There are a plethora of different roasts offered at Happy Goat, as well as a generous selection of blends made on-site. Anyone who claims to be serious about coffee needs to try these delectable creations! Blends seem to be a particular talent that Richard has nurtured to near-perfection. Creating the perfect blend is like discovering treasure for this coffee aficionado – a fact we picked up on quickly after Richard regaled us with the tale behind his Babae’s Espresso Blend.

A close friend of Richard’s had travelled to Italy and experienced an espresso that, from the sound of it, transcended every other espresso he had ever tried. When he returned to Canada, this friend was at a complete loss, unable to find an espresso that had even the slightest resemblance to the exquisite flavours he’d experienced in Italy. He approached Richard with news of this glaring absence of good espresso, and Richard instantly took up the challenge.

After 10 months of experimentation and a staggering combination of seven different beans (the maximum an espresso blend can have), Richard was able to recreate this Holy Grail of espresso for his friend. Named “Babae” (the West African word for “father”) as a nod to his friend who hails from that part of the world, this espresso is truly superb. Capped with a thick, rich crema, Babae’s blend offers an exciting zip for the palate. It has a sharp front end but is quite smooth on the way down. The aroma is heady and has a slightly woody fragrance. The colour of the espresso is a lush crimson at the edges, fading into a deep chocolate. This is the level of quality and attention to detail one can expect from Happy Goat.

Along with this fabulous espresso, Richard sent us on our way with lots of homework to research for this article. He provided us with six different flavours from his collection and an interesting contraption called a coffee syphon. We weren’t joking when we called Richard an alchemist – one look at this coffee syphon and images of ancient conjurors labouring away in primeval laboratories instantly come to mind. We were able to try each of the six flavours using both a French Press and a coffee syphon. Here are our observations:

Piggy Blend

This blend is made especially for The Piggy Market, located in trendy Westboro. You can purchase it on location.

Yaz: This coffee carries a smooth, very subtle flavour, a great choice to relax with when you’re looking to wind down from a busy day. I’m not an everyday coffee drinker, so the mild elements of this particular blend were quite enjoyable.

Chris: Of all the coffees we tried, we went back to the Piggy Blend the most. This bean possesses a nice balance between bitter and bold, and it has nutty, aromatic flavours. According to Richard, this coffee has the distinction of getting better with age, an attribute that is virtually unheard of in the coffee world!

Bali (Paradise Valley)

A fabulous medium roast from beans that hail all the way from Indonesia! This bean has a strong, sharp aroma. It’s the type of coffee you might want to brew on a cold, winter morning as it’s sure to coax any sleepyhead out of bed and into the kitchen.

Yaz: This bold flavour was sharper than the Piggy Blend’s, but a touch of sugar softened the bite and really helped to bring out the earthy undertones. I found the aroma to be quite intoxicating!

Chris: This coffee featured a flavour that fell somewhere between boldness and tartness. It came equipped with a slight spiciness, which I really liked.

Ugandan Bugisu

This tart, dark roast is perfect for an everyday coffee drinker looking for something to surprise their taste buds out of their chain-coffee slumber.

Yaz: This coffee carried an intense zest, packing a lot of punch for a sensitive palate. It was a bit strong for my particular flavour spectrum, as I prefer the sweeter side of things. However, I did enjoy attempting to pick out the fruity undertones in each sip.

Chris: I absolutely adored this coffee. It was spicy and flavourful, in sharp contradiction to some of the overblown and over-roasted coffees you might find at a coffee chain.

Peruvian Pangoa

The aroma of this shade-grown bean is deceptively mild in comparison to the flavour explosion it presents once brewed. This medium-style roast packs the punch of a dark roast in terms of taste, but still retains the subtleties we found in the milder roasts.

Yaz: The first sip introduced me to quite a commanding presence. The heaviest flavour I’ve yet encountered from Happy Goat, even compared to the dark roast Ugandan and Burundi. I needed a lot of sugar for this heavy hitter.

Chris: This coffee packed a real flavour punch. According to Richard, shade-grown medium roasts of this type develop their sugars slowly and fully, creating intense flavours. This was another favourite for me.

Burundi AA

This dark roast has a lovely, zesty aroma and maintains a rich flavour spectrum. If you’ve never tried a dark roast before, this is definitely a good choice as it won’t knock you over with the characteristic acidity that many dark roasts can have.

Yaz: Despite being a dark roast, this coffee was a surprise to my taste buds. I found the flavour was full and not overly bitter on the back end. This was my first experience with a dark that I didn’t find overwhelming.

Chris: This dark roast was much milder than some of the medium roasts we’ve tried from Happy Goat. I was a big fan of the slightly fruity tang in the nose. I would definitely go back to this coffee.

Dominican Barahona

Chocolate lovers take notice! One whiff of this lovely, medium roast and you’ll be introduced to a symphony of chocolaty notes that only gets better once brewed. This is a perfect selection to be enjoyed after dinner.

Yaz: I found this bean to have much more of an earthy aroma than the other beans we tried. The flavour was nice and tart, very much like a dark chocolate. I would love to make a tiramisu using this fantastic brew!

Chris: I really loved the light mouth- feel of this coffee. It was earthy with chocolaty undertones and a slight spiciness. Coffees like this make it difficult to go back to other local establishments where the flavours tend to be more predictable.

The Coffee Syphon

If you’re looking for a way to turn a simple cup of coffee into an entertaining performance, the coffee syphon is the way to go! Our friends were quite impressed by both the interesting process (which Richard details here) and the smooth flavour the syphon was able to produce. According to Richard, syphons and other alternatives to the standard auto-drip method make a superior cup of coffee. We did notice a distinct reduction in bitterness and an increase in smoothness between our samplings of the syphon-made coffee versus our French Press-made coffee. Happy Goat produces top-notch, locally roasted beans, so you’ll want to brew these coffees in a device that will do them justice.

Though you can pick up most of Happy Goat’s products at the roaster itself, you are encouraged to purchase the beans at select retailers across the city. Most of these locations carry a special blend of coffee that (like the aforementioned Piggy Blend) can only be found there. Currently, Happy Goat coffees can be purchased at the Piggy Market, the Red Apron, Herb and Spice (both locations) and Life of Pie. It can also be bought by the cup at Stone Food Soupworks and the Hot Potato Co. booth at the Ottawa Farmers Market at Lansdowne Park.

 

 

 

Happy Goat Coffee no simple brew-haha

Posted May 5, 2011By Diane Sawchuk

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EMC Lifestyle - Pierre Richard is a man on a mission: to introduce people to a cup of coffee that is as richly nuanced and complicated in its flavour and aromas as a fine glass of wine.

The former Montrealer, now a Mechanicsville resident, embarked on a quest to turn a hobby and passion into a career three years ago. Richard started building the foundation of his coffee company by attending entrepreneurship seminars, expanding his already extensive knowledge of coffee by studying the coffee flavour wheel to learn more about the different results that roasting can produce and by taking part in cupping and coffee roasting workshops. On his own, he experimented with roasting techniques and much like an alchemist, tested different blends.

Previously employed as a long-time healthcare worker and then briefly, as an electronics engineer technologist, Richard said coffee had always been a passion of his. He enjoyed creating blends and roasted his own beans for a long time, but finally decided to be brave and take the plunge into the world of self-employment and entrepreneurship.

Richard launched Happy Goat Coffee Company last June and so far has made believers of eight local businesses, which either sell his blends of freshly roasted beans or pour his perfect cups of coffee.

"A job is just a job, but a career is doing something you love, it's finding your passion," Richard said.

"I'm shower-hopping because I don't have a shower right now, I'm in debt, I don't know if I can make the rent this month, but I've never been happier.

"And I truly believe that if you're doing something you believe in, something you're passionate about, then, with the right tools, you will succeed."

Although he calls himself a "coffee nut," Richard is more of a craftsman, or a coffee bean artisan: taking coffee to a whole other level, he will custom roast to suit individual palates and even develop personalized coffee blends for customers.

Located in a converted garage, Happy Goat Coffee Company is a roastery, or a beanery, although the 57 Lyndale Ave. location houses a treasure trove of coffee beans it is not a coffee house, Richard pointed out, although customers are always welcome to drop by to pick up their weekly orders. Only two kilos of green beans are roasted at a time, and those are kept for only 12 days before they're discarded - if they still happen to be around.

"It's rare, but in some cases beans can be better after three weeks. It all depends on growing conditions, the type of beans, where it was grown, how old are the green beans, how fresh they were, and so on. There are so many variables, and like I said, this are very rare cases," Richard said. "So it's best to just buy in small quantities and use the beans within 12 days."

Richard suggests beans be ground as needed only, and as close to the time they'll be used as possible. Oxidation sets in between two and four hours after grinding, and the ground begin to stale.

In addition to various beans, an assortment of loose teas and various fruit spreads by Michaelsdolce Jams, siphon coffee makers are available for the coffee aficionado who wants a hands-on experience brewing his java.

Looking like it wouldn't seem out of place in a chemistry lab, the siphon maker dates back to the 1800s and were popular until 70 or so years ago, when housewives came to appreciate the convenience of percolators, drip coffee makers and instant coffee, foregoing the quality produced by the siphon system.

The siphon coffee system uses a vacuum process to brew a perfect cup of coffee that is just not possible using an automatic drip coffeemaker, according to Richard. "This brings out the pure essence of coffee."

Multiple steps are required, each precise and Zen-like and watching the process is mesmerizing - a different approach to what many consider simply the fastest way of injecting a dose of caffeine into one's system.

Most people like dark roast, according to Richard, because automatic drip coffee makers don't brew coffee properly, but in fact, it is the lighter roast coffees that offer more flavour or essence if brewed in a system such as the siphon.

First, a clean multiple-use organic cotton filter is fitted into the upper globe of the siphon coffee maker and the attached metal chain pulled through the glass pipette, or tube, and hooked into place. The lower globe of the siphon maker is filled with pre-heated water (cold water takes an extra five minutes) and then coupled to the upper globe. After the heat source, either a butane, alcohol or methyl hydrate burner, is activated, vapour created by heat pushes the water through the pipette from the lower to the upper globe.

After all the water rises into the upper globe, Richard cautions it must be stirred vigorously to release some of the heat. The ideal temperature is between 195 and 205, he says: too high a heat cooks the coffee and burns it, while too low a temperature doesn't allow for the flavours and essential oils to be extracted properly or fully.

At this point, the coffee - preferably, freshly ground - is poured in and the mixture quickly stirred together using a wooden paddle or spoon. The saturated grounds are allowed to steep for at least 45 seconds before another quick stir is given. The heat source is then turned off and moved away from the stand. Without the heat, the fluid in the upper chamber drains into the lower one. Once all the liquid drains down, the upper globe containing the grounds or sediment is removed, and the brewed coffee can be poured, with the stand used as a handle for the lower globe.

Richard said the brewing cycle takes a total of 90 seconds, with the entire coffee making process just a few minutes and worth every sip. The Jiale Siphon coffee maker sold at Happy Goat Coffee Company for $99.95 brews 20 oz. at a time, making four or five cups-worth depending on the size of the mug.

"Siphon coffee gives you the best of both worlds," Richard said, "You get the bold flavour of an espresso without the bitterness and the crisp clean taste that you get from a drip coffee. It's the perfect cup of coffee every time."

The cotton filter, good for between 100 and 150 brews, must be cleaned after every use with dish soap and using a soft toothbrush, rinsed thoroughly and refrigerated in a container filled with water.

Richard had considered incorporating a coffee shop into the Happy Goat Roasting Company concept, but decided to streamline instead, and keep it to what he knew and loved best - the coffee.

"I don't want to become a big corporate franchise entity," he said. "If it expands in the future, it will be something along the lines of direct buying, where we cut out the middleman to allow the coffee farmers to be paid more. And in two to four years, I'll make sure up to 40 per cent of the staff will be those considered unemployable, whether they are intellectually or physically disadvantaged."

Although the company is growing in leaps and bounds, for now Happy Goat Coffee Company beans are sold through Herb & Spice (Bank and Wellington street locations), Life of Pie, 1095 Bank St., The Piggy Market, 400 Winston Ave., and in the near future, Cyclelogik, 1111A Wellington St. W. and The Red Apron, 571 Gladstone Ave. To sample a cup, visit Isabel's Cupcakes, Life of Pie, Hot Potato Company, Stone Soup and soon, Cyclelogik.

Ten single origin beans and five blends are available, or Richard will custom-create a blend to your individual taste. The location at 57 Lyndale Ave. is open six days a week and closed Mondays. For more information, call 613-792-1309 or visit the web site at www.happygoat.ca.

dsawchuk@theemc.ca

 

 

His Coffee Loves A Vacuum, article in the Ottawa Citizen

  Happy Goat Coffee's Pierre Richard stands behind a contraption that looks more like a chemistry experiment than a    coffee maker, waiting, as he says, for "the magic to happen."

The butane burner is lit, the water in the glass chamber above it is nearly boiling. Once the physics of the situation demands, the water -- trapped in a vacuum-sealed chamber -- is pushed through an organic cotton filter into the upper chamber. Richard, an Ottawa-based coffee roaster whose one-man operation is called Happy Goat Coffee, mixes some of his freshly ground coffee with the water and stirs vigorously, not once, but twice. He turns off the burner, and after a bit of cooling, the coffee drains through the filter back into the lower chamber.

The four-minute ritual is over, and Richard, a self-described "coffee nut," boasts that the device, dubbed a siphon coffee brewer, has performed "a perfect extraction.

"It's a little more labour-intensive," he acknowledges. "But in the end, it's worth it. You won't taste coffee like this anywhere else." The samples that Richard dispensed were full-flavoured, rich and clear, devoid of any bitterness.

Richard says that coffee lovers in Asia, California, New York, and even Toronto and Montreal are becoming devotees of siphon-brewed coffee. He hopes to turn Ottawans on to the process too, either by opening a coffee house dedicated to the process or by selling the gear to people who will siphon-brew at home.

The first option, he says, will depend on him persuading investors. As for selling the siphon-brew units, Richard says that in the last few weeks, he sold 95 of the 100 siphon brewers he imported from a Chinese manufacturer. Each unit went for $79. If demand warrants, he'll restock.

Although Richard describes siphon brewing as if it were the latest coffee fad, the equipment is in fact antiquated. Siphon brewers emerged in Europe in the mid-1800s, Richard says. They were popular in the United States until 70 or so years ago, when coffee percolators, drip coffee makers and instant coffee supplanted them, in what Richard calls a triumph of convenience over quality.

"Drip coffee's the worst way to make coffee. It ruins the coffee," says Richard, explaining that paper filters hold back the fruitiness and essential oils that give a proper cup of coffee complexity.

(That said, Richard admits he himself was bitten by the coffee bug decades ago, when his father let him taste a cup of Maxwell House.)

"Instant's not even coffee," adds Richard.

Siphon brewing delivers "the pure essence of coffee," says Richard, who learned of the process through an Internet search a few years ago.

As captivated as Richard is by siphon brewing and its delicious results, his principal business is roasting coffee.

Devoted to roasting small batches of coffee on-demand, Richard counts about 200 customers who buy bags of a pound or less from him each week. An artisan through and through, he even develops personalized coffee blends for customers.

Open since June 2010, Richard has grown his business through word of mouth and social media such as Twitter and Facebook. He would like to expand his operation so that he can sell his coffee to Ottawa restaurants and through selected gourmet shops, not just from his converted garage in Mechanicsville. But he says he won't compromise when it comes to his coffee's freshness.

Richard insists that once coffee is roasted, it has a shelf life of roughly 10 to 12 days. He also recommends that coffee be used within an hour or two once ground. "To me, coffee is like bread. Would you buy stale bread?" he says.

Richard says that he wouldn't be surprised if a high-end coffee house were to open in Ottawa and offer siphon-brewed coffee for aficionados, beating him to the punch.

"That's not a problem. I think it's healthy competition," Richard says.

Given his primary business, he figures that a venue specializing in siphon-brewing would need to partner in a fashion with him. "They'd probably have to buy coffee from me," he says.

Ottawa Citizen January 13, 2011

 

 

Happy Goat Coffee Co.

Posted by: ottawafood on: August 13, 2010

I have had lots of extra energy these past few days and I think it can partly be attributed to testing wonderful new coffee from the Happy Goat Coffee Co. Happy Goat’s mission is to offer the highest quality artisan, certified fair trade, organic coffee from around the world. My caffeine overload has certainly been worth it, and boy is my house clean!

I attended Art in the Park Strathcona last weekend, a fabulous fundraiser in support of schizophrenia services. During this event I happened upon an artist who was handing out samples of these wonderful coffee beans. I brought home a small package of Peruvian Decaf and was sold! I called the owner, Artisan Coffee Roaster Pierre Richard to ask him some questions and he gladly brought me more samples. Pierre’s roasting style is unique in the coffee industry, taking every step possible to preserve the true nature of coffee, he takes freshness and small batch roasting seriously and his client is guaranteed the highest standards of freshness.

 

Below is a list of his coffee I have tried so far and my thoughts on them:

Sweet Bella (a blend of Caribbean and African)-a wonderful fragrance (the non-coffee drinker loved the smell of the kitchen), this coffee tastes like good chocolate, several layers of chocolate. Served it with dessert one evening, yum!

Guatemalan Huehuetenango-this coffee was a well-rounded cuppa, everything you want at the beginning of your day, complex and assertive in a kind and gentle way. Another cup able to lure people to the kitchen with its wonderful fragrance.

Tanzanian Peaberry-My favourite so far. Smooth as silk. More chocolate flavour, but quietly. Quite a delight, I was able to drink this without cream.

Peruvian (naturally decaffeinated)- I couldn’t believe this was decaf. A well-balanced cup. Nice to be able to enjoy coffee on the deck after supper without the worry of keeping me up.

This was good coffee drinking, pure coffee-loving, no feeling gross afterward, no coffee gut-rot (if you know what I mean). I have never quite experienced such good product.

So the next step in my “new” coffee experience leaves Pierre coming to my house this weekend to prepare coffee for my guests and I through the siphoning process. He is doing this not just for me, but for other customers to educate people not only on his product, but how to really taste and enjoy coffee. I will blog again about the siphoning process,  so please visit after the weekend!

Pierre expects his website to be up and running next week, you will be able to find him at www.happygoat.ca he can also be reached at pierrerichard@happygoat.ca

Tags: fair trade coffee, Happy Goat Coffee Co., local coffee bean roaster, Ottawa Coffee, Pierre Richard, Siphon Coffee Making