By Laura Stone
It’s 10:30 a.m. on a weekday and the Starbucks at the corner of Metcalfe and Slater is buzzing with coffee-breakers looking for a mid-morning buzz.
Turn the clock back 11 years before the Seattle-based Starbucks phenomenon first came to Ottawa, and these folks might have been ordering a generic coffee and a muffin before going on their way.
But for people like Sandra Shales, a coffee and muffin just doesn’t cut it anymore.
When Shales orders her venti (that’s extra-large to you) gingerbread latte and a cranberry bliss bar (imagine shortbread and cream cheese), she doesn’t seem the least bit surprised when she is asked to pay for her mid-morning snack.
The total: $7.81.
Welcome to coffee culture in Centretown.
Shales, who works for a court-reporting service, refers to herself as one of those “Starbucks people,” a group willing to do—and spend—anything to get their little slice of caffeinated heaven.
“A while ago my husband and I were trying to cut back on our expenses. One of the things we noticed when we actually printed out the list of our expenses on our bank account statements was every second entry was Starbucks,” Shales says.
“We were spending about $200 every two weeks on coffee.”
She may not be alone. According to Starbucks Coffee Canada, there are now eight Starbucks locations in the Centretown area where there were none a decade ago.
Five of the new locations were added between 2003 and 2006.
Granted, not everyone is investing in specialty lattes and decadent treats, at least not on a regular basis.
But judging by the number of Centretown coffee shops, people are drinking java in higher numbers.
A 2007 Coffee Association of Canada study found that 64 per cent of Canadians drink coffee regularly, making it the most popular beverage in Canada.
They also consume, on average, 2.69 cups a day – up from 2.33 cups in 2006.
The result: your (coffee) cup runneth over.
It all contributes to a burgeoning coffee shop culture.
Tracey Clark, owner of the Ottawa-based Bridgehead stores says Bridgehead now has nine stores in Ottawa, four of which – including the Bank and Albert Street location – opened within the last two years.
And choosing which café to frequent has as much to do with the business as it does with the coffee itself.
“There are people that they identify with a brand, like they’re a Bridgehead person, or they’re a Starbucks person, or they’re a Tim Hortons person,” Clark says. “How much of it is really about the beverage?”
For loyal Bridgehead-er and civil servant Jude McKeown, the principles of fair trade and organic coffee draw her to the Albert Street location every morning at 7:45. She even interrupts her bus route to get her daily cup of medium roast.
McKeown says Bridgehead coffee tastes better. And she’s willing to pay extra for it.
“When I have my coffee, I want it to be a good one,” she says.
Clark says quality is becoming a bigger issue when it comes to drinking coffee.
“We’re starting to see the market move towards recognizing coffee, and that it’s not just a commodity, that it is something people enjoy every day. And why not spend a little bit more money?” she says.
Joe Calabro, the owner of the Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana on Preston, agrees that quality and taste are becoming more important to coffee drinkers.
He says in the 28 years he’s been in business, he’s seen a growing appreciation for better coffee and the traditional espresso of his native Italy.
“From 1979 all the way up to here now, they got more educated on coffee, on taste. So it’s a whole revolution of coffees,” he says.
Calabro says his customers keep coming back because they want an experience as well as a good coffee, one that involves the artistry of his baristas and the authenticity of his Italian espresso.
But not everyone is buying the idea.
Duncan Efford and his co-worker, Ben Cavanagh, shake their heads at the possibility of a cup of joe costing about the same as a meal at a nice restaurant.
“That’s ridiculous,” says Efford, a system administrator who works in the Laurier Esplanade. “We’ve got kids to feed.”
Efford and Cavanagh prefer to take their coffee breaks at the Italian-style market Marcello’s in the lobby of the Esplanade at Laurier and Bank streets. There, coffee is $1, whatever size you choose.
Regardless of price, the rise in mainstream coffee culture appears to have little effect on the regular customers at Cosenza Caffe, at Willow and Preston streets.
The clientele, mostly retired Italian men, play cards for hours and drink $1.50 espressos from 6 a.m. to as late as 1 a.m., says co-owner Pina Rossi.
Nikola Babic, who moved to Canada from the former Yugoslavia in 1999, is one of the few regulars whose hair has not yet greyed. He says he spends a couple of hours a day at Cosenza.
Babic says the cafe’s espresso is the closest thing he can get to European-style coffee in Ottawa, and it reminds him of the coffee he used to drink in his native country.
For him, espresso is not just about taste, it’s about the memories it evokes.
“Sometimes, a good coffee can bring you back.”