I am travelling and uncharacteristically, I have yet to post anything to the blog. So despite it being midnight local Toronto time, and in an effort to stay on Alberta time, I thought I should write something.

This weekend has been a good one in terms of trade show / barista competition time. Josh Hockin gave his best performance to date and despite his best efforts, he missed the finals by 5 points. Having said that, our good friend from Victoria, Logan Gray, missed participating in the final six by only 2 points. Oh the agony of barista competitions. Despite these close misses, we need to celebrate the victories. Rob Kettner from Fernwood Coffee in Victoria gave a brilliant performance both yesterday and today, and is a worthy and deserving of the title of Canadian Barista Champion. Congrats to Rob and Ben and their crew for an amazing job. Closer to home, Ben Put delivered an amazing performance today and finished 10 points behind Rob to take 2nd place. While Ben was competing under the Phil and Sebastian banner, with their coffee, he is now working for us; so it is a sweet victory for Transcend too, as Ben is a great man, and a gentlemen in the world of specialty coffee, and we are delighted to have him part of our team.

At the other end of Hall number 1, we had the distinct pleasure and honour of hosting the first ever on Canadian soil, Canadian Cup Tasters Championship. This event was a lot of fun, which it should be, and was very well received. I had a blast hosting this event, and had tons of help behind the curtains from James, Chad, Mel, and a number of great volunteers. Sixteen competitors in all competed for the title of Canadian Cup Tasters Champion and finishing at the top of the heap both days was Patrick Russell from Second Cup Coffee. Today he correctly identified 6 out of 8 coffees in 5:45 minutes to grab the title. In second place was Steve from Social Coffee in Toronto with 6 out of 8 in 7:45 minutes and in third place was Matthew from Manic Coffee with 5 correct in around 7 and a half minutes. We look forward to hosting another round of Cup Tasters next year in Vancouver.

To top of this fine weekend, this evening, we (James and I) had the distinct pleasure of being hosted by Lisa Rotenberg (of Rocketfuel Coffee) at her home, with her husband Matthew. We had great food,wine, whisky and company. We were joined by a contingency of folk from Jamaica. It's not often that you get to sit down to dinner with a senator from Jamaica (Norman Grant), but tonight was one of those nights. We will post some pics and tell you more later, but suffice it to say, I had one of those memorable coffee nights, which seem to come along my way, where the conversation and company was simply awesome. The combination of good wine, food, cigar and conversation made for one of the most memorable nights of my coffee career. I am looking forward to some fine samples of Jamaica Blue coffee coming Transcend way, and I look forward to an opportunity to visit Jamaica in the future to see the coffee industry there in person. In short, this evening was one of those special times in my career where you count yourself fortunate to belong to the international coffee community. A distinct hi-light of this trip to Toronto, and for all of you who skipped out on the dinner, I can only say that you missed a great evening. OK, good night to all and stay tuned for more updates when we get home.

The Canada Coffee and Tea Show is this Sunday and Monday in Toronto. We've attended in the past, but this year will be pretty different for us. Not only do we have two competitors in the Canadian National Barista Championship, but we're hosting/presenting the first ever Canadian Cup Tasters Championship, and for the first time ever we have a Technivorm Canada / Transcend Coffee booth at the show. Whew, I think we're going to be busy.

follow the fun

If you happen to be in Toronto and you happen to be involved in the coffee industry somehow, come see us in person. Here's a special code to get free admission to the show. Register here and enter the promo code: SOCIAL for free admission (a $34 value).

Watch the Barista Championships

We're super excited for Josh and Ben to compete at nationals this year. If you want to tune in live, the whole show will be on livestream starting at 9 am on Sunday and noon on Monday. Here's the link:

http://www.livestream.com/2010canadianbaristachampionships

Twitter updates

If you don't already follow us on twitter, I would encourage you to do so. We'll do our best to update you on the barista competition as well as how the Cup Tasters Championships go. We try to be pretty active on the twitter, especially when we're at events. This year we may be busier than usual with all our other various roles and duties, but we'll do our best to keep those of you keen to hear about the competitions and the show, in the know. We'll also be recording some video and capturing various media that will likely end up in podcasts, blog posts, or elsewhere on the wide web.

By the way, the pic to the left is the limited edition Canadian Cup Tasters t-shirt, featuring an original drawing of a Technivorm by our own Justina Smith. Thanks Justina!

As we gear up to head to Toronto on the weekend to cheer on Josh and Ben at the Canadian National Barista Championships, not to mention a run a whole new competition, the Canadian Cup Tasters Championship, this video has brought a welcome break and a valuable perspective. We in the specialty coffee industry tend to take ourselves pretty seriously. We likely take it too far at times.

This is a spectacularly well-crafted and hilarious video featuring Tim Varney and Tim Wendelboe. It gives us permission to relax and laugh at ourselves a little.

The craft from Brendan Inkognito on Vimeo.

Recently I have been having a lot of conversations with lots of different folk about the lack of a food and beverage culture in Edmonton. Compared to many large cities, of which I think Edmonton is a small one, there just aren't many options in this city for independent dining or drinking out. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that Edmonton is devoid of these establishments, because it isn't. Thankfully there are a growing number of independent businesses focused on providing customers with a quality experience in terms of what they offer. Having said that, I think a city of almost one million people should offer more.

About a month ago, we celebrated my mother-in-law's 60th birthday. She doesn't live in Edmonton, but over the years has developed a number of friends up here as a result of visiting us. This year she decided to have the birthday party at the new Garneau location, and frankly the space worked really well. While Garneau isn't equipped with a full kitchen as our goal is not be a restaurant, it does have a tiny food prep area in the back. Mom wanted to feed the 50 or so folk that were invited to the party, and given the configuration of the space, I knew we couldn't have a sit down meal. After giving it some thought, I decided to approach Ben Chalmers - former Jack's Grill Chef, and soon to be sous Chef at a new venue downtown - and asked him if he would like to cater the event. To my delight Ben agreed, and despite the less than adequate "kitchen" took on the project designing a menu that was all local, and most important, amazingly tasty. Just to whet your appetite, I thought it appropriate to describe a few of the dishes. We started off with freshly harvested beet soup shots, with a dollop of creme fresh and some pepper; these were oh so good. From there we were served wilted dandelion on crostini with some boccaccini and some sort of garlic reduction. The meal continued with a couple of salads and two different sandwiches, finished off with a olive oil cake and fresh fruit.

You may be asking yourself right now why I am bothering to write a blog post about my mother-in-law's birthday party, and especially the food bit on a coffee blog. Well, my simple response to this question has to do with my opening lament about the lack of an established food and beverage culture in our Capital city. I think that too many folk in this city are wedded to the chain establishments. I think far too many folk sacrifice quality for convenience, and worse than that, spend their money in ways that don't support a local economy. I too am far from perfect. I have yet to make a full conversion from the big box store mentality to a "local only" approach, and to be perfectly honest, I don't know if I will ever completely abandon every large format outlet. But, I have begun to think long and hard about where I spend my money, and where I dine, and drink out. And more importantly, I have begun to talk with more volume and passion about those in this city who are thinking along the same lines. Much praise has to be directed to Jesse Radies in this regard as she has relentlessly pursued a local-first economy approach to both food and shopping. And now we have another up and coming young gun chef in the city who has just returned from a trip to Montreal and New York where he said he was inspired and re-energized in terms of food and drink culture. Ben told me recently that it was hard to come home to Edmonton, but that he did, because he, like me and many others in this city, is committed to pushing this city towards a greater awareness of what we eat and drink.

Another exciting bit of news that I just learned last week at an industry wine tasting (I am slow on the uptake) was that Urban Diner is moving in across the street from the Garneau. In talking with Tarquin Melnyk, I was excited to hear about their focus on local products, and bringing in an interesting and diverse beer menu. It will be fun to have another establishment around our neighbourhood who is committed to interesting beer other than the Sugarbowl. You see, as a purveyor of quality coffee, and one committed to traveling the world to find the best coffee we can, we understand that not every product we consume or love can be local. Obviously coffee isn't locally grown, but it can be locally roasted and more importantly, roasted with care and passion.

So whether you love Transcend coffee or not, or whether you dine at the Blue Pear or other local-focused establishments (a list of my favourites will follow), or never shop local,  I want to encourage you to start to think of the costs involved in how you spend your money. We all love deals. We all like to save money. But the real question is at what cost to our local economy, and the global economy do we achieve our small savings. You might have saved a buck or two, but to save that few dollars, you have essentially guaranteed that the product can't be a local one. So, to finish this little soap box post, I encourage you to join me as I walk the path towards a more conscientious and purposeful approach to spending my money. As I mentioned earlier, I am far from a fanatic about this issue, but I am keenly aware that a local economy is not only better for Edmonton, but essential for this city. And further, that local and independent businesses are typically more concerned with quality and local sourcing than are their chain-driven cousins. OK, before someone pushes me off my soap box, I will voluntarily step down and go not so quietly into the rest of my day. Oh one last note, I would encourage you, if you ever need someone to cater a small private affair, give my friend This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it a call, you won't be disappointed.

Here is a list of some of my favourite places to eat in the city, and please don't interpret this list as somehow a definitive who's who in terms of Edmonton dining (I really don't get out to eat all that often). Obviously another good place to start in terms of checking out independent dining establishments is the members of Original Fare.

Some of Poul's Favourite haunts, both new and old, food and drink:

• Culina
• MRKT
• Jack's Grill
• Hardware Grill
• Blue Pear
• Madison's Grill
• The Bothy
• Credo
• Red Ox Inn

On a final note (yes I know, but this time it is my last thought), please know that we will be inviting other bloggers to contribute to our efforts, specifically those who write about food and wine, as well as coffee, in an effort to establishing a more vibrant food and beverage culture in the city we call home. So please, if you have ideas or comments on whom you would like to see featured, drop us a line.

I started to listen to Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers on my journey this weekend. I think we are just about through chapter 4. Thus far I am enjoying the book, and I find myself a bit startled and at his perspectives. The notion that success is not based solely on merit and personal achievement is at the same time a radical one and an understandable one. As I have been reflecting on my own life, and the things that I have done and not done, I can see with clarity that much of my journey is a product of opportunities seized and missed. That my "success" in life is largely due to the communities that I have found myself a part of and continue to find myself a part of. What is interesting is that we continue as a society to operate on the basis of rewarding individual merit as the most significant factor in recognizing success.

Take for example the beginning of Transcend Coffee. Many would look at Transcend simply as a product of my "hard work" and passion. At first blush this might appear to be correct, but in truth, I know better. I look back at the genesis of Transcend and see so many factors, "coincidences", opportunities which enabled me to both conceive and initiate the journey which is now Transcend.

To begin, at the very beginning, I happened to have a conversation about starting a cafe with people at a time in my life where the prospect of doing it wasn't such a stretch. At the time I was working as an independent consultant, and only working three days a week, so I had a couple of days a week to dedicate to learning and exploring the possibility of getting into coffee. My work just happened to take me to Vancouver every couple of months, where I was fortunate to establish a relationship with JJ Bean, where I was able to get some barista training, and learn the fundamentals of roasting. Further, when I was first starting to think seriously about starting Transcend, I was working towards a cafe, wine bar and roastery, and I was negotiating on a space to that effect. After about a 8 months of negotiating, the deal fell through. This pushed me into a space which was only going to enable us to roast coffee, and the wine thing fell to the side. At the time I was frustrated with this development, but as it turns out, it forced me to focus, and that focus has enabled Transcend to develop into a company which is known for its quality, in a way which we never would have been if we had been involved in wine and food as well.

The single minded focus on coffee and quality coffee has resulted in a journey which I never imagined when I first started Transcend. It has attracted a whole host of amazing people who have joined me on my journey, which continues to be influenced by opportunities which both drive us and direct us in certain ways and not others. So even this brief look back at the early history of Transcend demonstrates that the success of Transcend is not just about Poul's hard work and intrinsic talent. It has to do with a guy who happened to be at the right place at the right time, and was presented with an opportunity. Obviously Gladwell doesn't dismiss the idea of natural talent, but he definitely dismisses the notion that we succeed solely on the basis of our natural talents. So at the end of this little post, I encourage you to read Outliers (or listen to it like I am doing) and then think about your own journey, and recognize how your life is a product of the people and opportunities which you have seized or rejected. I know that even with a few days of reflection, I am seeing my own world in a new light.

Yes, it is true, it is actually Poul writing this blog post. I know, I know, it has been many moons since my last post (penance - drink four espressos and get thee to the roaster!). It has been a crazy busy summer, especially on a personal level. What with helping my mom sell her acreage and buy a condo in Edmonton, to our trip to Europe and then two months of renovations in our house, there hasn't been time for much writing. So, I thought I should get something on the blog, now that school is back in and we have some news to tell.

Firstly, we are excited to announce that Finca Vista Hermosa is back in stock, and will be for the foreseeable future. We have arranged to buy 100 bags of one of our favourite coffees from Edwin Martinez and his family, and wanted you all to know. It is available both as a single origin coffee offering, and I believe it is now part of our espresso blend as well. For all of you who are on our subscription list, you will be receiving a bag this month, and we also just released a video blog featuring Mr. Martinez (which we filmed in April of this year). While this most recent video blog is a bit more low key, I think it is a great conversation which highlights the importance of relationship (or direct trade) coffee.

Let's see, what else is new. We are currently negotiating with a potential new landlord as we are desperately needing to move the roastery to accommodate both the accumulating green coffee and house the new - but old - UG22 which is currently being refurbished for us at Giesen's workshop in the Netherlands. Stay tuned for more news on this later, but we hope to have the new equipment and space up and running for early November.

Finally, we are excited to be hosting the first ever Canadian Cup Tasters Championship to be held on Canadian soil. This event will take place in Toronto at the Canadian Coffee and Tea Show, and will pit 16 tasters against each other for the chance to represent Canada at the next world championship. Oh and one more thing. We are happy to announce the addition of Ben Put (current PRBC 2010 Champion) to our ranks, who will be working with Transcend full time in the area of training and quality control. OK, enough news for now. Watch for another blog post soon where I chat about our business model and the difference between buying certified coffees vs buying relationship coffees.

Fresh crop micro-lot coffee from one of our favourite producers.