New spot to get your caffeine fix
Café offering siphon coffee and British high tea opens on Corydon Avenue
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This article was published 17/03/2015 (3927 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Something delightful is brewing on Corydon.
La Cuisson Café, a high-end French- and British-inspired café, specializing in siphon coffee and British high tea, opened in the village on March 8.
The business is in the hands of general manager Hui Li, 27, and his partner Sam Deng, 30. The two have a strong passion for fine coffee and teas and are hoping locals will trade up from their Timmies and Starbucks for a traditional coffee-drinking experience.
“We thought if we’re going to do something here it might as well be meaningful and be unique, and it means something to the people here,” Deng said. “We thought we should change how people feel about coffee.”
La Cuisson Café’s signature drink is siphon (or syphon, as they prefer to use the British spelling) coffee – a style of brewing that uses a four-part glass setup, not unlike something one might see in a chemical laboratory. This method is labour-intensive and makes for an exceptional, completely handcrafted cup of joe.
According to Deng, no other café in Winnipeg is serving siphon-style coffee.
Li, a Linden Woods resident and former University of Manitoba business student, is La Cuisson Café’s sole siphon operator. He said it’s taken him about two years to master the siphon, which requires a high level of knowledge of the beans being used, the grind, water temperature, aroma and acidity.
The end product (served in bone china) is rich in flavour, and forget the typical ‘double double’ tag on your drink order, this coffee doesn’t require any additions.
Under the guidance of Jason Hsu of Jason’s Best Coffee, Li learned the tricks of the trade at La Cuisson’s flagship location in Vancouver.
“I am pretty familiar with how to drink tea but coffee is not our culture,” explained Li, who is originally from China. “But when I met my partner in Vancouver — he’s a coffee master of 30 years — and he taught me lots of information about coffee.”
Also on the menu at La Cuisson Café are traditional loose leaf teas, waffles, soups and sandwiches, and the café’s specialty, high tea.
The high tea is a British-style service featuring a three-tier tower of pastries and desserts made in-house by pastry chef Stella Wang.
“It’s how the nobles and the royalty in the U.K. enjoy their afternoon tea. It’s very traditional,” Deng said.
For those who are feeling adventurous, La Cuisson Café also offers what they call the “world’s best coffee.” Made from the droppings of the Asian palm civet jungle cat, whose diet consists of coffee berries, the Wild Kopi Luwak coffee is sought after across the globe and sells for $60 a pot at the café.
Since opening, the owners say business has been good with customers willing to come in and try something new.
“It’s nice to hear the feedback from the neighbours, and the people,” Deng said. “We just thought we would create another new option for Winnipeggers and the locals so they can enjoy coffee — not to drink coffee because they have to drink it.”
La Cuisson Café is located at 774 Corydon Ave. and is open Monday to Sunday. For hours and more information check out La Cuisson Café Winnipeg on Facebook or call 204-691-6046.