Just a note to say that Myriade will be open as usual over Easter Weekend without interruption for the holiday.  Whatever day you have off we welcome you for coffee, tea, and chocolate.

Also with the turn of weather (with today’s notably freezing exception aside) and April just around the corner, our patio tables and chairs will be in service as of next Thursday.  This, in addition to the wonders of outdoor coffee, will mean we once again double our seating capacity.  It’s worth noting that our patio space will be exclusively non-smoking.  I understand that this will inconvenience some of our clientele; the decision is being effected in consideration for our neighbours living in the apartments above us.  Thank you for understanding.

We have a full roster of new coffees on offer now, the only holdover from two weeks ago is the Ethiopian Yergacheffe Konga Co-op.  This will be the last week we’ll offer the Bolivian Cup of Excellence coffee Cafe Alan, but we may replace it with the #7 lot Cafe Mondono as of next Thursday. Today we’re happy to announce we have a non-aucti0n Bolivian coffee and a Brazilian natural coffee back on the menu, both of which I expect will prove among the more popular choices.

Lastly, we’ve added four new Oolongs to our tea menu and expect a return of the Yunnan Silver Needle white tea next week.  Hope to see you soon!

Our shipment of Bolivian Cafe Alan Cup of Excellence lot #5 is in-store and on the shelves as of ten minutes ago.  Unbelievably, this coffee was roasted fewer than twelve hours ago in Burnaby so if super-fresh coffee is your game, this is a rare chance to try something less than a day off from roast.  As I mentioned previously, this is the second Cup of Excellence coffee we’ve offered since opening and the first at a premium price point.  We’re selling this coffee for $26 per half pound instead of the usual three-quarter pound format you’re probably used to.  If you’re inclined, we’ll brew a cup from your bag so you can taste it before you take it home to make sure you’re satisifed; we understand that $26 is considerably more expensive than any other coffee beans in the city and we want to give you every reason to try them free of risk.  If you’ve ever wanted to try a siphon, now might be the time.

For regular visitors, you’ll have noticed that our coffee list has turned over almost completely over the past few weeks.  We’re no longer carrying Intelligentsia, though we’d like to thank them for being the ideal house guest.  We’re also in the process of offering half a dozen new coffees while retiring old favourites such as the Wondo Worka Yergacheffe from Ethiopia, Wamuguma from Kenya, and Ruvaldo Delarisse from Brazil.

There’s one new coffee in particular that I’d like to discuss a little bit.  In the past, we’ve refrained from carrying some of the pricier Cup of Excellence coffees from any roaster because ultimately I’m not sure the massive disparity in price matches the proposed difference in quality.  That said, yesterday we sampled Bolivian Cup of Excellence lot #5 called Cafe Alan, and it’s something we intend to offer next week when it becomes available.  We very much enjoyed the cup and want to make it available to Montrealers.  It’s considerably more expensive than any coffee we’ve carried to date, and will only be available in quantities of 8 ounces in lieu of the customary 12 ounces.  We expect to retail it between $26 and $30 per half pound and hope those of you interested in trying it enjoy it as much as we expect to.  I’ll post more when the coffees arrive next week.

Don’t jinx the early Spring, we’re really digging it over here.

And they’re glorious.  Email me for details, they’re $25 each and I’ll ship to those out of area (and will cover the shipping if you want 4 or more).  I’m modeling (in the loosest sense of the word) one today on bar.  Come and look at me.

Well it’s March masquerading as April in Montreal.   The slack in postings has been related to the duldrums of winter when there’s really just not a great deal of action to report.  That, however, should begin to change in the coming weeks.

We’ve lost two of our favourite coffees this week; the Ethiopian Yerg Wondo Worka and Brazil Ruvaldo Delarisse are out of stock and will be replaced in the coming weeks by new offerings from 49th.  For the time being we’re no longer featuring any coffees from Intelligentsia but fans of Black Cat can find it at Caffe in Gamba on Parc between Fairmount and St. Viateur.  We’re expecting to replenish some of our exhausted tea stock by month’s end as well as we await this year’s fresh crop of teas to arrive from China in the early Spring.

We’re expecting a short run of t-shirts to arrive from Ironhead this week.  They’ll feature a new Cafe Myriade logo and be available for sale in the cafe.  I don’t plan on doing a second run of this design, so if you’re interested swing by and check them out over the next couple weeks.  I’ll announce on twitter when they arrive, proabably with excessive use of exclamation points.  Enjoy the mild weather, Montreal.

Follow Myriade on Twitter. Didn’t really expect to ever write those words on the website, but there they are.  We’re going to start offering specials on teas and coffees this week via twitter and I’ll be using it as a platform to give small updates about coffees, pastries, tastings, and all else Myriade.  We’ll keep it witty, I promise.

We’re receiving two coffees from Rwanda and two coffees from Burundi via Intelligentsia next week to complement the Colombian microlot and Black Cat Espresso we already have in stock.  We’ll be offering Intelly for a few more weeks so definitely come and check it while you can.

We have a great number of people asking when they can try the Winter Espresso, as it’s not always in the hopper for service.   We usually brew and serve it on Tuesday evenings and Wednesday mornings, so if you’re specifically looking for a chance to try a shot there’s your window.  As it happens, if you live in Halifax you can make the short hop skip and a jump over to Dartmouth and visit Two if By Sea who are offering the Myriade Winter Espresso for today only.  There’s never not a reason to not visit TIBS (how’s that for a confusing preface), but we appreciate the tip of the hat to our Winter Espresso.

Many of you have noticed that we’re serving our Eva Solos and French Presses in Frieling Stainless Steel Carafes/Presses.  Many of you have asked if we would consider stocking these items for retail and we’ve taken heed, the beautiful 17 ounce brewers are available for $60.

Lastly, we’ve scheduled the next tasting for Sunday, February 14th (also known as St. Valentines’ Day).  Reserve quickly if you’re interested, I imagine space won’t last beyond week’s end.  Look forward to seeing you!

We received four different coffees from Intelligentsia today for service and retail and are currently brewing their organic Yirgacheffe from Ethiopia as our coffee of the day.  We’re carrying two Ethiopians, an El Salvadorian Cup of Excellence offering, and the venerable Black Cat espresso blend.  We’ll be featuring Intelligentsia for a limited time, come try it while you can.

Special. 49th Parallel has packaged a limited number of 12oz bags with our Espresso d’Hiver, so for this week and this week only you can pick up the sample-sized bag for $15.  As of next week the beans will be back to their usual 1lb quantities and available for $18 apiece.  The espresso is bright with playful acidity and abounds with hints of lemongrass, mandarin orange, and unsweetened cocao.  It complements our regularly available blends well but I don’t expect it to last through the Spring.

New. 49th has also provided us with a new coffee; the fabulously named Brazil Ruvaldo Delarisse.  This is the second natural-processed coffee we’ve served since opening and provides a curious counterbalance to the rest of the coffee menu.  Low in acidity with a lot of body, the coffee offers chocolate, marzipan, and butterscotch in abundance.  Come check it out.