In the course of 12 plus years of travel associated with work at the University and travel with the website and various writing gigs, Andrea and I have sat at a lot of fabulous tables. This summer we have been on a 4-day work week (self-imposed for our sanity!)
As a result of this new freedom (longer weekends, freedom to do some extra planning), we have been exploring the inner spaces around Southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. And although Andrea and I do 98% of our food experiences at home, we do try and get out once a week while on our “down time” (off the road).
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Category Archives: Food – Beyond Coffee
Sooke Harbour House – as good as it gets, food OR coffee.
Level Ground Trading –making the dream come true
Level Ground Trading was founded by 4 Canadian families for the purpose of improving the lives of disadvantaged producers through trade.
The company’s first trade relationship was setup through Hugo Ciro with a cooperative of small scale coffee farmers in Antioquia, Colombia.
From interviews and visits with community members Hugo heard that the farming families’ greatest desire was to see their children go to school. Hugo found a group of dedicated teachers and community members who joined together to form Famicafe. In that first year, six students were provided full scholarships to highschool. These original students all completed highschool with top marks and are now attending university and technical colleges on Famicafe scholarships.
In 1999, Level Ground moved to its own roasting and packaging facility in Central Saanich (north of Victoria, BC).
In April 2002, Level Ground Trading’s president, Hugo Ciro, was invited to Bolivia by the UNDP (United Nations Development Program). The UNDP had deployed a team of technical advisors to provide specialized technical assistance to Aymara coffee farmers and to promote international trade for their unique variety of specialty coffee. Level Ground was pleased to be the first Fair Trade importer of this coffee to North America.
The bottom line on Kopi Luwak
The coffeecrew had a little taste party with Kopi Luwak coffee… and helped write an episode of CSI Las Vegas!
The fast facts behind the fat in your beverage..
One of the most common questions we get here at the ‘crew is: “What is the fat content in the 16 ounce Ice-Frap down at the 7-11?”
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Denman Island Chocolate
I’ve got coffee. I’ve got chocolate. It’s all organic. Who could ask for anything more?
Not only to I get to live in the most beautiful place in Canada (my biased opinion), and work on the peaceful university campus, I am wonderfully spoiled at work.
Colin brews an excellent cup of coffee at work and lately, with his co-workers on vacation, there has been enough in the pot for my mug at 10am (sometimes earlier if I beg and plead).
Lately, my work setting has become more idyllic with samples of delicious dark organic chocolate being provided just as that afternoon slump starts to hit me.
There are only a couple of options on campus for organic chocolate (as far as I know) and I’m starting with the stuff made close to home. Denman Island Chocolate. Whether you choose to eat your chocolate with hazelnuts, fruit or to savour it plain, theirs is all dark and organic. A quick trip to their web site reveals their commitment to the environment, from the high quality organic ingredients down to the bicycle powered freight carrier used to haul finished parcels down to the post office.
This past week I have sampled some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had. I’ve tried the Espresso Chunk, Toasted Hazelnut and Razzle Dazzle, but for me, the best was definitely the Simply Dark – the pure unadulterated bar. This is mostly because I truly enjoy placing a piece in my mouth and simply letting it melt – no nuts or fruit to enhance or detract from the experience.
The Simply Dark bar contains some of the smoothest chocolate I have ever placed in my mouth. Yes, it brought out that mmmmmmm sound, with no speech possible until the whole chunk had melted away in my mouth. Instant gratification. This chocolate is not too sweet and, as you would expect of any fine chocolate, there is no hint of either the waxy texture or the grainy, chalky texture found in cheaper brands. Simply Dark is only about 55% cocoa mass.
For the real test, I had to go to the Cocoa Loco bar with 70% cocoa mass. Still very smooth, slightly bitter especially at first, but, then the chocolate flavour comes out and there is no bitter aftertaste. If you are a dark chocolate fanatic you will love this one! If you’re looking for something a bit sweeter, stick with the Simply Dark or one of the flavoured bars. Is the organic chocolate worth the extra money you pay? You bet your sweet-tooth it is! Not only will you get that wonderful euphoric feeling that good chocolate normally brings, you can feel even better knowing that your purchase did not expose a farmer to nasty toxic chemicals commonly used on cocoa plants.
In addition to that, Denman Island Chocolate donates 1% of gross sales to local conservation organizations. I only wish I could say this product is certified as a fairly traded. I hope that one day soon, they find a fair trade chocolate that meets their high quality standards. Why?
As the saying goes, don’t bite the hand that feeds you, especially the hand that feeds you chocolate!
April F. works at the local University in I.T. and finds coffee and chocolate a pleasant combination.