2percent Jazz - Coffee Victoria BC

Coffee tasting!

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:38:57 -0800

Less Machines, More Fun

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:54:00 -0800

About a year ago we made a major switch to our brew coffee program: we put away our hyper-expensive Clover machine and our conventional drip filter brewer machine in exchange for brewing all our non-espresso coffee with a French Press. A press is arguably the simplest way of brewing a spectacular cup of coffee. This simple and traditional brewing method extracts the truest flavours out of our coffees, doing proper justice to their individual characteristics. The clarity of flavours is also complemented by a creamier and heavier body not attainable in any other brewing method.

The Baristas in our cafe all welcomed this change for many reasons:
-No more scrubbing out brewed coffee pots, press pots simply need to be rinsed out when finished brewing.
-Significantly less garbage; there is no more need to use a one-time-use paper filter, now we just put the coffee grinds right into the compost.
-We all prefer a more hands-on approach to coffee making; instead of pushing buttons and letting a machine do all the work, we're now stirring and pouring the coffee ourselves as well as adjusting grinds, coffee amounts, and brew times for each individual coffee to get the best possible extraction of flavours and the smoothest body.

This delicious and easy brewing method really puts the personality back into coffee and coffee making (just like the people at 2% Jazz).

Click to Download French Press Instruction Booklet (its free!)

echo $number->monoSlideshow("PPB","450","450","plain");

Get a Handle on your Porta-Filter!

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:05:00 -0800

New toys in the form of handles for our espresso machine.

As a barista, the feeling of a smoothly contoured Reg Barber tamper in my hand as it presses down on a tasty espresso blend is the kind of feeling that turns coffee making from a just a job into a passion. The right hand is gripped to the tamper, but what's in the left hand? A generic plastic handle acting as the connection to the honoured espresso machine? Imagine feeling a Reg Barber tamper in both hands... At 2% Jazz we're honoured to have the privelge of custom Reg Barber designed hardwood handles for the portafilters of our Kees Van Der Westen designed Mirage espresso machine. "Reg designed the shape of the handle after a woman's leg," says 2% owner Sam Jones.

All of the staff agree it's the smoothest, most comfortable feeling shape for a hand as well as providing solid grip so it never slips even in the heat of a morning rush. Brette describes them as "like putting your hands into slippers every time you make a coffee."

Come by the cafe, sip an espresso, and we might even let you hold one.

Damn! That Kenya Made My Day!

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:56:00 -0700

I love coffee sacks. Don't get me wrong. I love the colourful designs and beautiful pictures of a colombian microlot. I love the soft texture, the basic identifying markings and the corded closing stitch of an co-op Ethiopian. But today there was no sweeter packaging than what my new Kenyan coffee came in. Kenya Ichanjeru AA Microlot comes in a square box with two 15 kilo vacuum sealed foil bags. Pulling one of those bricks of coffee made me think of the book Mr. Nice about a big time hash dealer from England. When I opened the first bag the smell of fresh alfalfa was so intoxicating that I felt nearly drunk! Once I was able to finally pull my nose away from the bag I ran my hands through the beans. Kenyas are usually clean and a very hard bean. So it through me to feel a soft spongy quality to the beans. The beans are actually a hard bean, however at this stage of freshness they felt like they had a velour coating on them. When roasting this coffee I have to be careful to push it into first crack and then really ease up on the temperature. This is a delicate coffee and must be approached with caution. The first batch I roasted I took a bit too fast and It ended around 430 degrees in 15 minutes. I will try again for a 420 roast in 14:30 the next time. Cupping my "darker" (430) batch I get the body and sweetness, but it lacks the citric acids that I am looking for in this beautiful coffee.

The packaging is what I really wanted to focus on. George Howell loved the coffee from this particular exporter in Kenya and told them that he would buy their coffee if they changed the packaging. So George helped them set up the equipment and started buying their coffee. This vacuum packaging keeps the coffee at peak freshness for as long as the vacuum holds. The clarity of the coffee holds longer and you do not get the usual spoils of transportation. Moisture, light, air and time are no longer a factor. One can sample fresh greens and know that the rest of the shipment will taste the same even if it gets lost in transport somewhere in Africa. The only concern that I have is the plain unmarked box that it comes in. No longer do you see beautiful art on a burlap canvas. It reminds me of buying a record off itunes. Great sound quality with easy to use functions, but it is not like buying an LP record with liner notes and cool cover art. There are somethings in life that just can not be beat. The double Japanese import Kiss album with the 20 page booklet on the history of Kiss is on of them, but fresh, I mean really fresh green beans are another. All I ask is that vacuum packed coffees come in a uber cool printed box. The Clover when it was hot came in collector boxes. I got one of five Godzilla print boxes. This was the selling feature for me and made the $$$$ easier to swallow. A balance needs to be found between the quality of the product and the packaging that surrounds it.

Current Offerings

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:01:00 -0700

Green Bean List

Brazil San Antonia Estates Sc.17/18

Natural Minas Gerais Arabica Coffee

This natural process coffee from Minas Gerais offers a raisin-like rummy fruit flavor prominent in many high-grown Brazil naturals. An excellent contrast to our slightly more pungent Porta Rossa profile, like comparing jelly and peanut butter

Papua New Guinea NOP Certified

Organic Arabica

Maple syrup and hints of berry in the acidity. Stands alone well, or could offer medium-to-high notes in a blend.

Java Estate “Kali Bendo” Arabica Coffee

An appealingly deep and resonant cup, with echoes of molasses and raisin. Phenomenal as a blend base, and stands alone well too.

Sumattra Certified Organic Arabica Coffee

Very popular with our clients for its consistency and its excellent balance of syrupy low tones with round fruit top notes.

Kenya AA Plus Arabica Coffee – Microlot:

Ichanjeru (30kg box)

Colombia Excelso “Monserrate” Arabica Coffee

A relationship coffee produced by a community in Huila. Bold cherry acidity, red berry tones, and solid structure. Silky body. An outstanding example of what Colombia can do in the specialty grades.

Monserrate is a community of 28 families some two hours down a bumpy dirt road from La Plata. The town itself consists of a single street draped along the top of a gorgeous ridge with a commanding view of the lush green valleys on either side. At the highest point in town sits a brick-clad church and bell tower.

The coffee grown here is Caturra and Typica varietal. Each family has its own de-pulping and fermentation set up, along with raised drying screens protected from the rain by parabolic roofs of transparent plastic. The drying areas are set up on a slight incline, so that both ends of the tunnel can be opened to allow airflow across the coffee.

Since every family contributes coffee for export, each fermentation and drying process has to be done perfectly, or it could compromise the entire shipment. Happily, the whole community takes great pride in their work, and the results show very nicely in the cup--delicate floral tones balanced by jellied wine grape sweetness.

Colombia Choco, Carmen de Atrato

El Salvador SHG Gourmet Prep Finca La

Providencia Arabica Coffee

Yet another stellar El Salvador estate coffee, Finca La Providencia is the newest addition to the Pacas family's collection of farms. High altitude, heirloom Bourbon and Pacas trees, and volcanic soil are all responsible for the sparkling acidity of this coffee, hinting at white wine and green apple, with a brown sugar and molasses sweetness that rounds the flavor out perfectly. (bagged using GrainPro Supergrainbag™ liners)

Congrats Brette and Tiff

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:20:00 -0700

Well congrats to Brette and Tiffany! The Western Comp was great, if not frocked with the usual complaints. However, Tiffany is going to the Canadians in Montreal in October. Brette is going to be there too as Tiff's coach and right hand woman! Look out Montreal!
I have added a Flicker link to my site. The photo blog is new and I will be adding to it regularly (I hope) so keep looking for new pics.

There have been some changes at the cafe. We installed a new back bar which allows far greater freedom to cup and play with different brewing methods. We stopped serving our usual drip and have relaced it with all French Press coffee! Currently we are offering four different Cup Of Excellent coffees.
The look and feel of the cafe have changed quite a bit since the renos and I encourage those that have not made it down to come on in!

You will notice the option to view our live camera. This feature is in place for the convenience of local workers. I know that we get very busy and the line ups can be scary for some. Now all you have to do is check in and see if now is the right time for you to come in. Fun times to view are 9:00 - 11am. This feature is currently down for technical reasons.

I have just installed a Mirage espresso machine. This has been a fun learning curve for all of us at the shop. What a beautiful machine to look at and o use. All I can say is Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.