Transcend Garneau is official

Transcend Coffee to Open New Coffee Bar
in Garneau Theatre Building

Edmonton, AB – Tuesday, August 18, 2009 – Transcend Coffee Corp.—an Edmonton based coffee importer, roaster, retailer, wholesaler and educator—today announced plans to open a new coffee bar in the historic Garneau Theatre building, slated to open in January 2010.

“We’re delighted to have secured space for our second coffee bar in such a historic location,” says Poul Mark, owner and founder of Transcend Coffee, “the Garneau Theatre is an important Edmonton landmark and we’re honored to be a part of the next phase of the building’s life.” The new coffee bar will occupy the former Pharo’s Pizza space, which closed in June. Before Pharoh’s, the space was home to two different coffee bars, Joan’s Coffee Bar—the original tenant—followed by the Garneau Theatre Coffee Shop. “We’re happy to continue the tradition of serving coffee in the Garneau Theatre Block,” says Mark. The Garneau Theatre is currently undergoing structural upgrades and will be restored to more closely resemble its appearance when it opened in 1940. The building’s owner and developer, John Day, has applied to have the building designated as a historic resource when upgrades are complete.

Planned to open in late January, 2010, Transcend Coffee’s new coffee bar will faithfully reproduce the coffee experience that has made the Edmonton company a success. The focus will be squarely on the coffee: exceptional espresso drinks that highlight the natural sweetness and complexity of the coffee, instead of artificial syrups and  flavourings; and unparalleled fresh-roasted single-origin coffee, brewed one cup at a time. All coffee served at Transcend Garneau will be artisan roasted and professionally cupped (evaluated for quality) at Transcend’s original roastery & coffee bar location in Edmonton at 99 street and 62 avenue. Baked goods, desserts and and other light fare such as panini sandwiches will also be offered.

The new coffee bar will provide greatly expanded access and exposure to truly fresh roasted, high quality coffee—something to which Transcend is fanatically dedicated, and something that’s currently very limited in the Edmonton market. It’s a small, but growing trend in the world of specialty coffee, coined as the ‘third wave’ of coffee. The first wave is described as the industrialization and wide distribution of coffee, the second wave being the introduction of espresso to North America and the Starbucks phenomenon. Third wave coffee involves a strict dedication to sourcing high-quality green coffee, developing fair- and direct-trade relationships with coffee producers—something that Transcend founder Poul Mark is doing more and more of as he travels to coffee producing countries—carefully roasting each coffee differently to bring out its unique characteristics, and preparing coffee with best tools, method, and care. Transcend considers itself part of this movement and hopes to act as a leader in bringing greater awareness, understanding and appreciation for high quality coffee to Canadians. Transcend’s new coffee bar in the Garneau Theatre building is an important step on that journey.

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Poul Mark is available for interviews concerning the new Garneau coffee bar as well as coffee importing, roasting, fair and direct-trade coffee, and the new wave of specialty coffee.