairy Lane Café, with roasted beans from Fratello and baked treats from superb Butter Block. Be bold and tackle a French toast latte and double-baked apple croissant on the sidewalk patio.

Pocket Coffee

Crave Cupcakes has expanded its mini empire with a new Hillhurst bakery that includes an attached coffee shop, CeCe’s Coffee (114 18 A Street). Order a Monogram-based java with a fresh-baked cupcake or savoury cheddar scone.

Cupcakes and coffee

Free Coffee at Calgary’s Q.lab

2 Replies

Buy beans, get a free coffee

Here’s a deal that’s better than happy hour. Free.

Every time I pick up fresh-roasted coffee beans at Q.lab,in Calgary’s Beltline, they give me a free coffee—in my case a meticulously crafted, two-cup pour over, normally costing about $6.50.

A. fabulous, free pour over

I usually order two pounds of their Chronicle beans, which at $40 is quite reasonable for this high quality.

So, great beans and best coffee in Calgary, at $6.50 off. What’s not to like?

Calgary’s best coffee?

Q.lab
926 16 Avenue SW, Calgary
Weekdays 8:30 am-5 pm, Saturday 8:30 am-4 pm. Closed Sunday

Apprentice Cafe: Calgary’s Best Focaccia

1 Reply

The house-made focaccia buns are the real stars of Apprentice Cafe’s superb breakfast sandwiches

In a crowded Calgary food scene, it certainly pays to occupy a solid niche. For Apprentice Cafe—a tiny Ramsay eatery with verdant views of downtown—that niche is the often-overlooked breakfast sandwich. Owner Rein offers nine such all-day sandwiches, including pulled pork and my expertly executed mushroom ($10.25), featuring goat cheese, caramelized onion, egg and black garlic aioli.

Apprentice Cafe owner Rein in his tiny Ramsay restaurant

But the real star of these breakfast sandwiches is the focaccia buns they’re cradled in. Inspired by the focaccia he encountered while working as a chef in Italy, Rein bakes a little loaf that’s golden on the outside and pillowy soft on the inside.

Easily the best focaccia I’ve tasted. Too bad you can’t order it to go.

Apprentice also serves good Rogue Wave coffee and house-made small-batch ice cream. Its hot chocolate was recently named best in the city.

Apprentice Cafe
1024 Bellevue Avenue SE, Calgary
Opens 8 am Tuesday to Sunday and 9 am Monday
825-488-0887

Calgary Bakeries and coffee

3 Replies

Calgary keeps adding to its roster of bakeries that produce excellent pastries. Here are five that also brew a mean cup of coffee, making them the perfect place to meet up with friends.

Note: I often don’t get much feedback to this blog. So consider hitting the like button or leaving a reply. Thanks.

Everything elegant Mari Bakeshop makes is first rate, from croissants and pain au chocolate to more exotic roll cakes and choux pastries. This Bridgeland destination is a busy place, so order a latte before claiming a prized window seat.

Mari Bakeshop

There might also be a wee line at the Beltline’s little Begonia Bakehouse. Order a brioche-based pain Suisse and a“Canadiano” and head for a vacant table.

Begonia Bakehouse

Butter Block is arguably Calgary’s heavyweight pastry place, supplying baked treats to many city coffee shops. But it’s worth heading to its Beltline base for a fabulous banana cream pudding muffin, wolfed down with a double espresso.

Butter Block

Located on busy Macleod Trail across from Stampede Park, newish Otie Cafe produces work-of-art tarts and terrific, savoury cacio e pepe croissants. Wash down either with a coffee from local roaster Chronicle’s beans.

Otie Cafe

Chronicle beans also make an appearance at Killarney newcomer Millo Millo Bake Shop. Sip a cappuccino while munching an Earl Grey scone or delightfully cheesy pretzel bagel.

Millo Millo Bake Shop