I'm coming out of my cave to write you a little note. You will forgive me, I am sure, for my absence from the internet in recent weeks, having taken a few vacations and having worked to ship orders before the holiday break.

So here we are in 2014. And one more year of working as a coffee roaster! I am beginning my ^9th year of actions and adventures in the wonderful family of food professions. We weren't bored in 2013, it was an important year for us. We continue to focus on our main expertise, coffee, and to consolidate the company in order to make it a solid player and increasingly present on the Quebec coffee scene. Thanks to 2.0, we presented a little of our adventure as the year progressed. It's extraordinary to have so many enthusiasts who follow us. It is also you who allow us to purchase small batches of coffee, such as Cuba Turquino , and to offer it freshly roasted, always available.

I still remember, in 2006, buying a great coffee from Puerto Rico, another from Hawaii, and a superb Sidamo and having kept them in inventory for a long time until I was forced to throw away several kg having been roasted several months ago... It wasn't that long ago and yet coffee culture was still oriented towards damn strong coffee... Already the use of the term full-bodied made me cringe, having to carbonize quality beans to being able to sell it and survive made me feel like an imposter... And looking around at my fellow roasters, I noticed that some weren't as tormented by it as I was... The norm in roasting was then simple: You buy the lowest quality coffees possible, at the lowest possible price, you roast very dark and you sell. Perhaps if I had embarked on this path I would have a bigger bank account today but I am proud to have followed my palate and to have embarked, without really knowing it, in the ^3rd wave.

I wouldn't dare say that we were the ^first roaster to follow this path in Quebec but I can, without a shadow of a doubt, say that we were in the first 5. It was therefore quite a difficult journey to establish a roasting workshop by the sea in Gaspésie in 2005. And it was all the more difficult to try to offer high standard coffees, lightly roasted and allowing to assert the terroir of the bean, in my local market. But over the last two years, and with the hard work of several other enthusiasts across the country, we have felt consumer tastes change drastically. Some time ago, you could often see a customer, bobo style, extolling the virtues of coffee as black as hell and oily as a toad's kiss. It is quite different today. In 2013, the wind shifted for us and we were prepared to change tack and fill the sails. We saw the demand for our best coffees explode, so much so that at the end of the year we had a considerable increase and transfer of purchases towards our prestige range coffees and our grands crus.

Quebec and New Brunswick have therefore entered the ^3rd wave with confidence. Montreal at the head of the line with its string of coffee shops, educating and evangelizing consumers with every cup, has made it possible to take a giant step forward. The media have also taken stock of the phenomenon with several articles on the subject. And even though they made me sigh several times with their list of the best coffees, and always mentioning the same institutions, encouraging a semblance of a subjective race to who will be the best coffee, they have moved the cause forward. And we benefit a lot from it by the band. All this to tell you that I am very accomplished in my work and it is with open arms that I welcome the changing consumption habits of coffee enthusiasts. And despite the phenomenal growth of canned coffee (Tassimo, Keurig, Nespresso, etc.), similar according to several experts to the spread of the bubonic plague, the demand for specialty coffees is on the rise! And we are well positioned to follow this trend!

So in 2014 we will work to be better, sexier and become an annual coffee pilgrimage destination. We are also planning an expansion for our workshop which will include a lab and training section, a mechanics corner for reassembling espresso machines and of course more space for production. Because even if you find our current workshop very “rustic”, I would tell you that we are due to get out of the shed. On the other hand, we will keep the small building intact (with a few small improvements) to leave the coffee shop there with a new terrace and new coffee equipment.

We will continue to be present on the web with this blog and social media. We are a small company and try to be as close to our customers as possible. Our website does an excellent job and we continue to be available to answer your questions. We are committed to shipping the coffees to you as close as possible to the roasting stage at all times. And for those who haven't ordered yet, know that we offer free transport.

We will also continue to open independent branches with, as I speak to you, 9 café projects on the table. It's extraordinary!

We will keep you informed of our adventures!

Thank you for being here! And happy new year 2014!

Dany

After the hidden track, the hidden blog

December 20, 2013

The phone rang, at the same time as Dany took out the 30kg of coffee which arrived at 410°F. He opened the roaster door and let the coffee pour into the cooling tank.

- Marianne, can you pick up the phone?

Dany heard the sound of boxes clashing, and saw Marianne come out from behind to jump to the telephone.

- No need to kill yourself to answer, said Dany.

- It may be a customer who wants to order, Marianne replied, answering the phone with the hands-free button, already ready to take down the order, Brûlerie du Quai, hello! she says.

- Yes, hello, it's Mr.

- No problem replied Marianne.

Marianne then took note of the order, repeated it and asked Mr. A brief discussion then followed on the projects of Météo Inc. Marianne being always interested in knowing what the weather will have in store for us, she questioned Mr. He explained to him that the end of 2013 had been fairly quiet weather-wise and that his work team was a little bored.

- In order to whip up our troops, we prepared the ground by ending December with at least 3 weeks of snow. It's going to be a nice white Christmas and it's going to put everyone to sleep. Then we celebrate the New Year, and after a few days of vacation we return the whole team to work.

- You have a great holiday season in store for us, that’s great! exclaimed Marianne.

- Yes, but it's after that that the fun begins, for us obviously. Because once the snow has accumulated, the temperature will drop to -40°C. We'll have a good laugh watching you struggle with this. We will let a few more days pass and we will raise the temperature to 0°C.

- That doesn't make sense Mr. X, it's going to be difficult!

- Yes, but the funniest part is yet to come. Once 0° is reached, rain and hail are sent to your beautiful snow. It won't be pretty. Slush everywhere, and beautiful snow melting. And when it's to our liking, we'll stop the rain and drop the temperature to -40°C! We'll have a good laugh watching everyone go crazy!

- Phew! We're going to eat a whole one! said Marianne, sighing.

- Oh yes! But don't forget your oath of confidentiality, you don't have the right to take advantage of your status as a coffee supplier to predict the weather! threatened Mr.

- No, no Mr. X, we do as usual. I'll send you your coffee today by post.

- Thank you Marianne and good luck! Ah ah ah ah ah…

When Marianne closed the receiver we could still hear MX's almost demonic laughter. She looked at Dany, who shrugged her shoulders, sliding her finger over her lips meaning that we should not repeat this information. And they returned to preparing orders with this heavy secret, hearing all the customers exclaiming that it was so extraordinary to have a white Christmas this year...