Two Cowboys: Last Market for 2016 at Home with Canmore Christmas Artisans' Market in Alberta, Canada

At Home

Christmas is at home this year. Home is where the heart is. Home is also the place where friends and family work all year to support themselves and contribute to their community.

Canmore's Christmas Artisans' Market is our local Christmas market in this beautiful Rocky Mountain town. It is the market where we have our Chocolatier, Coffee Roaster, Potter and Woodcarver. Eighty local and visiting crafters attend the two-day market each year, which is in its 21st year.

See This Video on Patreon: Click Here

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

The Market was created in 1996 as a fundraising event for the parent-cooperative Canmore Preschool Society. It has been a successful annual event ever since that takes place on the third weekend in November. Vendors come from Invermere and across Alberta to spend the weekend in the mountains with Canmorians.

There is a high standard for goods at the market, and Artists and Artisans are carefully selected for their creativity and craftsmanship in addition to balancing the variety of offerings available at the market. Because it is a local market, Bow Valley residents receive preference. All goods are handmade and sold by the person who made them.

The market continues to be the largest annual fundraiser for Canmore Preschool and takes place at the Canmore Collegiate High School.

Observations

We attended on Sunday morning, the second day of the market. We were due to fly out to Auckland New Zealand the afternoon for our last visit to the Islands. We just couldn't pass up an opportunity to quickly check in on our friends. Every possible space was filled with the creativity of another artist or producer. Some were at their usual spots and others were newcomers. It included many familiar local and out of town faces from previous years.

The market is almost like a giant reunion for crafters. Vendors become friends as they attend market after market, year after year. They connect and take stock of their year's achievements. It is also an opportunity to make one more last sale before packing in for the Winter, and a welcome break with family and friends.

Because the market is well attended by the same vendors year-after-year, it provides an opportunity to see the Artisans' development. They display new and innovative products. You can witness improvement in their craftsmanship. The wares are often made just a little bit better than
the year before.

Attending the market is not so much about shopping as it is an opportunity to visit good old friends. That is why a local market is such an attraction for us. It brings people together. We love visiting our markets and tell the stories of the people that make the market a local market. Our market.

Thank you for supporting our market indulgence. We appreciate you sharing our content and rely on your continued support and sponsorship in 2017 when we will revisit our familiar places, meet with folks, friends and add to our portfolio of market coverage across Canada and New Zealand.

We do it because our local markets are the souls of our communities. It is where businesses ultimately begin. It is where we invest in ourselves.

Hendrik van Wyk
Artisan Cowboy

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers: Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys and our Producers when you subscribe to our email list.

We are a content company. We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. It allows us to have a closer relationship with our collaborators and grow our audience. If you Sponsor us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/twocowboys or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/twocowboys we can do a lot more for you, your business, event or community.

Photos

Jelly Friends 

Coffee Friends

Two Cowboys: Weta Coffee Cold Brew and Rave Coffee, A Bean Exchange in Auckland, New Zealand

Crossing Oceans With Coffee

The Two Cowboys has several coffee sponsors. Two of them are among our favourites because they were the first to buy into our approach for promoting local producers. We have one on each side of the Pacific Ocean. Weta Coffee in Auckland New Zealand and Rave Coffee Canada in Canmore, Alberta.

See This Video on Patreon: Click Here

"For as little as $1/month you will get the inside track on content like this and follow the travels of the Two Cowboys & A Camera. Join here."

Because we travel a lot between New Zealand and Canada, we decided to embark on a bit of a coffee exchange between them. Dean from Rave Coffee asked us to deliver two of his favourites to Miles and Sandra. His signature blend, and also a Guatemalan Roast.  I asked Dean why he is sending a single origin all the way to New Zealand. Surely, they ship green beans to New Zealand from Guatemala? His reply: "All the talent is in the roast."

We checked in with Miles to deliver the package. Enjoy the video.

As you probably know, New Zealand is about to embark on their summer holidays. In Canada, we like ice coffee in summer. Kiwis are no exception. When the days heat up, they are fond of their cold coffee too.

Cold-Brew With Coconut

Miles introduced us to Weta Coffee's Cold-Brew. No, it is not the standard shots of espresso over ice. This is actually a sophisticated approach f0r making a really amazing drink. Cold-brewed coffee is ground coffee steeped in cold water for up to 24 hours and strained. Iced coffee is generally brewed hot and poured over ice.

There is a distinct difference in taste between the two methods. Ice coffee is done fast on the espresso machine and is quite strong because it is will get diluted by the ice later. Cold-Brew uses a process of infusion to extract more subtle flavours from the roasted beans. The result is often sweeter. Once it is made it is bottled and refrigerated to be consumed within 10 days. You can add ice to it, milk, and sugar. However, because it is already diluted it will not be as strong. It will make for a refreshing light drink intead.

If you are ready for the Two Cowboys version then here you go.

Ingredients:

• Weta Cold-Brew Coffee
• Glacier Ice (Or regular pure water ice if you don't live near a Glacier)
• New Zealand's Green Valley Barista Velvet Milk
• Organic Coconut Cream
• Park Distillery Vodka 

Process:

• Quantities need to be adjusted for the time-of-day you plan to drink your coffee.
• Early morning, take the coffee and save the Vodka for later.
• After lunch, start with a little bit of Vodka and as the afternoon progress increase the ratio while decreasing the milk.
• Early evening, leave out the milk entirely and adjust the coconut and vodka accordingly.
• Bedtime, take the Vodka and save the coffee for the morning.
• Mix to taste. 

If the above sounds impossible, then you may probably be right. It isn't easy being the Two Cowboys. You will have to travel to do this recipe right. Come on the road with us for the privilege of enjoying the above drink. It is an amazing adventure that span oceans and cross continents (and the odd Island) with good friends like Dean, Sandra and Miles.

Hendrik van Wyk
Cowboy Coffee

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers: Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys and our Producers when you subscribe to our email list.

We are a content company. We earn our livelihood from producing great content about inspiring people and their stories. We use Patreon to help us earn from our work. It allows us to have a closer relationship with our collaborators and grow our audience. If you Sponsor us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/twocowboys or Donate to our cause on GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/twocowboys we can do a lot more for you, your business, event or community.

Photos

Busy Busy

East Meets West

FlatWhiteMellow

For Summer

o-CNN: Small Businesses in Canmore: Cupping Some Coffees with Rave Coffee in Canmore, Alberta

Mini Business Profile

(Learn: **** Inspire: * Amaze: * Live: ****)
(The Two Cowboys Subjective Rate-o-Meter.   )

Canmore Business and Tourism encouraged the Two Cowboys to feature Canmore's up and coming businesses. We've produced a few mini-profiles to introduce you to the energy that is making Canmore such a great place to live, work, play, and ultimately launch successful businesses. We are proud to showcase the best of what is on offer in the Bow Valley.

Rave Coffee Canmore

Rave Coffee is no newcomer Producer to the Two Cowboys. We were introduced to Dean and his team earlier this year when we browsed the coffee roasting choices we have in Canmore, Alberta. You can read it here, and see the video here.

This time, Dean showed us a well-known coffee tasting technique called "cupping". Coffee cupping, or coffee tasting, is the practice of observing the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee. It is a professional practice but can be done informally by anyone or by professionals known as "Q Graders". A standard coffee cupping procedure involves deeply sniffing the coffee, then loudly slurping the coffee, so it spreads to the back of the tongue.

The coffee taster attempts to measure aspects of the coffee's taste, specifically the body (the texture or mouthfeel, such as oiliness), sweetness, acidity (a sharp and tangy feeling, like when biting into an orange), flavour (the characters in the cup), and aftertaste.

Since coffee beans embody telltale flavours from the region where they were grown, "cuppers" may attempt to identify the coffee's origin. A cupper can be considered the sommelier of coffee.

Here is a complete article in www.roastmagazine.com by Paul Allen to build your hidden cupping skills. (He refers to it as The Coffee Triangle)

Rave Coffee is providing an introduction to this fascinating art of getting to know your brew. Enjoy our short video, and if you are interested in trying it yourself, then register below to get offers to invitations from Rave Coffee, exclusive to the Two Cowboys.

Hendrik van Wyk
Cupper

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers.
Register to receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys and their producers.

Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship. 
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)

o-CNN: Small Town Coffee Roasters in Canmore, Alberta

Spoiled for Choice

In Canmore we are spoiled for choice when it comes to coffee. The Two Cowboys checked in recently with two local roasters that produce their coffee for the Bow Valley coffee shops, and consumers in the surrounds of the Foothills of Alberta. We have good coffee in Canmore.

Rave Coffee is the newest addition to Canmore, and brings knowledge, experience and a solid track record from operations in the U.K.

 Mountain Blends Coffee Roasters is the longest established in the Bow Valley, and now under the careful management of owner: Jennifer Web. They existed in Canmore, long before the Bow Valley knew the difference between Cappuccino or Latte. 

How can there be two roasters in a small town like Canmore? 

Firstly, as you saw in our previous instalment, Canmore likes its coffee. We have a discerning clientele that visits from all over the world, and we need to ensure they get the best we can offer. 

Secondly, because competition is a good thing. Canmore can have even more coffee roasters so that they compete to be better. If there is competition, then there is innovation and progress. It is a simple principle of business, and of life. We applaud our producers for that. As consumers we are better off with better coffee.

Enjoy our introductions to our proud small business producers in the coffee business in Canmore, Alberta.

Hendrik van Wyk

Cowboy

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers. Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys.

Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship. 
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)