You must go to : T.H.I.S Place

Off the beaten path is a cute little store, nested between new business pop-ups (Quest Hair e.g. )

THIS stands for To Be Happy is Simple.

I entered and immediately loved the decor and atmosphere. There was only one guy there at that point ( the owner) Tom something or other. They had really cute rice crispie offerings in honour of easter. CUTE (sorry it was blurry, I was moving around too much taking in the SCENERY)

On their counter in cute jars were other snackables.

They are a fruit bar? And they specialize in food with fruit. As Tom said CHOCOLATE is like a fruit.... Above is their menu. As you can see the prices listed is SUPER cheap for a BOTIQUE/ speciality coffee shop. Everything is freshly made too.

They have cute zen like sitting areas.

I ordered a chili hot chocolate with homemade whip cream.

Since they get their chocolate from BC and it is not powder based Tom told me he could tweak the heat of the chili to whatever I wanted. It was in the AM so I asked for medium heat. The drink was delicious and as you can see there is that darker rim of colour right under the whip cream. THAT IS ALL COCO BUTTER. delicious. I usually have hot chocolate from TIMMIE HOES and their hot chocolate is watery and yields a chalky consistency especially at the end where the powder was not mixed properly. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE HERE . Loved the drink, delicious, just the right amount of sweetness, deep coco taste and heat.

I sat right by this huge piece of art as I was doing my essay. VERY MOTIVATIONAL.

Their washroom was VERY clean and their soap was yummy smelling. They even had body spray available to you. I love a good clean washroom.

Here is another shot at the decor and layout of the place. They have books here that you can read as well. (I saw one about cats and The Life of Pi)

I also went for a popsicle. Tom suggested a marbled one with creamy coconut and blueberries. IT WAS DIVINE. I wanted more. It is never too cold to have one of these babies.

I love how at the end of your Popsicle they remind you its from T.H.I.S Place. GENIUS.

Tom actually has a degree in nutrition. NO wonder his stuff is so good =)

OVERALL I would say come here LOTS. Service is good, good convo, good atmosphere, good drinks and food.


APRIL 2013
Went back again and again and my new favorite is now the salted carmel hot chocolate with pink Himalayan salt.

THIS is a must drink! it cost $4.75 but well worth it esp with their home made whip cream. The salt is so different and so savoury. Makes my mouth water. This pink salt is delicious .

Latte Art @ Transcend Coffee

THIS LOCATION IS NOW CLOSED

10349 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, AB
T5J 1Y5
Canada
info@transcendcoffee.com
780.421.7734

I love cafe art and I love caffeine. More specifically I love lattes.
So one day after I went to Phat Noodle (review to come) we went to Transcend Coffee Shop. They offer free trade coffee and offers lighter roasts than even starbucks.

I went there there times and each time I got a new latte with a different latte art.
I like the flat white, chai and even the flavoured vanilla latte ~made with real vanilla .

 This was suppose to be a bear but I had already taken a drink of it. It was really good got lots of bold and deep flavours and it was not drowned out by over sweetness or by that weird after tastes of sugar free syrups.

 This was the chai with the tulip flower. IT is harder for the latte artist to do art in the to go cup. I enjoyed the chai but it was not the best.

They are really good at making the leaf design and at this point they told me they were going to send some of their baristas to latte art school.

They coffee is a bit costly when compared to Tim Hortons and McDonalds but comparable in price to Starbucks. I would say it is a bit more expensive than Starbucks. But for the art and the deep taste of their expresso it is worth it. At times they make their drink too bitter but perhaps that is just their barista's mistake.

You can also get waffles and other small snacks there and buy their free trade coffee.



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I found some crazy latte art online! I really want to try one of these and prob will in asia.

The following pics are not from TRANSCEND (if only )  

 This one is the coolest one and I def want to taste this polar bear latte art! 3D

 hahah obama style latte art

PPS I saw a guy liked my post I clicked on him and MAN he is the KING of latte art I swear
Click here for his amazing pics of his latte art

Infamous Starbucks

So obviously everyone here has drank from Starbucks at least once in their life... I hope. Being an advent caffeine chunkie I have had coffee from various sources. In edmonton i really particularly like Transcend Coffee and their ability to do so cafe art, remedy cafe is pretty good for their chai and if I am with my father I drink Second Cup ( he has a card).

So why do I go to starbucks soooo much? well its convenient, its close and their drinks are pretty standard. my favourite drink of all time is the pumpkin spice latte followed by the carmel machiatto and then the peppermint mocha. I like how starbucks have low caloried options for those who are CALORIE CONSCIENCE. Recently I have been drinking the skinny vanilla latte (tall is 100 calories). HOWEVER, starbucks has been seeing a huge turnover in the last little while and most of their baristas are new (SOUTHPARK location). so I often get some really nasty made drinks or badly poured shots.
YES shots of expresso do expire and go bad and they taste really really bitter. (I use to work at starbucks)

My favourite drink for cold is a vent caramel frappe with a shot of expresso on top then whip cream then caramel drizzle. DEEELLIIISSSH.

NOTE TO ALL who love the white mocha... it is deadly! one pump of that syrup is 70 calories and in a tall there is 3 and in a vent there is 5!! in cold drink its one more ... so in a cold vent its 6 pumps.. lets do the math here (70 *6 = 420) just in the syrup not even the milk or the whip cream. YIKES . though I suppose its better than a booster juice which if you check the calories and sugar content... it is quite high.

So today I went to starbucks before work got a medium skinny vanilla latte and guess what I got on the cup....

Apparently my name is now Mary ... I guess they are trying to either A. be sustainable and reusing cups after they made a mistake.. or B they are just not very bright.

SO is the price you pay for the coffee justified.... not really ..especially if you have been to asia and had drinks there. I LOVE taipei's 85 degrees  c cafe. so many selections not only in drink but also in food and dessert.