Discovery Coffee (Oak Bay)

Address:  1964 Oak Bay Avenue @ Amphion
Phone: 250-590-7717
Notes: The home of yuppies, foodies and indie-hipsters. Also, free wi-fi!



Discovery Coffee and Roastery is most definitely in my top three for the best coffee in Victoria. Although their regular blend is not Quite my favourite for flavour, it is my favourite for style, ambiance and service. I've solved the flavour thing lately by ordering from one of their rotating selection

The location in Oak Bay is funk-tastic. Most of the two-person seats are vintage sewing machine tables, none of the chairs match. There's usually something retro and awesome on the record player. Yes, record player. They always display the vinyl case of what is currently playing. There's an amazing (well, to my black thumb) array of foliage to remind you you're not in a cookie-cutter coffee shop. They also have a wicked-cool to watch siphon coffee which brews an incredibly smooth cup if you're interested in coffee and not espresso. If you're into espresso, they have some of the best latte art in the city. Their staff are also incredibly knowledgeable, and unlike other places *cough*fantastico*cough* they are not snobby when they're imparting their knowledge. It's somewhere that feels like a community hub, and I'd choose it over Starbucks every day without looking back.



Service
June 14, 2011
I was so impressed by the customer service today. Especially (very especially) after they terrible round of customer service I had had at their direct competition a week earlier. The two servers behind the counter proactively asked me if I wanted any help when I was puzzling over the merchandise. They were as excited as I was for my purchase, and made rapturous noises about how much better my home coffee was going to be with the addition of a grinder to our coffee nerd appliance collection.


January 4, 2011
As always, the staff were helpful and friendly. I never know what to order here - usually I'm there for a work meeting, and it's rarely my first coffee of the day, but I feel obligated to order because a) I know it will be amazing and b) I know I'm going to be taking up space for at least an hour. They're usually happy to help suggest something, and usually it's not something I would have picked myself but it's amazing.

Food
June 14, 2011
I picked up a single origin today, from Panama. It was recommended as being "very smooth" which is true! Oh so magical, but almost too smooth - I used the grinder some really generous person lent to me temporarily. Together with another darker, more harsh blend to create something with a bit more bite. I love experimenting!


January 4, 2011
Okay, so technically I skipped the coffee today But, I have had it many times in the past. Their espresso is lovely, and I've never had a bad pull. It's served (when you get it to stay) in cute little brown and white cups with saucers. As I said above, the flavour of their espresso isn't my #1 favourite but it is very balanced and has an almost licorice or anise taste to it.

My drink of choice is usually an Americano Misto (espresso topped up with half hot water and half steamed milk - the milk covers up a multitude of sins, but you can still taste a nice coffee flavour) but usually here I will get a Macchiato, which is just a shot of espresso with a little bit of milk/foam floating on top to cut the acidity of the coffee. Oooooh, so lovely.

Today, I needed a snack to tide me over until dinner time because I am clairvoyant guessed that my partner-in-food-and-life was not going to be home from work on time. Usually, they have the most Delicious baked goodies from a  local bakery (it's either Foi Epi or Bon Bon, I can't tell), as well as sandwiches from Choux Choux, but this late in the afternoon there were just a few snacks left. I opted for the large oatmeal raisin cookie. It was $3. Huh I thought to myself... I should become a baker. I would make millions at $3 a cookie! But, it was a very good cookie. It definitely, definitely had a lot of butter. This, I have learned, is the secret to all very good baking. (Sorry, vegans.)