I didn’t quite liken myself to poet T.S. Eliot until just now. Upon reflection, I gotta say, since that first splash of hot, brown liquid filled my morning cup my life, too, has been measured out with coffee spoons. Folgers had it right from the get up and get go: it's the best part of waking up! Honestly, if I don’t get at least two cups of this stuff in me before I head out the door I’d probably be mistaken for an extra on The Walking Dead.
Judging from the morning mobs at any Ottawa Bridgehead, traffic tumbler sippers and those diving into their daily Double Double dosage, I chose the right town to get my caffeine fix in! This is a caffeinated Capital.
Well, actually, if you really want to get serious with your coffee stats, this is a caffeinated country! According to a 2015 study, when it came to wallowing away the hours inside a local cafe, Canada was numero uno in the amount of coffee we drank per capita. As for just how much of the stuff we make in total, well, we also rolled up that rim to win coming in third behind Finland and the Netherlands. How much, you ask? 152 liters per person!
I think I may lay claim to about 25% of that tally…errr…30% during the colder winter months.
And now, as we mercifully move away from the chill and are once again reminded what grass looks like, there’s a new fest in town brewing up some nectar to ensure the first days of the season provide a little extra spring. Oh yes, brace yourselves, because here comes the sun and here comes Coffee Fest!
“Ottawa’s coffee community has been growing significantly over the past few years so we wanted to create a festival that celebrates that and brings together some of the best roasters from the area,” festival founders Melanie Burgess and Geneviève Séguin tell me.
“Ottawa has so many successful festivals and community-driven events. We felt that it was time we had one for coffee as well. The response from the public has been very positive and it’s great to see the excitement growing.”
Taking place in the Horticulture Building at Lansdowne on Saturday, March 23, the new fest on the block was put together by a team of three coffee lovers who managed to hash it all out between full-time jobs. Full-time jobs and, of course, a lotta’ java.
While Tim Horton’s may remain the most popular go to for the Ottawan coffee fix, festival organizers are hoping to show what else the city has to offer byway of our coffee culture. Over 13 different roasters will be on hand to serve up samples. Mixed in with popular café favourites like Bridgehead, Happy Goat, and Equator await new discoveries.
“We would encourage everyone to have a chat with a local roaster,” says Burgess and Séguin. “We’ve learned a ton about the process that goes behind making your daily cup of coffee, such as farming, importation, marketing, etc. and because of it we’ve developed a greater appreciation for their craft. Naturally, that makes you more inclined to support companies that are more local and work more directly with importers.”
The two go on to explain that one of the things that is so unique about Ottawa roasters is that many of them are cause-driven, each supporting initiatives that are important and inspiring.
Take Birch Bark Coffee Company, for example. Their mission goes beyond just offering delicious drinks.
“For us, it’s about giving back and offering a better quality of life by providing clean drinking water to Indigenous communities suffering from poor water conditions. For every 40 bags of coffee sold, we’re able to equip one home with a certified Belkraft water purification unit at no cost to the family."
Another, CloudForest Coffee, brings their brand of brew from the Intag region, one of the last coastal rainforests in Ecuador. There, in this perfect coffee climate, the community formed a co-op in order to create alternatives to large scale mining.
Those behind Cloudforest proudly state that they “are standing in solidarity with the farmers of Intag who are telling the world they do not want Canadian mining companies in their community.”
10Fourteen Coffee Roasters, I Deal Coffee, and Structure Roasters are just a few of the others offering up samples using the festival’s token based system. In short, snag yourself a token for 50 cents with each of them netting you one sample. from the menus vendors will have posted.
If you want to dig deeper into coffee culture, the festival will also be hosting some workshops with limited spots available. Alas, while Bridgehead’s Be A Barista and Happy Goat’s Coffee Cupping workshops are sold out, you can still grab a spot at Cooking with Coffee (hosted by Massine's Your Independent Grocer), and Brewing at Home, also put on by Happy Goat.
Guest speakers like Monika Firl (Director of Sustainability, CoopCoffees), France Desfossés (owner of Planet Coffee), and fourth generation Honduran coffee farmer Ramon Lara are a few set to give informative chats throughout the day.
“Coffee has a strong social and educational component and as such, festival speakers were carefully selected with an underlying message of going “Behind the Bean” to explore the greater global impact of one of the world's most popular beverages,” explain Burgess and Séguin.
With one week to go, when asked to take a break from the rush and hustle of planning to describe their perfect cup of coffee, the two pause for a moment and reply: “Fresh, local, ethical, flavourful, smooth, hot.“
Ottawa’s first ever Coffee Fest is sure to pour out plenty of that to go around. Tickets are on sale now!