Green Bean Quest (Where are they?)

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Green Bean Quest (Where are they?)

Written by Eric Mathurin

Tuesday, 04 April 2006

Ottawa

Good luck. I never managed to stumble upon anywhere in Ottawa where they actually sell green beans. Having said that, a friend of mine managed to buy some from the owner of a store in Barrhaven who had brought some in for himself. I’m not going to mention the name of his store because (a) I forget and (b) seriously… I forget. So, if you live in Ottawa (or most places, I would think) your best bet is to find a coffee shop that roasts their own beans and ask if you can buy some of their stock. (Otherwise, why would they even have green beans in stock? In fact, be prepared for the question, “What do you want green beans for?!?” Feel free to come up with a favourite retort.) However, even if they do bring in beans for in-store roasting you may have trouble getting them to sell you some: it may be more trouble that it’s worth for them.

Toronto

Lucky for me I moved into a city that has not one, but two (and, heck, maybe more than two) places from which to buy green beans. What’s more: they won’t look at you as though you have two heads for wanting to roast your own beans.

Birds and Beans

http://www.birdsandbeans.ca/

My first roaster (the FreshRoast) and my first set of beans were bought from their website. Even though the site is a little minimalist, my experience with them has been first-rate:

Pros

They ship very, very quickly and cheaply. Orders to Ottawa will usually arrive in as little as 2 days from placing your order. Yes, they get them to the post office that fast. (Kudos to the folks at Canada Post, of course) Also, they give a great deal on the cost of shipping on your first order: I recall that I only had to pay a couple of bucks for the roaster and a sample-pack of their beans.
Shopping from their site makes you feel all warm-and-fuzzy. The beans are all one or more of the following: Free Trade. Bird Friendly. Organic. Shade-grown. Etc.
I have been consistently impressed with the quality of the beans: in terms of shape, size and colour the consistency is fantastic. I did have a batch or two that tasted ‘baggy’ to me, but I haven’t been keeping track of this factor enough to really comment on it.
They have a cute retail shop that will really appeal to those of you that I can only describe as a “bed and breakfast”-type of atmosphere: I’m talking hand-painted mugs and decorations that give testament to the wonders of nature all around you. (Frankly, it’s a style that occasionally gives me a shiver every now and then when I encounter it. I can’t explain.)
The staff is very friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, and most importantly – willing to listen you yammer on about your roasting hobby where most people will either have their eyes glaze over or exclaim a quick, “Oh yeah?” before quickly changing the subject on you.

Cons

Their selection of green beans will eventually seem a tad on the small side. To be fair, they may be interested more in quality and sustainability, etc. then sheer variety.
Their web-site automatically resizes your web browser on you. Eeeeyaaaarrrrgh! STOP THAT.
Their thin ziplock bags aren’t very trustworthy – more than once the beans have found their way out of those bags through holes that developed in transit or somewhere along the way.

Green Beanery

http://www.greenbeanery.ca/

Since Birds and Beans doesn’t sell anything other than the FreshRoast roaster, this seemed like the logical place to upgrade mine from: they have a very large selection of green beans, roasters, and just about anything that has to do with coffee.

Pros

They have a very, very large selection of coffee and… coffee stuff! From small items all the way up to professional equipment.
They are non-profit: all the proceeds go to Probe International, which does... something.
They are reasonably quick to ship. Though not, in my opinion, as good as Birds and Beans.
They have their operations in downtown Toronto. (I won’t say, “store”, because it’s more of a house that has been converted into a office that has seen a mild indoor tornado. I worked in a start-up company like that once, so I felt at home.)
The beans are shipped in sturdy ziplock bags.

Cons

All the benefits of “non-profit” with the customer service you might expect from an organization not striving solely for profit: I had cause for some disappointment when my newly-purchased iRoast didn’t work, right out of the box. Rather than replace the whole machine, they insisted on replacing just the base. (When it didn’t work, I naturally repacked it all up and brought it to work the next morning before they gave this “bring the base only” instruction. So when I showed up after work they went to work unpacking it all just to swap the base. Plus if I had been a few minutes later than 5:45pm – they officially close at 6:00pm – I probably would have made the 45 minute trek from my workplace for nothing as they were already on their way out. This exchange was all done without much ado – but frankly if something is broken when you bought it, and you have to make another trip out (it does indeed cost time and money to go back – I’m just glad I didn’t buy it by mail) one might expect some kind of token such as a free sample of beans. Having run an online business for a long time I know that this kind of gesture goes a long way to a harried customer who has experienced such an inconvenience with a newly purchased item.
I purchased a lot of types of beans not available at Birds and Beans recently – some rather expensive ones (~$20/pound) – and noted that the consistency and quality of the beans isn’t … well… consistent: some varieties have a surprising quantity of broken beans (including the resulting debris) and even some black beans. I have never encountered this with Birds and Beans coffee. Having said this, I have no idea if this is because some varieties they sell are simply not available as green beans in better shape. I really don’t know. But I include this point here for your judgement and as fair warning.

Elsewhere

Sweet Maria’s

http://www.sweetmarias.com/

I have never ordered from their site, but it is simply a treasure trove of coffee products and information. You can spend hours sifting through their thorough reviews, information, tips and products. I haven’t ordered from them yet, but it’s a matter of time. (They have some beautiful Ibriks, a great new coffee book, and many other items… I would dearly love their Cona vacuum brewer most of all, but it seems they can’t ship them to Canada.)

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