Bump N Grind Wins #1 in Krups Kup of Excellence

I was part of a media tour on September 21 that was graciously hosted by Krups in Vancouver. We were all toured around the city by a long white stretch limo visiting 5 of the top cafes as voted by the public, our task was to judge and to choose the best café of all we were going to visit. The criteria for judging was the Ambience of each café, Presentation of the coffee, Taste and most of all how each of the Espresso’s were prepared.

Our first stop was to Giovane located inside the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel at 1038 Canada Place in downtown Vancouver where we all sat at one table and were served a shot of their espresso along with some scones. The General Manager welcomed us and talked a little about their café.

Our 2^nd stop was to Café of the Contemporary Arts at 140 East Esplanade Avenue in North Vancouver, here Tyler the owner welcomed everyone and then invited us into their art gallery to hear from one of the artisans and to roam through the exhibit while sipping our espressos, most of us including me ended up finding a table to judge the espresso, the café was beautiful and well layed out.

Back into the limo, we headed to café #3 to JJ Bean’s headquarters and to their original café at 1904 Powell Street, where one of the staff told us about the history of their company and gave us a tour of their roastery followed by an espresso for each of us to taste.

From here we travelled to Bump N Grind at 916 Commercial Drive where we were royally treated to a French Press Coffee which then followed by their espresso as well as some of their ever so delicious vegan Mukie’s. The owner talked to us about his café as he exuberated his passion and love for the coffee that he serves and their café.

On to the last stop on the Krups Kup of Excellence tour driving west across town to Momento located in Kitsilano at 2766 West 4^th Avenue where the owner greeted us all and served us his espresso along with some almond Financiers.

This Krups Kup of Excellence tour was sponsored by Krups and was held across Canada from Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver honouring the best café in each city as voted by the public and then judged by a group of media in each city. You must make a visit to Bump n’ Grind to enjoy some of their espresso or other treats.

By: Richard Wolak