News

At Take Five Café, we really love coffee. One thing we love just as much as coffee is our Planet Earth.

And to show our love, we’re recognizing Earth Day! Bring your travel mug to any Take Five Café location on April 22nd or 23rd and receive a free drip coffee! Ditch the to-go cup for the day and we’ll help reward you for your effort. Mention you read about this on our Facebook Page, Twitter Feed or Blog Post, and you’re good to go. Save a to-go cup and get your caffeine fix on us! (more…)

Posted in A Take Five Cafe Holiday - Coffee

As February is drawing to a close, we have an exciting new coffee roast that is joining the Take Five Café Family. We’re pleased to introduce The Colombian Santander.

The Colombian Santander is a pour over coffee, prepared using our new Hario system. Each cup of coffee is hand crafted, made immediately when you order. The result is the freshest, most balanced cup of coffee you could ever hope for. (more…)

Posted in Coffee - Take Five Cafe News

As a new year begins, we are excited to continue updating our coffee roasts at Take Five Café.

This January, we’re happy to introduce the newest member of our Take Five Café Coffee  family: the Espresso Nettare.

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Posted in Coffee - Take Five Cafe News

At Take Five Café, we’re always focused on the quest for the best coffee experience. That’s why we’re excited to announce some new coffee roasts that are making their way into our coffee family.

First up, we’d like to introduce The Guatemalan Antigua, otherwise known as “La Flor de Café”

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Posted in Coffee - Take Five Cafe News

Stainless Steel. Stoneware. Glass. How do you store your coffee?

At Take Five Café, we believe quality coffee deserves quality storage. We’re not one to stick our coffee in any old container. When we send Take Five Café coffee home we believe it’s getting the very best treatment. So toss those zip loc bags and make room for some truly unique coffee storage solutions. We’ve scoured the web and come up with some of our favourites that work for any personality. Sit back, take a look, pick a favourite!

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Posted in Coffee

University students pulling all-nighters are well aware of the almost magical affect a cup of coffee can have on helping their brain stay sharp, focused and awake.  But a good cup of coffee does more than just save your term paper; it can help stave off Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in later years.

Studies have shown that drinking one cup of coffee a day delivers the body enough caffeine to help ward off high cholesterol that scientists have linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Eating a diet high in bad cholesterol leads to the blood-brain barrier that protects the central nervous system to leak, leaving the nervous system susceptible to diseases.  However, caffeine blocks the disruptive effects of high cholesterol, protecting the blood-brain barrier from damage, which in turn lowers the amount of memory loss when aging and the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

So if you want to keep your mind sharp throughout your life, reach for a cup of coffee.  Some studies suggest one cup a day is enough to reap the benefits of caffeine; others encourage sipping six cups a day.  Whatever amount you choose, Take Five Café has many different options to explore.  Isn’t it nice to have an indulgence that tastes amazing and is good for you too?

More on coffee and the brain:

Science Daily – Coffee may protect against dementia

Medical News Today – Coffee and Alzheimer’s

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Posted in Coffee

Have you ever sat down with a steaming mug of coffee and pondered the extensive journey the coffee bean has made before it finally arrives in your cup? No? You’re not alone. People’s thoughts about food and drink usually stay focused on taste and price. (And if you’re sipping on a Latte from Take Five Café, it’s understandable that the only thought going through your head is ‘mmmmmmm’). However, your daily coffee ritual has an interesting story, one that spans continents, oceans, and countries….

The story begins high in the mountains of Kenya, Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil, as the best quality of coffee is grown high above sea level in warm, tropical climates. Coffee trees are carefully maintained on a plantation and can be harvested every 9-10 months.

Harvesting the coffee cherries (did you know the ‘beans’ are actually cherry seeds?) requires a lot of time and manual labour. After the cherries are picked at the peak of their ripeness, the beans need to be separated from the cherry flesh, then washed and dried.

At this point the ‘green’ coffee beans are shipped to roasting facilities. They are transported the same way they have been for centuries-by ship. After the ocean voyage the coffee is roasted; the process which gives your favorite blend its unique taste and aroma.

The coffee is then carefully packaged to ensure it stays fresh before it is transported to your local store or coffee shop where you both finally meet.

So next time you’re savoring a sip of your choice blend, remember, the journey of a thousand beans ends with a single sip!

Posted in Coffee

Like shopping locally or eating organically, people are aware that drinking fair trade coffee is a socially responsible consumption decision. Yet, while the majority of people know that ‘fair trade’ is the ethical way to go, the exact meaning of the term is not always understood.

Coffee can only grow in specific conditions, and many of the best growing regions in the world are located in developing countries where the coffee crop has enormous value to their economies. However, coffee is a notoriously difficult crop to cultivate, which means that coffee farmers are often at the mercy of both the extremely unpredictable climate and the equally volatile world market. The result is low prices for beans, and a perilous existence for farmers.

Fair Trade coffee takes some of the risk out of the trading process for coffee producers. Through Fair Trade, coffee growers are offered a minimum price for their beans that will hold even if the market price drops. Producers are also organized into co-operatives which they own and govern, allowing for democratic and local decision making. These measures allow for healthier working conditions, greater economic incentive for growers and sustainable production processes.

Take 5 Café is proud to serve Fair Trade coffee, certified by TransFair Canada. So while you’re sitting back and enjoying the delicious taste of your Oreo Frappino, you can also savor the fact that your coffee is supporting equitable farming practices half a world away. Who knew a cup of coffee could be so good?!

For more about Fair Trade coffee check out http://transfair.ca/en/products/coffee-0

Posted in Coffee

Are you a coffee neophyte? Don’t know a frappini from an Americano? Get confused when confronted with mochas, matchas and mistos? Think a London Fog is a weather report in England? Fear not! Our Take Five Café blog will explain in detail a different type of coffee or tea so that you can expand your café repertoire.

Espresso

An espresso is highly concentrated coffee brewed by forcing hot water under pressure through finely ground coffee. This process creates strong flavor, foam, and a thick, almost syrupy, consistency. The flavor of an espresso will vary according to the bean and roast used, as espresso is a brewing technique and does not have a specific flavor. Contrary to popular belief, espresso does not have more caffeine than a drip coffee; espressos have more caffeine per volume because of its concentrated nature and small serving size, but a regular serving size of drip coffee would have more caffeine as a whole because of the larger size.

A ‘shot’ of espresso can be both a stand-alone drink, traditionally served in a small cup in coffee houses, as well as a base for other beverages such as lattes, mochas, macchiatos, cappuccinos and Americanos.

Due to the high pressure needed to create (or pull) an espresso, they are brewed in special espresso machines customarily reserved for coffee houses. This has led to espresso being viewed as a social experience and is highly associated with café culture. However, technological improvements in domestic machines have led to increased quality and popularity in home espresso machines.

So next time you’re at the front of line at a café, try ordering an espresso and participate in the history of coffee house culture. And remember, if you’re ever unsure about what to order at Take 5 Café, don’t be shy, ask our expert baristas for recommendations. They are always happy to share their extensive knowledge to make sure you get the perfect cup and the absolute best coffee experience.

Posted in Coffee

At Take Five Café we take coffee seriously. From our 100% Arabica beans sourced from some of the finest micro-growing climates around the world to our carefully trained baristas intent on creating the ‘perfect latte art’ we do love all things coffee.

This dedication to coffee has lead us in many directions – most recently, our new look. We’re updating our image, refreshing our online presence, and fully committing to the belief that Coffee is Everything! We’re using our blog to keep you up to date on the happenings of the coffee world. Everything from a global scale (did you hear about the newest single origin beans from South America) to the extremely local (Take Five Café is proud to feature a signature frappini created with the help of Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver) everything and anything we find interesting will find its way here.

We look forward to interacting and meeting the many coffee lovers out there; so kick back, grab a cup of your favourite Take Five Café medium roast and read on.

Posted in Coffee