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Coffee/tea | General discussion on cafes in Victoria and coffee-related topics


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#41 Caramia

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Posted 14 December 2007 - 11:14 AM

/cheer
My family celebrated by going down and restocking all our teas
$


#42 Mike K.

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Posted 14 December 2007 - 01:34 PM

I did that today, too.

Word.

#43 Holden West

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Posted 14 December 2007 - 01:38 PM

Why? Is there some sort of clear-out sale going on?
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#44 aastra

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Posted 16 December 2007 - 03:20 PM

So the coffee shop at the base of Belvedere is toast?

#45 Mike K.

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Posted 16 December 2007 - 03:30 PM

Why? Is there some sort of clear-out sale going on?


No, but they've got good tea.

#46 Audrey

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 09:48 AM

Since I've only seen it mentioned once, I'm going to emphatically mention it again and say go to Habit Coffee. I'm a bit of a coffee snob, and their lattes are the best I've ever had. They also have a great selection of magazines (I frequently pick up the Ecologist and Mother Jones from them) to buy or just read.

#47 Nparker

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 10:09 AM

Call me dense, but where is Habit Coffee located?

#48 jklymak

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 10:15 AM

They are located in the Vibrant downtown Victoria at 522 Pandora (just S of Government). They are great.

I also really like Discovery Coffee (on Discovery just south of Douglas) and Dolce Vita (in the London Drugs mall in Harris Green).

#49 Audrey

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 10:53 AM

Call me dense, but where is Habit Coffee located?


Right next to Fan Tan Alley, if that helps.

Interestingly, they try to discourage laptop use. They don't provide wifi, and just about all the power outlets are deliberately blocked or hidden. When I worked for a local IT company next door, we offered to provide an internet terminal for them, and they firmly refused.

There are better places to finish your term paper, but I can't think of any place I'd rather spend an hour reading a magazine, drinking a bodim coffee and chatting.

#50 Holden West

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 11:24 AM

Interesting. Most coffee shops encourage laptop use but in smaller shops the wifi users hog the place for hours at a time. C'mon! Gotta have turnover!
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#51 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 12:55 PM

Dolce Vita has excellent coffee, and beside the Harris Green/ London Drugs location, they're also in the Say... Bldg on the E. side of Douglas, just N. of View (around the corner from Russell Books on View and across from Chapters books). I wrote "Say... Bldg" because I can never remember whether it's Sayward or Sawyer...?? The Say-Saw Bldg?

I still haven't gone to Habit. For some reason, everytime I have some free time actually to hang out in a coffee shop for 30 minutes, I'm not in that part of town. Must make an effort -- everybody raves about the place.

Weird about the wifi, though.
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#52 Mike K.

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 01:14 PM

Speaking of Dolce Vita, their Douglas Street location had their window bashed in.

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#53 Audrey

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 03:11 PM

Speaking of Dolce Vita, their Douglas Street location had their window bashed in.


I like that place for great coffee (but not quite up to Habit's unearthly standard!) and their food. I love the Wicked Thai soup. It's also a nice non-claustrophobic space to meet up with friends. I hate meeting people at a cafe and then not being able to find comfortable seating for everyone. Like say, most Starbucks locations, the Dolce Vita on Yates St, or most Serious Coffees. It's nice that they're popular, but if you're going to get together to talk about your NaNoWriMo project with half a dozen of your nearest and dearest, elbow space is valuable.

As a bonus, Dolce Vita has wifi.

It sucks about their window getting knocked down, but them's the hazards of having a business downtown. I used to work in a gameshop on Blanshard, and regularly had to step over a puddle of urine to open the doors. Ah, inner city life.

#54 jklymak

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 03:36 PM

It's also a nice non-claustrophobic space to meet up with friends.


Yeah, this kind of bums me out about most places. Habit had pretty good seating, but most others seem to discourage studying, or contemplation, or (gasp) using your laptop. I was used to the large floorplan coffeeshops of the Seattle U district, and miss them here. You could sit all afternoon, pay your rent by buying something every couple of hours, and not feel like you were bumming the management out. All the good Victoria shops are downtown where space seems to be at too much of a premium.

My favourite so far in that respect has been Union Pacific, on Herald off Dragon Alley, but their coffee isn't very good.

Habit's coffee is subtler than Dolce Vita's, but I like the stronger flavour at DV for some reason. I alternate!

#55 Coreyburger

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 03:49 PM

Yeah, this kind of bums me out about most places. Habit had pretty good seating, but most others seem to discourage studying, or contemplation, or (gasp) using your laptop. I was used to the large floorplan coffeeshops of the Seattle U district, and miss them here. You could sit all afternoon, pay your rent by buying something every couple of hours, and not feel like you were bumming the management out. All the good Victoria shops are downtown where space seems to be at too much of a premium.

My favourite so far in that respect has been Union Pacific, on Herald off Dragon Alley, but their coffee isn't very good.

Habit's coffee is subtler than Dolce Vita's, but I like the stronger flavour at DV for some reason. I alternate!


Habit has no wireless or plugs for a very good reason. They actually want to discourage use of laptops/computers in the store. They have good reason. If you want crappy coffee and wifi, go across the street or to Serious (which really isn't all that bad).

Corey

#56 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 07 February 2008 - 10:44 PM

They have good reason.


Which is what, exactly? Religion? Or they just want people to keep moving?
When you buy a game, you buy the rules. Play happens in the space between the rules.

#57 arfenarf

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Posted 08 February 2008 - 08:29 AM

Love, love, love Discovery Coffee. Love the attitude, love the environment, and especially enjoy their Espresso roast at home in my own machine. They'll answer every question, and clearly love their jobs and their coffee. Sometimes I think I go in there and pay for a Cappuccino, but buy another lesson in crafting quality drinks.

#58 Caramia

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Posted 08 February 2008 - 09:49 AM

The way Habit is laid out it encourages people to interact, not just with each other, but also with the amazing collection of reading that they have there... which is like a mini tour of the local arts scene. I think of Habit as more of a nexus for the Victoria scene than a coffee shop... except that their coffee, as mentioned is ungodly good! (how the hell do they do that?)

#59 pseudotsuga

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Posted 11 February 2008 - 09:20 PM

For wi-fi friendly, with lots of space, go to the Black Stilt on Hillside at Shelbourne - by Blockbuster & DQ. Good coffee too.


Quite an interesting read on Starbucks in Saturday's Globe:
http://tinyurl.com/34bv9y

The gist of the article is that as Starbuck's stock is no longer a star, they're considering what direction the business should be moving. Higher end or compete with McDonalds? Methinks VicHockeyFan's comment on there being no high end restaurant chains would apply.

Here's a snippet:

"There's nothing rational about paying $4 for a cup of coffee," Prof. Solomon continues. "You're not buying coffee at Starbucks, you're buying experience at Starbucks ... The experience of feeling you're partaking in this community that has elevated coffee far beyond a drink. The coffee was emblematic of a lifestyle."

Initially, going to Starbucks meant you were separating yourself from the mainstream. Starbucks delivered what Prof. Simon calls a "class bang." Toting a Starbucks affirmed class. It was, he says, a "performance of self."

As the chain solidified its position among the upper middle brows, the middle-middle joined in. And so on. "Starbucks called itself 'affordable luxury,' " Prof. Simon says. "But I think what it was, was affordable class making."

But there was a catch. "A class payoff does imply some scarcity," continues Prof. Simon. That notion became obviously contradictory as the Starbucks chain grew like Topsy. (The globe was dotted with 15,756 Starbucks outlets and licensed retail spaces as of the end of last year.)



#60 G-Man

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Posted 04 March 2008 - 02:07 PM

The Blenz at St. Andrew's Arcade is now closed and will be replaced by a Mirage Coffee.

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