Galiano Coffee Lab

A Wonderfully designed and layed out cafe. Three separate floors, each with a separated but integrated feeling in the cafe— you can be at the bar and fully engaged with others or in the back of the place with privacy.  Tasted two espressos. The feature for the day was El Progresso, El Tunel, La Palma, Chalatenango, El Salvadore. Beautiful aroma of fruity vanilla perfumes, tasting acidic, pumpkin pie, turkey roasted sage, slight bitter grapefruit and quinine. Also hints of grass, earth and vanilla, but mostly as an aftertaste.  The second espresso was a 50/50 blend of Colombia and Guatemala. It had a pleasant dry mouth feel, tastes of bitter orange and a honey chocolate aftertaste. Wafting through in aroma and taste was fine herbs de Provence.  All coffees served were Arabica! The Latte art was excellent and creative and the Barista is more then willing to be open, friendly and generous with their time and knowledge, which I deeply enjoy and look forward to more experie

Fresh (or rather...well, not) off a flight from Europe, and deprived of the black elixir (no espresso machines allowed on the flight it seems) since Wiesbaden (see cafe Molino), salvation came by the name of Rocanini. This cafe is located in Steveston, conveniently less than thirty minutes from the Vancouver airport. Evan, the barista, served up feathery rosetted 'piccolo lattes', which quickly revived our coffee culture shock at relearning this local name for our beverage of choice, after a month of using the German name, 'espresso macchiatos'. We were treated to "Espresso  #3",  a blend of what Dr. Coffee correctly divined to be Guatamalan, Peruvian and Brazilian beans. We were delighted to take away some beans to try at home. Rocanini- almost reason enough to look forward to the next flight. http://www.rocanini.com

Espresso Perfetto Kolumbastraße 8, Koln, Germany https://espressoperfetto.de/ An Italian barista prepared us well-made espresso macchiato's at Espresso Perfetto after our visit to the Cologne Cathedral ( Hohe Domkirche St. Peter und Maria ). Full of chocolate and vanilla, it may not have been intended but a lovely desert coffee (especially so, as they were served with chocolate coated almonds)!

While staying at Hof Frohling in the small town of Hurst, we tried many coffees that were roasted by the excellent Kaffeerösterei in Konstanz as horses ambled by the window. The Malawi proved to be consistently delicious: blueberry, chocolate,vanilla, sweetness and depth. It held its own in completeness of flavour as a single origin espresso made through the ingenious Presso. The Burundi was also tasted solo. While enjoyable, it was not as full bodied as the Malawi, the predominant flavour being red wine. Accordingly, the Burundi was best enjoyed as a component of various blends.

Today we visited rabenschwarz cafe in the delightful town of Schwelm, about 4 km east of Wuppertal.. The first round of espresso macchiatos left a distinctive and lingering- Dutch cocoa taste in our mouths. We also bought some beautiful espresso cups for the Coffee Lab collection. Yannik, the barista was engaging - he discussed the relative merits of espresso versus French press, while Dr.Coffee gently asked if he could try out his new cup by making an espresso!  We were curious to get behind the machine to see what could be plucked  from their blend as it had some suspiciously hidden tastes that held lots of promise. With a little change in tamping, extraction time and latte art, we again tasted the predominant flavour of rich, unsweetened, powdered Dutch cocoa but now with some distinctive notes: orange, grapefruit, cherry and macadamia. This is an excellent  espresso roast and we plan to get a chance to return to this cafe. Also aim to have a chat with the roaster and pe