Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz!!

Years ago before going to a movie at the Scotiabank Theatre, my sister and I stopped off at Ben and Jerrys on Queen. We each got a Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz milkshake. My Husband regrets those milkshakes to this day.

During the movie the two of us were sitting together and we chatted and giggled throughout the whole thing. My Husband now insists that we do not sit together during movies. We still manage to most of the time, and we still giggle...but not as much. Too bad that B&J's closed.

I once knew someone (who will remain nameless as I haven't asked if I could name them here), who gave up coffee for lent one year. They were on a trip and were listening to a scuba instructor tell them everything they needed to know before going in the water. Said instructor was waving around their coffee cup as they spoke, and my friend in their coffee deprived haze, thought the instructor was offering them their coffee. Lucky they were stopped from grabbing it out of the intructors hands just in time. But it just goes to show you how much of a hold coffee can have on a person.

As you can probably tell, I love coffee. I think it almost goes past love....it's a passion. I've had coffee brought back from Brazil and from Trinadad. I had at one point made it my mission to try every flavour of coffee Kicking Horse made (still not completed). It's just amazing and it's more than the drink...I love the smell, the sound of the fresh brew of the pot. I love the oils that make the beans so shiney.....ok I think you get it.

So when we first started on this mission, one of the first matters I needed to take care of was finding cheaper coffee that was up to my standards. I wanted to try to stay with fair-trade and organic. Both are important to me. It's super hard to do it and save money. We were spending $16 a week on 1lb of coffee. It's insane.

On the Toronto Livejournal boards several people pointed me to Merchants of Green Coffee http://www.merchantsofgreencoffee.com/ . I was told it was by far the best coffee there is. I had actually been made aware of the existance of this place a couple of weeks prior, on facebook but forgot about it shortly afterwards.

So my sister who is as coffee obsessed as I am, went on an adventure. We were going to the Distillery District (her first time), and then Merchants.

The weather was horrid. It rained and rained, but we were determined. We decided to go to Merchants first and it wasn't as hard to find as I thought it would be. We opened the door and were welcomed, not by an overwhelming smell of coffee that I expected, but the smell of well aged wood...it smelled like a cotage to me. It had the warmth of one as well. Rustic wooden tables and chairs, mixed with big comfy couchs and bookshelves filled with books from person libraries of the people who work there. I took pictures with my blackberry of the place, but I lost my cable (reason why this post took me so long toblog...I've been looking for it), but I will update it later.

Now you probably want to know about the coffee. Our first round was a simple latte. It was smooth and not too heavy. I wasn't left with a bitterness that I expected. At $4 a cup it was good. Next we got a pot of coffee brought to our table. It was an Ethiopian coffee, and my sister took a sip of it black, which we never do both preferring it with cream and sugar. With the Ethiopian coffee though it wasn't needed. It was smooth with a light sweetness to it that made it really easy to drink black. And so we enjoyed it black. Less calories, less milk use and sugar use...it was great.

Now to cost. Overall the coffee is on par, if a little cheaper that Kicking Horse, so not a real savings per say. However, and this is a BIG however; they have a deal where you buy 30 pounds of coffee for $300 (yo don't get all the coffee at once obviously)...$10 a pound is $6 cheaper than what we were paying...AMAZING! Only caveat: you are buying it green. Which means you need to roast it yourself. They provide roasters there (I think they said one is included in the $300 purchase), and offer lessons on how to roast your own coffee so it's still a great deal.

We won't be taking up the deal right now, because to be honest we can't afford to drop $300 on coffee right now. But once we are I think it would be great. You are still buying organic, still fair trade, cheaper than most coffees, you control your own roast, and your house will smell like coffee (total upside for me).

I really urge you to check out their shop and their coffee if you, like me, prefer organic and fair trade coffee...heck if you are a coffee lover you seriously should check it out, the coffee is amazing. Check off on your coffee bucket list.

As for last weeks shopping: $270....... I KNOW RIGHT!!!! Honestly, it was $98 and then we had easter costs....and things kinda snowballed. But we are back on track. At somepoint I will ask my Husband if I can post his chart. He has been listing out everything I buy at the individual stores and letting me know who sells specific items we get regularily, for cheaer prices. It's very handy.

Next up: I'll tell you how the swap goes.