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Wow, so I’ve been really neglectful not updating this blog. I’ve had a draft saved for too long now, the next post in my trip with the roaster late last year (which seems so long ago), I’ll post it soon but for now I’m giving a very long update:
In the spring I was lucky to be asked to be a judge at a barista jam at Hanks for the latte art competition.
Spotlight Toronto was there and posted about the event including video:
Pics of the pours from the latte art component can be seen on Flickr including a fairly good pour by yours truly (of course this was post competition and I didn’t have the pressure of everyone watching me!)
Summer saw the business continue to grow as word got out and although August saw a dip in sales between heat and people being on holiday, the wholesale side started to take off. We started supplying a custom espresso to Dark Horse Espresso Bar at their Queen and Broadview location. Dark Horse also starting carrying bags of our single origin coffees delivered weekly. Jamie Kennedy’s cafes, Hanks and Gilead also took us on and are now pulling our Punch Buggy espresso. Bisogno Espresso Bar which is owned by an actor friend Von Flores, also started using Punch Buggy as well as a single origin feature our Sidamo Special Prep.
photo: Cathie Coward, the Hamilton Spectator
A few other significant events were the Hamilton Spectators’ recent article about Detour. As a result this past weekend we had a rush of new customers and sold out of all our coffees by closing on Saturday. A nice guy named Geoff came into the shop on Saturday and tried a few coffees. Before I knew it, he had posted to his blog here on WordPress. Thanks for the kind words Geoff!
Finally, I was honored last week that Momi, who works at Dark Horse Espresso on Spadina, choose to use the Sidamo Special Prep I roasted for her as the major component in her espresso blend at the Canadian National Barista competition last week in Vancouver. Although she didn’t make it unto the final 6, she did a great job in what was reportedly quite stiff competition.
In the coming weeks some more changes will be coming to Detour. We will be starting to offer our decaf espresso on a newly acquired, previously loved Mazzer Super Jolly. Hopefully this will also mean featuring single origin espresso, such as our Costa Rica Helsar which I’ve been playing around as an espresso. We will also be picking up a cash register. The cash register will also mean that we will start pricing our coffees individually. Out of convenience we priced all our coffees the same when we opened but obviously the green coffees I purchase aren’t all the same price. Most of the coffees will fall within a dollar or so of each other except for our Kenyan Auction Lot offering which is the best bargain in the shop at the moment! I’ve also been getting many inquires about Fair Trade and certification. I will tackle our approach to sourcing either in another blog post or on the website when it gets updated but one thing I’ve been considering implementing is a donation per bag to Coffeekids.
I’m very excited for the arrival of a few things at the shop including preprinted coffee bags finally which were designed by an amazing team at Cossette/Identica. After volunteering coffee service last year at a fundraiser for Out of The Cold Toronto, I walked away with a design package which was part of the silent auction. The team was fabulous to work with and I’m very excited about the bags. New coffees will also be arriving including a new Sidamo, Dry Processed Yirgacheffe, and a washed Yirgacheffe to replace the one we currently offer. An organic Peruvian coffee will be coming too, all I can say is Butterscotch and Praline, a fantastic easy drinking coffee. That’s all for now…going to clean my roasters chimney!
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detourcoffee blog 
I miss one week in the shop and there are so many new updates! Exciting times.
Comment by Jamie October 20, 2009 @ 6:44 pmsounds like everything is going well. can’t wait to try the new brews!
Comment by jamie (Cumbraes) October 22, 2009 @ 5:59 pm