So if I’ve tweeted this, should I blog it? What if I also Facebooked it? Well, here’s my Social Media strategy: at this moment, I don’t give a rat’s ass.

I’m proud of Montreal’s Cafe Myriade because Anthony and Alex both placed in the Eastern Regional Canadian Barista Championship several days back: Anthony in first place, and Alex in third. Both will represent Montreal in the national competition in Vancouver in October.

Myriade produces beautiful coffee – something that’s not, strictly speaking, impossible to do. It serves it with a smile and without attitude, and after watching baristas at Intelligentsia or Ritual sigh or roll their eyes at customers who unknowingly broke this or that cardinal rule of coffee drinkery, I had come to believe that these achievements were mutually exclusive. Not so.

1432 rue Mackay

photo: Chuck’s excellent macchiato, prepared by Anthony at Cafe Myriade on December 20, 2008.

A nice piece on Cafe Myriade in the Montreal Gazette, which bills the cafe as the spread of good coffee to the downtown area, as well as the home of the best price for 49th Parallel beans.

Without a doubt, one of the highlights of our time in Montreal this holiday was the series of three visits to Cafe Myriade. It’s new, but it’s clearly established itself as one of the best cafes in the city, and to judge from the foaming at the mouth on Chowhound, I’m not the only one with this opinion.

I’m not all that great at talking about coffee using the special words that true coffee lovers use; I could certainly afford to study the beverage more closely. But I’ve had a lot of coffee, a lot of good coffee, too, and even if my appreciation of coffee outweighs my knowledge of varietals and brewing methods, I can say that the coffee we had at Myriade was the best coffee I’ve had anywhere, thus far. It beats Ritual, Intelligentsia and Blue Bottle – all of which are excellent.

But, coffee aside, the best thing about Myriade is the guy who is most often behind the machine. Anthony Benda is one of the most effortlessly customer-focused people I’ve met. Your visit to his cafe is about you, not about him, and in my opinion, that’s the chief reason why your choice of coffee, or brew method, or size of cup, isn’t an opportunity for you to be lectured in proper coffee etiquette at Myriade. If you want education, you have plenty of opportunities, with scheduled and, sometimes, impromptu tastings, if he’s not too busy.

Montreal is in the midst of a coffee renaissance. Cafe Myriade is the youngest offspring, but I think it’s the new leader.

the Cafe Myriade blog

I think one can cut through a big bucket of gush with a couple of declarative statements:

• Cafe Myriade is at the head of the pack because the cafe is unrelenting in its advocacy of excellent coffee, from beans to cup.
• Cafe Myriade widens its lead over the rest of the pack because of its focus on customers as the core of the business, not coffee.

Quality

The beans from 49th Parallel in Vancouver are tops – I think they’re every bit as good as anything you can find. To my taste, this is a smoother coffee than Intelligentsia, Ritual, and Blue Bottle – a general statement about the character of their coffees rather than a specific varietal.

Innovation and Playfulness

The Siphon is one example of the cafe’s investment in lesser-known coffee-tech – the resulting coffee is more intense, higher in caffeine, I think, the nose and flavors more defined.

Customers Rule

I’m no different than anyone who likes good coffee: I want to enjoy coffee using the skills that I’ve acquired along the way, and I want to learn more about coffee so that the next experience is even more satisfying.Cafe Myriade

If you find yourself visiting Montreal on Monday (or any day thereafter) and you’re downtown, and you have a few minutes, and you like good coffee, then stop by Cafe Myriade on 1432 rue MacKay and buy an espresso from Anthony Benda.

Anthony is the latest sign of a true coffee culture in Montreal. After working at other people’s cafes, he’s now opening his own place. It joins Cafe Veritas and Caffe in Gamba, among others, and this can only be a good thing, as each cafe educates its clientele, which in turn, increases demand for the good stuff.

The first time I went to Montreal, I was bewildered by the Second Cups and the Van Houttes, and the apparent lack of any good coffee in the city. It turned out to be more an issue of scarcity and visibility, but that’s changed a lot in the past 4 years.

That’s great for the locals, but it’s good news for us tourists, too. We don’t have to be a slave to the chains when we’re visiting; chances are, whether we’re bedding down in the old city or downtown, there’s good coffee nearby.

Chowhound has a few threads – you can start with this one.

UPDATE: I heard from a couple patrons of Cafe Myriade on its first day, both of whom thought their cup of coffee was excellent. I also corrected the typo in Anthony’s last name. Sometimes, you can look at a post 20 different ways and not see somethng so obvious.