Homegrown Hamilton

27 King William St.
Hamilton, ON

Facebook.com/homegrownhamilton
Instagram.com/homegrownhamilton
Homegrownhamilton.com

Coffee*Cuisine*Community

Homegrown is in an interesting part of Hamilton where there are great coffee shops very easy to find. If you haven't been to Homegrown, there is a parking lot directly across from it, don't park there like I did because its ridiculously expensive and there is plenty elsewhere. That aside, I was pleasantly surprised by the welcoming feel in the entryway of this cafe (art, roaster, food counter and lots of space) and enjoyed the ambience immediately. I found my eyes were drawn all around the cafe to see all the sights, interesting people of all types and enjoy the sunlight flooding in the front windows on this weekday afternoon.

I like to feel like each person can make a small difference in the world and the owners of Homegrown clearly feel this way as well, you can buy fair-trade coffee, and the latest wonderful social responsibility is the addition of suspended coffee. I bought a suspended coffee today; the small purchase of a coffee in advance can be given to someone who doesn't have enough money or is having a tough day. Its wonderful!

I visited Homegrown today to have a coffee, eat some lunch and buy some of their home roasted coffee beans, and was happy that i did. It was really quite lovely how no matter how busy they got, you never felt rushed (I found I was trying to rush myself😀) and they were very happy to answer any questions for me. We had homemade sandwiches, coffee and desserts and it was really delicious. I love to think that in Hamilton we have wonderful places like this for us all to enjoy and support independent places of business, and I highly recommend that everyone does.

1) coffee- small $2.25 large $2.75 8/10 (Mexican medium roast)
2) roasted- in house roasted and fresh 9/10
3) service- relaxed, friendly and warm 8/10
4) accessibility- street parking is cheaper but harder to find 8/10
5) flavour- was a bitter thin, I would like to try again 7.5/10
6) Eco-friendly- glass or compostable cups, vegan choices and soy milk 9.5/10
7) cup size- big and glass 8.5/10
8) food- freshly made to order, vegan/vegetarian choices, 8.5/10
9) ambience- relaxed, inviting and smells amazing 8.5/10
10) Wifi- available upon request for free 10/10

*overall 8.5/10 a super place to enjoy coffee, fresh food and live music in the evenings!!!

Olive & Kiwi (My Dog Joe Mountain location)

567 Scenic Drive
Hamilton, Ontario
L9C 1G9
mydogjoe@gmail.com
Www.mydogjoe.com
905-777-8100

I am really pleased to review the Olive & Kiwi Fine Foods on the Hamilton Mountain. They are a lovely little grocery and restaurant that houses the mountain location of My Dog Joe. I hadn't really seriously thought about reviewing this storefront because I have reviewed the Westdale location, and Mulberry (same ownership) but I this is very unique because of its wonderful location and view. This MDJ has the same baked goods, and wonderful coffee that caters to conscientious people that love fresh baked goods, fresh made coffee that is ethically grown but it's ON THE MOUNTAIN!!! I am so happy that MDJ made this decision to have something for us up here. I drove down Upper Paradise to the brow, right across from the parking lot for the Chedoke Stairs and boom!

I hope all you coffee lovers look them up for take out or eat in! Enjoy!

If you're interested in the coffee growers of cafe Fem, look up the link from C.J.'s a couple weeks ago. This coffee is locally roasted by Steve from Speak Easy Roastery and sourced from the farmers in Peru in support of the local women financially. It feels good to buy, and tastes great to drink. The beans are available for $14 in a mason jar plus $1 deposit if you bring the jar back.

1) coffee- $1.89 med, $$2.09 large (china cups available for in house drinks) 9/10
2) roasted locally- Speak Easy is locally roasted and ethically sourced 9/10
3) service- fast, friendly, informative 9/10
4) accessibility- MDJ has no signage outside Olive and Kiwi, good parking spaces 8/10
5) Flavour– medium roast, full flavour, generic drip style 8/10
6) Eco-friendly? 9.5/10
7) cup size- nice big cups 8.5/10
8) food- vegan choices, locally sourced, home made, delicious 8.5/10
9) ambience- homey, no couches or comfy chairs yet..... 7.5/10
10) Wifi- no

* overall 8.5/10 support our mountain cool cafe!!!! <3

Red Hill Coffee Trade

Fair trade Certified and Certified Organic Coffee

75 Lancing Dr. Unit E.
Hamilton, ON
(905)516-9669 by appointment
Twitter: @thecoffeetrade
Facebook: Red Hill Coffee Trade

I cant think of anything more lovely than spending a sunny, weekday strolling along James Street North doing some window shopping and walking to the Downtown Farmers Market. On this particular day my plan was to buy some freshly roasted coffee that I hadn't tasted before. On this occasion I went to the Red hill Coffee Trade set up conveniently as you walk in the main doors off York Blvd. and walk up the stairs. Owned and operated by Jason and Rachel Hofing, this is one of Hamilton's little treasures. I couldn't help myself, I plied Jason with lots of questions regarding coffee, their practices and grinding procedures; I was met with enthusiasm and good hearted responses despite being busy. I bought a pound of Dominican Republic beans and a coffee dripper, both proved to be an excellent investment. I plan on doing an article on grinders and why beans are ground at different coarseness for different coffee makers, at this time I needed a coarse grind for my French Press.

I made my first pot of Dominican the next day and was so impressed by the flavour, sweetness and aroma (so quiet in the mornings these days without the grinder waking us up:).

It is one of the nicest things to have fresh, tasty coffee that is roasted locally, organic and fair trade purchased!

This isn't the usual review but if I did, it's a 9.5/10!

BlogThis!