Two Cowboys: Taking the Cake and Eating It With Coffee at 94 Take the Cake in Okotoks, Alberta

The Perfect Little Coffee Shop

If you had to detail the ideal setting for a little coffee and cake shop, what will it be? How will it look?

For me, it should remind me of my Ouma's kitchen. I had my happiest childhood days taking in the sights and smells of freshly baked bread, cake and her famous pastries. Helping her knee the dough and mixing the icing was a favorite. Sometimes, I was allowed to lick the frosting bowl if there was any left.

My Ouma was the prize-winning baker at the local County Fair with her "soetkoekies" (biscuits), "terte" (Pies) and moist Chocolate Cakes. She set the standard, and aspiring bakers worked year-on-year to try and match it. Few ever succeeded, and even less managed to exceed it.

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If I had to design the ideal coffee and cake shop, then it should be a place where the kitchen is the centerpiece. At 94 Take the Cake in Okotoks, Alberta, Robyn and Sherry built their ideal and perfect coffee and cake shop, and we were there for the "grand opening."

According to the ladies, they "Take the Cake" when it comes to delicious and beautiful home baking. Sherry catered before to special occasions with custom cakes and pastries. The new shop now provides her with more space, more capacity and more scope to meet the demands for her unique and beautiful cake creations. According to her, "There is no love more sincere than the love of baking."

She also shares her passion for baking through classes that are hosted at the new shop. Young and old can now learn to bake and decorate cakes with her. She believes that she can even teach the Two Cowboys to bake and decorate!

Robyn is passionate about the coffee. Her friendliness and smile are contagious as you walk in and smell the fresh roast. Fratello supplied the beans and provided some guidance to help make 94 Take The Cake's coffee a welcome companion to the baking from the kitchen. We challenged Robyn to do a Two Cowboys Flatwhite, and she had it spot-on perfect the first round with an excellent crema and smooth, creamy milk. We have our new favorite coffee spot in Okotoks.

Observations

Ultimately the setting of the little coffee shop reminds you of a fairytale. There are ample garden spots where you can enjoy the sunshine and read a favorite book amongst flowers and birdsong. The shop has several comfortable rooms where you can work, do a business meeting or share some time with a good friend. From every angle, you can see how Sherry bakes in the kitchen and Robyn makes at the front desk.

We love the coffee. The cakes are outstanding. We have no doubt that this is a winner.

What actually stands out for us is the enthusiasm of two entrepreneurs, Roby and Sherry, that are realizing their dream and allowing us to be part of it. That is why we gladly share their story and eagerly track their progress to becoming Okotoks' next favorite little cake and coffee shop.

Hendrik van Wyk

Cake Cowboy

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Opening!

Delicious

Care

Entrepreneurs

Focus

Smile

Perfect

Two Cowboys: Remembering Mum's Kitchen at Home Ground Coffee and Roasting House with Rebel Bean Coffee, Okotoks, Alberta, Canada

Cinnamon and Coffee

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There are two distinct smells that I remember from my childhood in my Mum's kitchen. Cinnamon and coffee. Cinnamon made it into the hot, soft, sticky, cream cheese frosted rolls. Freshly brewed coffee was right beside it. The first thing of focus in the morning.

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Thanks to Wikipedia we know that a cinnamon roll is a sweet roll served commonly in Northern Europe and North America. In North America, its common use is for breakfast or dessert. Its main ingredients are flour, cinnamon, sugar, and butter, which provide a robust and sweet flavour.

In some places, it is eaten as a breakfast food and is often served with cream cheese or icing. History tells us that Sweden is to thank for the creation of this delectable treat. Swedish dough typically also contains cardamom (powder or buds), giving it a distinctive flavour. Canada takes a lot of pride in its versions of the cinnamon bun, possibly because of its Nordic heritage. No matter where you are in Canada, you are guaranteed to find some variety. Whichever variety you do get, the best way to eat them is as fresh as can be. Preferably, right out of the oven.

If you are in Okotoks, Alberta, and you can make your way down Elizabeth Street (old Main Street) towards North Railway Street, you will find a very, very small establishment on your left named Home Ground Coffee and Roasting House. Here they make several batches of buns by hand every day to ensure that customers get their cinnamon buns as fresh as possible.

Home Ground is a tiny kitchen that just so happens to also have a few chairs for patrons. It is probably the closest you will get to mum's kitchen stocked with buns, soups, and other pastries to get you through your day. People come for the buns. They also come for the great coffee. If the building is not small enough for a kitchen and a few chairs, they've managed to squeeze in a single origin coffee roaster by the name of Rebel Bean Coffee.

Observations

Home Ground is a busy place. Heather van Aalst, the owner and her team of helpers, are jumping to get the food out for the day's patrons. Mornings are the busiest as people step in for their Rebel Bean coffee fix and a cinnamon bun. It is the kind of place where they know your name. No drive-through here. The coffee is real, so is the food and the people.

One person in the kitchen is dedicated to only making the famous cinnamon buns. As soon as the first batch leaves the door, the second batch goes into the oven. At around 10:00 when it is tea-time, they are already on batch number eight! The day continues.

Late morning Kerri Ann Colby, the rebel from Rebel Bean Coffee fires up the roaster and the aroma's of freshly roasted coffee lingers down Main Street Okotoks. It is a magnet for downtown folk.

At lunch, you can have freshly baked bread and soup. Everything is home-made right in front of you in the tiny kitchen. After work, you can step in for your wine and beer. Yes, you heard it right. This is a kitchen that goes the extra mile. Breakfast, brunch, lunch and sundowner.

We wanted to know from Kerri Ann, why she named her roastery "Rebel Bean"? In every batch, she explained, there is one single bean that inexplicably doesn’t roast. That bean is among the thousands in each batch that is exposed heat of more than 200°C. Every other lost a good deal of its moisture, lost a percentage of its natural caffeine, and its sugars have caramelised to darken its colour. Except for one. This one bean seemingly flips the bird at chemistry and does not roast. She found one in every batch and termed it, the Rebel Bean. There is a little jar of rebel beans on the shelf in the room where she roasts at Home Ground. The name stuck. It became the personality for the brand and its customers.

Home Ground and Rebel Bean both have tonnes of personality. It is a combination that works. It has energy. Busyness. It is the kind of place you look for in every town. The place where they know your name, and you get a great coffee with an awesome cinnamon bun, that was roasted and baked by the people of the town that morning.

The Two Cowboys & A Camera never drives past Home Ground. It is our people. Please join us in supporting our locals.

Hendrik van Wyk
Rebel Cowboy

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Yes We Do

Busy, Busy

Okotoks' Coffee

Rebel Beans 

Hmmmm, Aaaaahh