Earlier this year we were back in El Salvador, traveling together with one of our wholesale accounts and visiting producing partners around the country. Traveling with a person that was new to coffee traveling made me remember what a humbling experience it is to visit coffee producers - following the hard work day-to-day and tasting the results in the cup.

Nothing says flawless processing to me like El Salvador, and the first part of our trip was spent with Emilio Lopez at his mill El Manzano. If you have followed 49th for a while, you will know this is our third consecutive year working with El Manzano, and one of the things we have been especially appreciative of, is how Emilio has been working towards better and more consistent quality. We also visited with the Pacas family, another old partnership for 49th, and finished the week with a trip out to Metapan to see Alejandro Valiente’s farm and mill - a new friend to 49th, and from what we have tasted so far this year, with a huge potential for quality coffee!

As I am writing this, the first coffees are about to ship to Vancouver, and we look forward to having new arrivals from Central America on our menu soon!

Last October, we secured a new location for the 4th Avenue cafe. It’s 9 doors down from where we are now, on the corner, and for the last 17 years has been Kits Coffee. The new location will be bigger and we’re putting in a doughnut kitchen. We’ll also have several times more outdoor seating, upgrading from our current state: two tables.

Waiting on a building permit delayed us for a few weeks beyond what we had planned for but the day after it was issued we were in there tearing things apart.

As it stands now, we’ve got plumbing in the concrete done and the floors sealed. The walls and counters framed and it’s starting to take shape.

So the big question: when are we moving? 
Looks like Mid-May. Watch Twitter for the latest.

Hours for the two cafes over Easter:

4th Avenue:

Good Friday: 8a-6p

Saturday: 7a-10p (normal)

Sunday: 8a-6p

Monday: 8a-6p

Main Street:

Good Friday - 8a-8p

Saturday- 7a-10p (normal)

Sunday- 8a-7p

Monday 7:30a-8p

Just in time for the holidays, we are very excited to announce the online launch of our full line of specialty loose leaf teas. 

Selection includes cafe favourites like Organic Ginger and Earl Grey Darjeeling, plus new arrivals like Silver Needle and Buddha's Eyebrow.

All teas are unique, each with specific brewing instructions to maximize flavour and quality.

Teas are available exclusively online for now, but will be available in store in the new year.

Check out our Tea page in the online store to discover all of our offerings.

We hope you enjoy, 49th Parallel Tea.

4th Avenue:

Dec 24 - 8am - 5pm
Dec 25 - Closed
Dec 26 - Normal hours (7am-7pm)
Dec 31 - 7am - 6pm
Jan 1 - 8am - 6pm

Main Street:

Dec 24 - 8am - 6pm
Dec 25 - Closed
Dec 26 - Normal hours (7am-10pm)
Dec 31 - 7:30am - 8pm
Jan 1 - 9am - 6pm

Office/Roaster:

Dec 24 - Closed
Dec 25 - Closed
Dec 26 - Closed
Dec 31 - 8:30am - 5pm
Jan 1 - Closed

The third week in Ethiopia, I had a chance to go South to the Sidama area, to look at some new projects with Technoserve. The majority of our Ethiopian coffee purchased last year was from washing stations Technoserve helped establish, or helped training. 

Around noon, we arrived in Shashamane, where we picked up Tsenge, the business advisor for Technoserve in the area. As a business advisor, he is responsible for training and follow-up of washing stations. Before sundown that day, we had met with a new cooperative called Dekaya - their pulping equipment was at this time not yet installed, but I got to learn how all the washing stations are using vetiver grass to clean their waste water. The method is very simple, and surprisingly effective! We spent the night in Hawassa, and the next morning we started driving further south. That day, we covered 1400 kms on rough roads, or sometimes no roads. I got to see the topography of the very highest highlands of Ethiopia, at more than 3000 meters above sea level. In the end, we ended in Worka, from where we walked to another new cooperative called Bulga. On our return, we passed over the Benssa mountains, where 49th’s Sidamo Benssa we had on the menu earlier this year comes from. 

On our final day in the south, we headed to Fero. It was nice to finally meet someone we are currently buying from, and we talked about many things - both coffee business in Ethiopia, and about 49th and Canada. One of the most interesting challenges for cooperatives is the cherry prices. Encouraging producers to keep a buffer and maintaining a margin isn’t always easy, but we talked a fair amount about the differentiation between commercial and specialty coffees. I was also impressed by the effort Fero has made only since last year in creating composting of pulp and skin, and creating a lagoon for waste water with vetiver grass for filtration. Since harvest was just starting, we will have to wait a bit to have a chance to try this year's harvest, but now we are really looking even more forward to it!