Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for McCafe Canada, however I have been an avid McCafe drinker since 2011 when they launched, so you can rest assured (as always) all the opinions expressed are entirely my own.
It’s not much of a secret that I’m a McCafe junkie. In the summer Iced Vanilla Coffee is my everything! Especially during those wonderful dollar drink days, but let’s face it – summer is over and for the past few weeks I’ve found myself going for their hot speciality drinks, especially the vanilla latte (yum).
Last week I was invited to a cupping event with McCafe to learn more about their new espresso bean blend and to taste test drinks from their new state-of-the-art Swiss equipment. The event was held at East of Grafton on Argyle Street which is a really nice spot, with an amazing tin ceiling. Definitely a spot I’d like to go back to for a meal!
Thanks to construction on the highway I slid in the door just as the event started, and got settled in my seat just in time to hear all about the new espresso blend.
The new blend features beans sourced from Central and South America, and now Indonesia, and is made with 100% Arabica beans grown sustainably on Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. The new recipe was developed by a team of espresso experts based on its aroma, flavour, body and taste and then won approval from Canadian specialty coffee-drinkers through a series of taste panels held across the country.
Their new state-of-the-art Swiss equipment will bring European-inspiried espresso beverages to approximately 1200 restaurants nationwide over the next year. In addition, restaurant employees are receiving in-depth training to ensure each McCafe specialty beverage – including Lattes, Cappuccinos, Espressos and Americanos – is customized to each guest’s order.
Specialty coffee lovers across the country have told us they want an authentic and more sophisticated espresso blend – and we’ve listened. We’ve sought out a new espresso bean blend, introduced state-of-the-art Swiss equipment into our restaurants to deliver consistently satisfying lattes, cappuccinos and specialty coffees that is the perfect balance of rich espresso taste and creamy smooth and frothed milk.
Anne Parks, McCafe Menu Director, McDonald’s Canada
But let’s get back to the tasting. First up on our tasting menu was the cornerstone of all the drinks that would follow – the espresso.
This was my first time ever drinking a straight espresso and I was a little bit nervous about it, but you know what? I really enjoyed it. In fact, I think I would choose an espresso over a regular coffee now having tried it. I find plain coffee to be bitter (which is why I’m generally a specialty coffee drinker) but I found the smaller sized espresso more enjoyable for me.
Especially when paired with one of McCafe’s butter croissants that are made in France, and baked fresh in store.
We followed the espresso up with a cappuccino which consists of equal part of espresso, steamed milk and milk foam.
As a self proclaimed latte lover, it’s been a while since I’ve had a cappuccino. When I first started drinking coffee beverages I went for the cappuccino and later moved into the latte. I honestly never really learned what the exact difference was between the two, but in basically the latte has more steamed milk and less milk foam making it a milkier drink over all.
And while the latte that followed the cappuccino confirmed that my drink of choice is still the latte, the cappuccino is certainly a close second…
and I had no problem polishing both off. And for those keeping track, that is three shots of espresso I had in less than an hour – not counting the latte I drank on my way into the city.
[Tweet “Latte, cappuccino or espresso? What’s your drink of choice? Check out @McCafe’s #ANewWayToCafe”]
And something else I didn’t know, the chocolate chunk brownies sold in store are by Dufflet and are handmade without gluten <– and taste AMAZING! Sometimes gluten-free baked goods can be dry, and chewy, but I actually forgot these were gluten-free at all. They are delicious! I’m usually on a mission for caffeine when I head through the drive thru and never get any of the bakery items, but now having tried some of them, it’s going to be harder for me to say no!
And just between you and I, when they offered to make me a specialty drink to go – I may have got a vanilla latte for my drive home. Making that a total of 5 shots of espresso in a 3 hour period.
I may have been a little bit wired, haha.
Love you a latte, why yes, yes, I do.
Thank you so much to McCafe for inviting me to the cupping event, I really enjoyed the event, the drinks and the pastries too (which I had never tried)!
We also got a little insider info that the beloved peppermint mocha will be returning in a few short weeks (made with all natural flavours and real crushed candy cane pieces) along with some other festive flavours which they seem to be keeping top secret. 😉
Suzi’s hoping for a salted caramel or something equally as delicious and troublesome, haha.