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Yes. The rumours are true and we are delighted to announce that we're joining the vibrant and growing coffee culture in downtown Edmonton! Details in the news release below.
Transcend Coffee to Open New Café on Jasper Avenue and Expand Food and Beverage Options
Edmonton, AB – Thursday, January 27, 2011 – Transcend Coffee Corp.—an Edmonton based coffee importer, roaster, retailer and educator—today announced plans to open its third Edmonton café, located at Jasper Avenue and 104 street, in the space currently occupied by Axis Café. Transcend plans to have the new café open for business in March, 2011.
“We had planned to open a downtown café sometime this year,” says Poul Mark, owner and founder of Transcend Coffee, “but the opportunity to take over the Axis Café space was unexpected and has come together quickly.” Transcend Coffee will take over the assets and lease of Axis Café February 1st, make adjustments to the equipment and decor and open in a relatively short period of time. “We’re very happy with the location and confident we can bring the Transcend experience to the downtown crowd.” The new café will be staffed by existing, seasoned Transcend baristas—who have received more than 100 hours espresso and latte art training—as well as a some new hires.
New Food and Liquor program
The new Transcend Jasper café as well as the existing Transcend Garneau café (8708 – 109 St) will also be introducing an expanded hot food menu as well as a small selection of remarkable beer and wine in the spring of 2011.
New food items will all be made in-house by Chad Moss, Transcend’s head roaster, new culinary lead and Red Seal chef, while artisan breads will be baked by Transcend’s bread enthusiast, Jeff Johnson. The concept is to create a Central and South American ‘coffee-origin street food' menu that reflects some of the delicious foods that Transcend green coffee buyers experience during sourcing trips. Dishes like empenadas, pupusas, aprepas, pao de queijo, and the like will make up a flavourful and unique dining experience for Edmontonians. “Of course we will be focusing heavily on local ingredients in all of our food preparations, and we will approach food with the same dedication as our coffee,” says Chad Moss. Bread products will include a variety of naturally leavened sweet and savory artisan breads in a variety of forms. All of Transcend’s locations will be carrying Jeff Johnson’s complete line of artisan hearth breads for enjoyment at home as well.
Beer and wine will also be approached in the same manner as coffee, focusing on unique, exceptional, flavourful hard-to-find beverages that accentuate the new food items and have a story of their own.
Expanded Roasting Operations
Transcend Coffee has also recently leased a new 5,000 square-foot facility at 7724-69 Street to house its new, expanded roastery. A vintage 1950s Probat UG 22 roaster was received in January by Transcend which will allow it to triple its roasting capacity. “The new roaster will allow us to again raise the quality of our coffee,” says Poul Mark, “the cast iron manufactured in the ‘50s was more thermally stable, which allow for greater bean development and allow us to dial in our coffees even better than we do now.” The new roaster was completely retro-fitted with new burners and controls by Giesen in The Netherlands before being shipped to Edmonton. Moving roasting operations will allow for the original Argyll coffee bar to add more seating and reconfigure space to accommodate the expanded kitchen and bakery needed for the new food program.
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Poul Mark is available for interviews concerning the new Jasper Ave café, food and liquor program, as well as coffee importing, roasting, fair and direct-trade coffee, and the new wave of specialty coffee.
Contact:
James Schutz - director of marketing
ph. 780.801.4891 | cell: 780.913.2451
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