commonly coffee

I had the chance this week to be one of the first people to taste coffee from David Kim at his brand launch event hosted at Eight Ounce Coffee. 

Who is David Kim you ask?

A house-hold name in the Calgary coffee community, David has been a key team member with Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters for several years, and currently serves as one of their roasters. In recent years David has begun to show himself as a fierce competitor in coffee competitions taking home a bunch of impressive hardware including first place in both the 2019 Canadian Brewer’s Cup and 2018 Canadian National Latte Art Championship! Check out his site for an even more detailed list of all of his competition results.

So maybe it wasn’t a total shock to me to hear the news that he was venturing out on his own to create David Kim Coffee. I couldn’t pass up the chance to make it to his first brand launch event to hear more of his story into coffee roasting on his own, and also to have the chance to be one of the very first people to sample his coffee! Maybe I got a little exited, because I even got in on his pre-order for his “WILD” offering–a Costa Rican Natural (roasted WHITE)–as David has a White/Black roasting option for those who prefer their coffee more lively or more developed. Lucky for me this was one of the coffee’s David was sampling at his brand launch, so I was stoked to try it.

The event began with David introducing himself, and sharing his story into specialty coffee. He has had quite the journey and shared with us even at one point that he almost left specialty coffee for good. I know that I am not the only one who is incredibly thankful that this didn’t happen, and that now we are privileged to be experiencing this next chapter in his story.

If there is one thing that I can say about David is that he is incredibly meticulous, and throughout the entire brand presentation you could tell how much detail he has put into every part of his company.

David began to share about his two key coffee offerings that will be the central focus of his coffee program: WILD & PURE.

WILD will be a seasonal offering of a naturally processed single-origin coffee.

PURE will be a seasonal offering of either a washed or honey processed single-origin coffee.

David has chosen to offer these, and all his coffees in 200g bags, and this as intentional as well. While offering coffee in smaller bags it provides less risk to the customer, and also allows coffee to be enjoyed at the peak of freshness. David also made the joke that if people don’t like the coffee then at least its only 200 grams they need to get through! (I really doubt that anyone will find David’s coffee un-enjoyable). Each of these coffee’s will have the option to be roasted WHITE or BLACK. White is designed to be more of a filter roast, with Black being more focused on what you’d expect for an espresso roast. Yet, the ultimate choice for final brew method still rests with the home brewer. No matter how one chooses to brew the coffee, is ultimately a matter of preference, David shared.

David will also be offering his DK’S SELECTION. These rare & exotic coffees will certainly excite even the most passionate of coffee lovers. The first of these is Kiyalo–a Costa Rican Red Honey Gesha that we were given the chance to enjoy during the evening. There will be four total offerings in this selection: BOHUMA, KIYALO, DUVIXE & SEZITA. Each of these names was meticulously chosen to not only reflect the origin of each of the coffee’s that will fall into these categories, but also the sound of them was chosen to reflect the essence of the the tasting notes.

David finished the evening introducing us to his specific brew methods for his coffee. With each coffee order David will include a simple brew guide to help each customer have the ability to replicate his exact recipe and to enjoy a cafe-like experience at home.

At the end of the evening we were given samples of both the WILD & KIYALO. These are truly special coffees and David shared that he is actively pursuing cafes to carry them in the coming months. David is certainly ambitious as his goal is to not only get his coffee into a number of cafes, but to open his own in the next year or two.

I want to say a huge thanks to the whole team at Eight Ounce Coffee for hosting the branch launch, and a huge congratulations to David for seeing this all come to fruition.

This is truly an exciting time for the coffee community here in Calgary. So what are you waiting for, head on over to David’s website and place your pre-order.

Stay Caffeinated,

Tyler