Pikolo Espresso Bar: Montreal

Coffee Scene Dept: "Now, when people come into town, we can actually say we have a good coffee scene. Go back three, four years ago, and you couldn't say that," says Marie- ve Laroche, owner of 10-monthold Pikolo Espresso Bar. "And the more that people get curious, and start drinking it, the more chances that there will be only good coffee in town one day.", according to Montreal Gazette. What's striking about Montreal's progressive coffee community is not only the complex flavours in the cup - this is not just miles away from weak, bitter, over-extracted office coffee, it's a different universe - it's also that its members tend to cheer for, rather than compete with, each other. As I made my way across town more and more speedily after a shot at each stop , every caf owner I spoke to had a suggestion for another new shop to check out, and all of them voiced the shared goal of improving the quality of coffee in the city and at its source. It's an alternative business model that has the big picture in mind and some are big, some are small and all are serious about what they do. A new wave of progressive coffee shops has been gathering force in Montreal during the last few years, and with more than 10 cutting-edge caf s opening their doors in the last 12 months, the movement toward better-quality cups is cresting. The city, connoisseurs say, is finally waking up and smelling the coffee. The definition of "good" goes deep. In her tiny caf on Parc Ave., Laroche is driven by a "crop to cup" philosophy that's shared by many of the young entrepreneurs who are collectively raising the coffee bar, from the process of production to pulling shots. They know where their beans are coming from, what they're purchasing and who's roasting them, and they're relentless in finding the best expression of the coffee that they can. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.