The Boulevard Coffee Roasting: Review
Related entries in Coffee Reviews, Vancouver coffeeOn Saturday we were at UBC for a conference and noticed a local roaster: The Boulevard Coffee Roasting Co. 
The Boulevard Coffee Roasting Co.
5970 University Boulevard
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1Z3
Ianiv and I both ordered an Americano. The beans used were from Brazil, although the barista didn’t know much about them. Boulevard Coffee uses only organic beans, roasted on-site. The owners are students, making this the first student-owned company on campus. Both owners have science backgrounds.
Our review of the cafe itself is quite positive. We enjoyed the atmosphere and design, the use of modern materials, and the display of community art. The service was okay, although the lack of barista education was obvious.
The coffee itself was not the best feature of the cafe. To me, it tasted acrid and over-roasted. Very little flavour of the actual coffee came through, and it was quite watery as well as bitter. I would be interested to know the taste of the drip coffee in comparison to the espresso, but UBC is a little out of the way so I probably won’t be back any time soon to try.
Tags: boulevard coffee, vancouver coffee, vancouver cafe, cafe review, ubc coffee, coffee, vancouver
February 26th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
To me, the drip tastes much like JJBean coffee.
At UBC, I prefer the organic coffee at a place called Sprouts in the student union building, mainly because it’s only 75c a cup :)
I have to give props to the Boulevard though for giving me the only god shot I’ve ever had. Pure luck? Probably, but I’ll take it!
February 28th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
comming up from Seattle on Tuesday.. Will check it out! Looks Good!
March 24th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
I frequent the boulevard quite often (work on campus), and I would agree with the review.
Nice atmosphere, very modern and they probably play the best music on campus… the coffee is good sometimes, but I agree it’s too bitter and burnt tasting, americanos too. Actually, it reminds me a bit of starbucks drip coffee on a bad day.
I will continue going there though since the only other option is starbucks, which I also like…
The one complaint with the boulevard is it takes too long. Nice service though so I’m not really complaining… it’s like Italy or something, slow chill service.
May 11th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I have to say that I drink a lot of Americano’s and the Boulevard serves up the best (so far). Unfortunately, I drink a lot of Starbuck’s Americanos and they don’t compare to the B’s.
I wish there were more Boulevards on campus though.
Not as superb as the Artigano’s but it’s closer. I’ll have to check out Sprouts more often!
June 25th, 2007 at 1:10 am
Just FYI — Currently, as of June 2007, The Boulevard roaster has never been used to roast any coffee beans. The company purchases their beans from local roasters, and I believe they have just started to retail 49th Parallel coffee under their own label.
When first opened in June 2006, I believe they were using JJBean House of Coffee as a ‘temporary supplier’ until their roasting operations went underway. They have since switched suppliers several times since then…
My guess is that JJ was just too expensive for them.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:25 pm
I’m a student at UBC, and I frequently go to Boulevard, they’re easily my coffee place of choice on campus. The espresso is pretty good in my opinion, it may not be as good as JJBean, but I’d walk 5 minutes out of my way to go to Boulevard as opposed to ordering Starbucks. A bit pricy. Atmosphere is great, and its great to see people making your coffee (as opposed to a machine), and not to mention latte art. I think its great the baristas put some effort into the coffee, of course it’ll take longer, but its worth the wait.
October 27th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
For your info 49th parallel produces the best espresso in Canada, and one of the best in the world. JJBean is no match for this guys. Vince Piccollo ex-owner of Cafe Artgiano runs 49th. It’s really surpising to read comments. I’ve never been in this place(Boulevard), and I don’t know their coffee quality, sometime no matter how good the beans somebody will do a bad job.
December 28th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Looks like Enzo works for 49th and is a promoting pimp.
I have tried 49th espresso many times and find it quite bad – bitter and lacking body
April 27th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
gotta back up enzo and 49th parallel here. most of the places that hit me as really good to the best are all connected to 49th parallel:
Elysian Room – best in the city
49th parallel (their own outlet)
Koko (the chocolate place)- on denman
Coo Coo – davie near homer
and since the same guys are behind artigiano, then yeah, most the best coffee in the city is coming from the same place…
April 28th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I love Elysian room, but only when they are not using 49th on their espresso. I don’t think I am alone – seems like they no longer use 49th at this place.
I am there every work day for an espresso.
April 28th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I love Elysian room, but only when they are not using 49th on their espresso. I don’t think I am alone – seems like they no longer use 49th at this place.
I am there every work day for an espresso.
July 19th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I was just at UBC for a conference and really enjoyed this place. My americanos and cappuccinos were great here; they’re actually strong enough, so I had to teach myself not to ask for an extra shot as I normally do. The drip isn’t great, but there are worse fates than finding a place with good espresso and mediocre drip (in fact, I can’t think of another).
July 30th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Did a little bouncing around europe this summer and developped a taste for espresso. Here in Vancouver we have plenty of good, fresh beans but its the bristas that make the most difference. Artigiano and 49th are the most consistent in this regard, Boulevard must lack technical or motivational training for its barsitas because the quality of the crema is on par with starbucks.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I frequent the Boulevard for its drip coffee… not so much its espresso-based drinks. I find that their espresso is lacking body and a bit too acidic for my linking. I also agree with Gines in that their espresso is lacking some crema… I think it’s partially due to that they use an automatic tamper like in Artigiano. I highly recommend the Dominican Republic Polo and Ethiopia Sidamo, however.
Also, thanks to “barista” who identified their coffee as coming from 49th Parallel coffee roasters; I will have to check out some of their stores.