A raven croaks from somewhere in the forest nearby and awakes me from a dream. We had just returned from a big 17 hour day in the mountains and I had slept like the dead. Once fully awake and starting to move I felt like the dead and it became apparent that it was only my eyelashes that weren’t sore and hurting. I needed to move however, because to quote my friend Awesome Dave; “motion is lotion”. Even more important, was that I knew that KK would soon be up and at it with some of his usual caffeinated alchemy. And sure enough, there he was heating up water in a pot over his beat-up old Coleman.
It wouldn’t be long now until we were savouring some especially fine Guatemalan coffee. Today was getting off to a great start. We had just summited a fantastic peak the day before, the morning dawned crystal clear, we had a nice campsite, and I was surrounded by really good people. KK even had some pastries to go with the delicious brew he was serving! The aroma of the coffee was sublimely mingling with the scent of the pines, and the crisp mountain air. The cup was delicious, and totally hit the spot so to speak. It really doesn’t get much better n’ this.
Pastries are good and all, but we were ravenous and needed something more substantial and rib sticking. So in a while we all decided to head into town for second breakfast. And if town happens to be Jasper, Alberta, as it was in this case, then there is really only one place you go to, and that is Coco’s. I have written a piece about this establishment before, and have waxed on poetic about it in various climbing stories, but the place is just that good that it deserves a second mention, at least.
Coco’s is a small establishment, and we are late; if one can ever actually be late for anything in this idyllic mountain setting, and we find that the place is crowded. Luckily we found a table; outside on the sidewalk. It’s a sunny and warm day. We place our various orders for breakfast and of course coffee. Most of us chose what they call a Freewheel. This is a shot of espresso loaded into a cup of brewed coffee.
In the past Coco’s got coffee beans from a variety of roasters including Oso Negro. Currently their beans come from Phil and Sebastian, which is a small independent Calgary chain. Phil and Sebastian buy their coffee direct from an assortment of growers throughout the world. They support local sustainability and also transport their beans in climate controlled containers, which is kind of cool (pun intended). In any event the stuff at Coco’s is very passable and it’s great to be sharing it with my friends. Hipster, tattooed baristas notwithstanding, I would still give the nod to the camp coffee we had earlier however.
It’s the height of the tourist season and the little alpine town is overflowing with visitors from across the globe. We have our little corner of it staked out nonetheless, and nurse our cups while we work on solving the world’s great problems. Overcrowding is one we can’t crack so eventually we move on, leaving the table and perhaps the solution to others.
The next couple of days repeat themselves with minor variations. Camp coffee expertly prepared at first chicken by KK; followed up later by a mid-morning recharge at Coco’s. One morning sitting around the picnic table KK gave us an impromptu lesson on blending dark roast coffees with milder roasts in order to get a good representation of the beans various characteristics combined with the special notes the darker roasts bring. I couldn’t really say that I would have wanted to be anywhere else.
No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee’s frothy goodness.
– Sheik Abd-al-Kadir