

In the summer, the Ice Ice Baby cold brew with milk and a double espresso shot gets hand-shaken together for a cool treat. Sip on this: Order the Cortado, a double shot of espresso mixed with an equal amount of warm milk (not frothy or foamy, but denser). Savour a cup at the communal table and enjoy people-watching on James Street. Watching your coffee made in their unique ‘steampunk’ machines is worth the visit alone. There’s a reason you’ve probably seen this place on Instagram: the food is perfectly plated, the natural light beams through, and the coffee is crafted with love. Fall in love with black coffee with a taste of the light roast from Mexico, gentle on the palate with notes of brown sugar, cocoa, and almonds. Sip on this: Origins and roast profiles rotate but there’s always a light, medium and dark roast. Find it in local restaurants and cafes across the city, or visit them in person at their flagship counter in the Hamilton Farmers’ Market (look for their signature pour-over station) their King William Street cafe, or at the Staircase Theatre. From spaces to linger to grab-and-go counters, here are some of our favourite spots to grab a cup of Joe.Ģ7 Dundurn St N, Hamilton (The Staircase)Ī roaster by trade, this Hamilton favourite has more than a decade of experience crafting fair trade, organic coffee.
The coffee buzz hamilton al for free#
“I worked enough that I qualify (for government income relief) but many musicians don’t.”Īs well, they’re asking patrons to nominate volunteer front-line health workers and others for free bags of coffee.The city that started Tim Hortons has since cultivated an independent coffee shop scene worth exploring. “We (Koren and his business partner Mortenson) are musicians so we feel the effects deeply,” he says. Now, a big part of the effort will go into an online presence with a strong emphasis on public service.Ī portion of every bag sold goes toward the Unison musician’s benefits fund and will be matched by Spotify, says Koren. “But our focus has become different,” he explains. Their plan was to sell at the Dundas Farmers’ Market and possibly other venues. “We were all set to launch and then this happened,” says Koren, of the COVID-19 crisis. I know a lot of people now are using their time at home to try to tailor that elusive perfect cup. It “performed.” It occurred to them that they had something here. The resulting coffee didn’t just go down easy. They kept experimenting with blends, flavours, different roasts. A kettle and a french press.”Īnd so it began.
The coffee buzz hamilton al plus#
Plus they didn’t like stops and interruptions so they took to brewing their own on the bus. Not what they were getting at whistlestops and on roadsides. It’s about taste, harmony, power, richness. They’ve partnered with the Unison Benevolent Fund, an organization that assists struggling musicians both financially and with health and mental health resources.īut why coffee you ask? “When we were on the road (and Koren spent a lot of time on the road), you discover a lot of really bad coffee,” Koren says with a stress on the “bad.”Īnd both he and Mortenson have a strong passion for coffee, not unlike their passion for music. So, they’re using their new coffee service not only to offer a variety of flavours that has their personal stamp all over it, but also an online opportunity for a “coffee hang” (every Friday) and last, but not least, a leg up for struggling musicians and other performers. Not only had the work dried up, they had to rethink their business plan. In fact, earlier in the year they’d set April 2 as their launch date. They’ve been researching, preparing, working with the Hamilton Business Centre, testing, most of all tasting, for more than two years now. Koren and the drummer he usually plays with, Ed Mortenson, have brewed up something called Mornin’ Buzz Coffee Co., and while you might be tempted to think that they started it as a stopgap kind of enterprise to keep them busy while the gig jar is empty, that isn’t the case at all. But the coffee’s not really a break, it’s a business. Now? As you know, there’s no work for musicians in terms of public appearances. Was booked solid, with “was” being the operative word. If you’ve ever experienced a performance by Frank Koren, you’ll know why he was booked solid right through to 2021, touring around, playing with his band, with others, like Harrison Kennedy, and doing tribute gigs - everyone from Tom Petty to Roy Orbison and Zac Brown.
