The one Canadian roaster I was familiar with (just from my time browsing coffee forums) was 49th Parallel, so I knew that I needed to definitely make finding their coffee a priority. I had hoped that Revolver Coffee would be carrying some (with no car on this trip, it would have been nice to have as close to a one-stop shop for coffee as possible), but unfortunately for me, they were not carrying 49th Parallel that week. Just as well, probably… three bags was a lot to buy at one time, I can only imagine what the barista would have thought if I bought five!
I made it to 49th Parallel’s Thurlow location in downtown Vancouver about 15 minutes before closing one afternoon. The place was sparkling clean and I would have loved to spend some time there, but I was on a mission to get to Stanley Park by sunset so I simply focused on buying some beans. The bags of coffee were not sitting out for purchase; instead, I asked the barista about what varieties were available and once I chose my beans, she grabbed them for me from the back.
Whole bean: Nutty, clean, and sweet aroma.
V60: Fresh, sweet, and clean flavor of cashew butter.
AeroPress: Tangy berry flavor with a rich and full-bodied texture. Great without adding any additional water, but it does become a little smoother and sweeter with just a touch of dilution.
Chemex: Super smooth on the front, with a note of raisin on the finish. A bit tangy. I got just a little bit of bitterness on the end, which surprised me as it didn’t show up in any other method.
French press: Clean and juicy with blueberry notes.
Summary: I don’t normally expect blueberry and cashew notes in a Colombian coffee, but I rather liked this! I enjoyed this most in the French press for the juicy blueberry flavor and V60 for the cashew butter flavor.
From the roaster: cashew, blueberry jam, creamy
At the time I wrote this review, this coffee was not available on 49th Parallel’s online store, but here’s a link to their other coffees for sale:
49th Parallel Coffee Roasters Shop
Review conducted 13 days post-roast.