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

First, a few notes about the trip, in general. We were there 8 days this year, longer than any previous trip. And I think we found this trip to more enjoyable than ever, precisely because we stayed longer. There is a sweet spot to a vacation and Chuck and I have come to think that 8 days is just about perfect for Montreal: it’s enough to absorb some of the life and the vibe of the city, and when we reach the half way point of the trip, we don’t dread the coming end of the trip. After all, there’s still another four days to go. Of course, we always regret leaving the city, but we do have to leave some time, you know.

And thanks to the recent devaluation of the Loonie, in relation to the US Dollar, our lodging expenses were nearly the same as last year, despite the two additional nights. While I’m mentioning it, our transportation expenses were also much lower this year, too. Overall, it was a much more affordable trip, thanks to the convergence of the weak economy, falling gas prices, the resulting lower airfares, and the falling Canadian dollar.

So, while plans can always change, we’ve booked eight days for next year, too: December 18-26. We liked arriving on Friday and leaving on Saturday enough that we’re going to do it again, even though it means we’re leaving on Boxing Day. I won’t go into all the tiny reasons for this, except for one: there’s a decent chance Olive et Gourmando will close for its month-long holiday on Saturday 12/19/2009; a Friday arrival ensures at least one trip to OeG before they go on hiatus. If you’ve been to OeG even once, I think you can understand why this has factored in our planning at all.

One other general note: last year, we went back and forth on the idea of having friends join us. Would they be bored with our general laziness there or would we find that having friends along was a drag on our fun? Well, I can only speak to the second question and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Four friends joined us last year, leading to great memories and legendary meals. Two of those friends returned in 2008 and we picked up right where we left off.

Well, more to come in the next few weeks. The purpose of this blog is to bring to life the joy of vacationing in Montreal and perhaps provide some advice you’ll find helpful in planning your own trip. We hope to fulfill both in the coming weeks.

The SDF to IND to DTW to YUL trek might just bog down in DTW, where as of this writing, we expect 6-10 inches of snow to fall in a 12 hour time window from 4am-4pm Friday. This piece of weather appeared seemingly out of nowhere on Wednesday afternoon.

One can respond a few ways, ranging from curling up in a ball and crying, to a laissez faire approach, to a proactive rebooking strategy.

I’m a relatively new convert to the more zen “vacation starts when you leave and whatever happens, happens” worldview. Despite that, I’d still like to know that we can get to Montreal on Friday, without being delayed for a few hours or until Saturday.

Detroit has a good reputation these days for pushing the traffic through, and keeping the runways in good shape, even in heavy snow. If our flight to or from DTW isn’t canceled preemptively or because of wind/snow, we’ll probably make it with a moderate delay. If it’s canceled preemptively, or the storm forecast worsens, I have an ace in the hole – an extremely cheap direct flight to Montreal from another nearby airport unaffected by weather. I might use that escape hatch tonight. Chuck is even less tolerant of delays than I am.

Our friends Bob and Michael are scheduled to arrive late Friday night via Chicago, which will endure this storm tomorrow, too.

We’ve been quite lucky along the way. In 2004, we were delayed around 6-7 hours in Toronto, while the airport tried to dig itself out of smaller snowstorm. That was rather chaotic, but we made it. And up until now, our trips have been uneventful, on time, even.

Well, here goes… we’ll talk to you on the other side!