Coffee Coffee Coffee 
Coffee Live Roastery Visit Announcement
As you all are tasting the samples of Pop Coffee with each order, we thought of taking you straight to the roastery where the magic happens.
This visit will be live on Instagram @whatthecuptoronto this Saturday (16 Jan) at 10:30 am.
Cozy up with your favourite cuppa as we explore together how Abe roasts the magic beans.
Apart from making sure, we all are safe at home this will also give us an opportunity to ask Abe questions live during the tour.
Mark your calendars, fellow human beans. Thrilled to see you all this Saturday morning at 10:30 am.
Happy Brewing!
Coffee 
Coffee Barocco Coffee: Tête-à-tête with Phil
Meet Phil Lanzarotta from Barocco Coffee. He shares his wonderful adventure with us here. How once he had to choose between buying a winery or a coffee roastery, his recommendations, likes and advice. Hope you are loving to know the faces behind your coffee as much as we are.
How did you start your specialty coffee journey?
I gradually grew to enjoy coffee more and more the older I got and the more I travelled to Europe and abroad. Great Cappuccino in the am, espresso in the pm. I constantly searched for the elusive, perfect espresso, and it was next to impossible to find locally back then. I’m also a lover of great wines, and love the way a master wine maker can express the terroirs from a single, native wine varietal.
After 30 years of being in our family business, then working for a fortune 500 company, then my own company, I finally got the chance to buy into a winery and/or a coffee roastery- don’t have to tell you which one I chose.
My real coffee education started the day I stepped into Barocco.
From which region did you first source your coffee?
I had prior experience with Columbia in my former wholesale days, designing private label products and blends.
Can you share a little about the experience when you first visited a coffee farm?
It’s still on the to do list. We purchase from two SA farms directly and their family members reside in Canada and bring us the latest harvest.
Which is your favorite method to brew your cup of jo?
Espresso
For all the coffee enthusiasts, which one will be the most adventurous Barocco coffee?
Biondo (it’s a light roast with exotic varietals. You’ll find them listed on the bag and you’ll just have to try it and see for yourself).
What will be your advice for someone starting their specialty coffee journey? Any Barocco coffee recommendation to begin this journey?
Centrale- it has a very wide range of appeal, is not over powering, and can easily be brewed in any number of extractions- espresso, Americano, Drip Coffee, Pour over, Cold Brew, French Press etc.
Your favorite snack/dish to pair with coffee?
Either fruit, chocolate, gelato or any fresh baked pastry (especially those with creme, ricotta or fruit).
Any proud Barocco moment that you would like to share with the coffee lovers.
Winning any award brings a feeling of pride and we’ve won quite a few; but, rebuilding and reshaping our business to manage through the pandemic, is what I’m most proud of the team doing together.
Coffee Barocco Coffee: Tête-à-tête with Bruno
We are excited to be back with our tête-à-tête with Bruno Colozza from Barocco Coffee.
Roaster of the month has been started with an intention to know more about each roaster. The details we might have missed while we were enjoying the brewsome coffee roasted by them. This is a small step to highlight their efforts and to know more about them.
This is the exciting journey of Bruno. Read more to know how his specialty coffee journey started and how the whole team got together to brew some magic.
How did you start your specialty coffee journey?
I started my coffee journey in 2003 after exiting an 11 year run in manufacturing for large US companies. I was looking for a change of pace and always loved coffee and food.
I travelled to Italy for 2 weeks to focus on the Italian espresso bar scene with the intention of opening an authentic one in Toronto. I chose Illy coffee at that time and opened b espresso bar on Queen St. East. It became well known and written up. A second location was opened in the Royal Conservatory of Music as part of the new Telus Centre for Performing Arts in 2010.
At that time I transitioned away from Illy and started trying local roasters as I learned more about specialty coffee. Soon after in 2012 as fate would have it, I was introduced to the CEO of Aurora Importing, (Nunzio Tumino), who had just started a coffee roasting facility in Mississauga and was looking for someone to run it. His original intentions were to partner with an Italian coffee company but they pulled out at the 11th hour due to the economic crisis at that time. I took on a 6 month contract and never looked back, selling my interest in the b espresso bars and buying into Barocco Coffee.
When I first joined Barocco, the biggest challenge was to turn around the direction of the company. It was focused on privately labelled commodity coffee while the industry was growing on the specialty coffee segment.
After significant product development with Karl Edmond who had moved to Canada from the US where he was previously roasting coffee and some much needed branding work, we expanded our offering with quality blends and single origins. We were quickly recognized with winning medals at the 2013 SIAL Expo in Toronto.
In 2015, I met Phil Lanzarotta and after working together for 6 months found a great synergy. After that he joined as a partner and together we have continued to build the business with a focus on food services clients (cafes, bars, restaurants, hotels). Phil’s corporate background was key in implementing needed internal systems and creating an overall formal roadmap towards our goals. Together we have been able to push each other towards continued growth and expanded our industry knowledge.
Last but not least, Noah Walker joined our team in 2017, bringing with him a relentless pursuit of coffee roasting excellence. He proceeded to work on our internal roasting equipment with customized modifications.
Over the past 3 years we have won 9 medals at the Golden Bean North American roaster’s competition in the US.
From which region did you first source your coffee?
The first region was Brazil. We continue to work with Gabriele Carvahlo, a 4th generation farmer who moved to Canada and commutes back and forth to the farm in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil.
Which is your favorite method to brew your cup of joe?
Espresso followed closely by pour over using the Japanese Origami dripper.
Your favorite snack/dish to pair with coffee?
Dark Chocolate OR Peameal Bacon and Fried Egg Sandwich
Any proud Barocco moment that you would like to share with the coffee lovers?
Can’t choose just one. Proud of our team and how they have all come together to work through this 2020 pandemic. The opening of Barocco x Nino, our first cafe. Winning the medals at GBNA!
For all the coffee enthusiasts, which one will be the most adventurous Barocco coffee?
Our limited editions
What will be your advice for someone starting their specialty coffee journey? Any Barocco coffee recommendation to begin this journey?
Have an open mind, don’t be intimidated and go for what you like (versus what you think is popular). ALTO is a great starting point. A dynamic blend with good balance. From there you can venture either towards traditional or more third wave.
Coffee How elevation affects coffee?
Have you noticed the elevation listed on your bag of beans? This may seem like extra information but the altitude at which the coffee grows has a direct impact on it’s size, shape and taste.
Beans that grow at higher elevation are more sought after as compared to the ones grown at lower elevation.
When the bean grows at a higher altitude it grows at a slower rate due to cooler temperature and less water retention. This gives it time to build a higher concentration of sugar. These beans are dense, hard and the flavor profile richer and aromatic.
Coffee grown above 1,200 masl (meters above sea level) will be considered high altitude and often has chocolate, vanilla, nutty and citrus notes.
While coffee grown above 1,500 masl is considered very high altitude. It will usually have fruit, spice and floral notes.
Some exceptions to this are Hawaiian Kona (250-750 masl) and some of the coffee grown in shaded areas.
Next time you buy coffee try the two grown at different elevations and see if you can figure out which one is HIGH 😉
Coffee Single Origin vs Blends
Specialty coffee is like wine, the more you understand it, the better it tastes 
One very commonly talked about concept is the single origin vs blends. Let’s talk about single origin coffee and blends today.
Single-origin is the coffee produced by a single farm, mill or single group of farms from a small geographical area (co-ops).
Blend is simply mixing two or more types of coffee beans.
These could be from different countries like mixing Ethiopian and Colombian coffee or mixing different types of beans from the same region like blending north Colombian and south Colombian. Great blends can be deep and complex.
Single origins appear to be particularly popular because of their traceability but blends can also be equally traceable from cup to crop.
We’d love to hear which single origin or blend have you enjoyed recently? Let us know in the comments.
Coffee Understanding Coffee Scores
For a coffee bean to be classified as specialty coffee it has to score above 80 points on the SCA cupping score sheet. Think of it as one of those beauty pageants. Just replace the human beans (oops beings!) with these aromatic heavenly coffee beans.
These beans are now profiled and graded on fragrance/aroma, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, balance, body and overall.
Higher scores indicate better coffee from a cupping point of view.
We say it can be an indicator but NOT the verdict. Keep exploring the variety of beans and different brewing methods. Brew up!!
Coffee Sustainable Coffee
When we talk about specialty coffee the first thing that crosses our mind is sustainability and traceability. Today, let’s talk about sustainability in coffee parlance.
Here are 3 reasons why: People, Planet and Profit.
The farmers. The people who put in their sweat and blood to grow coffee. Wouldn’t you like them to get a fair share of what you pay for their coffee?
Sustainable farming practices are essential. Do you know that coffee plants are grown in tropics? That means unsustainable practices put our tropical forests in great danger.
Specialty Coffee is more expensive than regular coffee. If you peek under the hood and see how fair it is to the planet and the people producing it, it will be worth it
Coffee What is Specialty Coffee
Specialty Coffee isn’t everyone’s cup of coffee yet.
Great flavor, transparency from crop to cup, fair trade and sustainability make specialty coffee stand apart from regular coffee.
Take a pause to think of the quality of the beans and the efforts of the farmer behind your cuppa and you will say, yes please to Specialty Coffee!