Over the last couple of years, Kit Singh has quietly become a major operator in the local coffee scene. He bought two Smiling Goat stores then opened two more, and added another pair of cafes to his six-outlet chain by buying and rebranding Halifax’s Just Us! locations. After corporate giants like Tim Hortons, Starbucks and […]
Smiling Goat Organic Espresso Bar
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Barista
Gold Winner Danielle Archer, The Nook Silver Winner Laura Arsenault, Java Blend Coffee Roasters Bronze Winner Jeremy Waterman, The Smiling Goat Danielle Archer’s favourite hot beverage to make is a macchiato in a Gibraltar glass, not just for the drink itself, but the challenge. “It’s kind of like a test of how good you are—pour […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Coffee
Gold Winner Anchored Coffee, Two If By Sea Cafe Silver Winner Java Blend Coffee Roasters Bronze Winner Smiling Goat Organic Espresso Bar To some coffee is a ritual, to some it’s an escape from the reality of a busy workday and, sometimes, it’s just a good ol’ cup of joe. Two If By Sea’s gold-winning […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Barista
Gold Winner Zane Kelsall, Two If By Sea Cafe, Dartmouth Silver Winner Laura Arsenault, Java Blend Coffee Roasters Bronze Winner Emily McCarthy, Smiling Goat Organic Espresso Bar If you ask Zane Kelsall why he loves coffee, he’ll respond with, “How long do you have?” As co-owner of Two If By Sea and passionate java lover, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Black Cat coffee at the Smiling Goat
Coffee aficionados: Saturday morning, I want you to switch your taste buds to turbo. Go to the Smiling Goat and strap yourself in. Wear a hemet with a swizzle straw, because Goat owner Smilin’ Geoffrey Creighton tells me that starting tomorrow, he’s unleashing Chicago-based Intelligentsia coffee into the Halifax consumer market. Intelligentsia’s s Black Cat […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Halifax’s cappuccino undergrounds
What do off-duty baristas do? With good-natured sadism, they train picky customers to pull espresso shots and make them compete against one another. That’s the premise of the 2008 non-barista championship, in the year coffee culture percolated in Halifax. At one end of barista Zane Kelsall’s kitchen is Steve-O-Reno’s first ever espresso machine, a small […]
Posted inFood + Drink
Espresso yourself
High-end coffee-machine giant KRUPScaught the steam coming off our bustling coffee culture. This year, Halifax became the fifth city to join the KRUPS Kup of Excellence, an annual contest to find the best espresso in independent coffee houses. The competition works like this: Coffee fans select their top five cafes in an online vote, then […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Cafes offering fair trade coffee
These local cafes offer fair trade organic coffee. Check them out. Cabin Coffee 1554 Hollis Street 422-8130 Local produce for the salads, sandwiches and soups, and Fair Trade coffee. Coastal Cafe 2731 Robie Street This award-winning breakfast joint serves exclusively 100 percent Fair Trade Certified & Organic coffee. Coburg Coffee House 6085 Coburg Road 429-2326 […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Smiling coffee drinkers
Fancy yourself a coffee connoisseur? Geoffrey Creighton wants to rock your world. Creighton’s new coffee shop, the Smiling Goat Organic Espresso Bar, is set to open for business inside the Paramount building on South Park during the week of Aug. 20. The shop, which Creighton co-owns with his wife Andrea, will be cozy—the store space […]