commonly coffee

It never ceases to amaze me how many amazing coffee roasters are out there! And in a province as spread out as Alberta, there are certainly some hidden gems that aren’t located in the major urban centres like Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge etc…

Take for example: High Seas Coffee Co. They’re located in the village of Linden, about 50 minutes NE of Calgary. They’ve been roasting since 2013, and opened their café in town April 2016 (located at 107 Central Ave.)  I think every little village and town in Alberta needs a watering-hole that the locals can gather at. I lived in a small town for a few years before moving to Calgary, and I have fond memories (mostly of the baked goods!)

I was told about High Seas by another coffee-loving buddy who recently moved to Olds, and mentioned to me how much he loved this place. So a few clicks on Instagram, and within minutes I was able to connect up with them.

Here’s a bit of info on them from their site:
As a small family owned and operated business we specialize in family feuds. We seem to all agree on the idea that we are passionate about all things coffee. That may be the only thing we agree on though. Actually one other thing we agree on is that we are exceedingly curious about the farmers and farms our coffee is grown on and are continually trying to get coffee that is more traceable. Beings we were born farming (I think we were actually born in hospitals but….) we also care a great deal about the price the farmers are being paid for our coffee – this means we try to work with importers who have a direct connections with the farmers.

One of the things that really drew me to them was they are roasting the Ethiopian Mokonisa, imported by Jeff at Apex Coffee Imports.  This coffee is one of my favourites so far this year, and I was delighted to see another roaster choosing to carry it. They were even so kind to send me a bag to be able to brew. I’m making plans with my buddy to meet up there in the coming weeks so that I can experience their coffee & their café first-hand.

It’s reasons like this that I started this blog…to be able to showcase the amazing coffee community that exists in this province, that perhaps many of us wouldn’t ever hear about since they’re a little ways off the beaten path. So if you find yourself in Linden, or nearby check these guys out!

-Tyler