With the summer heat and this year’s heat dome you may think that coffee wouldn’t be a priority but this is the time to make iced coffee. Whether its pouring hot espresso over ice and adding home simple syrup or making cold brew coffee, summer is still a great time for coffee.

We tried a new favourite, Blindside Espresso, a Starbucks classic blend Caffè Verona, a vacation treat from Hornby Island Coffee Roasters called Helliwell Medium and the Strait Coffee Traders Blend Skookum Organic.

Blindside Espresso

I grabbed a bag of this coffee from Roaster Central at the Espressotec store on Clark Drive.

The company, Craft Coffee Canada, is a Vancouver Island based company that has a Crest series to which Blindside Espresso belongs.

This is a great coffee that the company says “is roasted to a light/medium level to help accentuate its bright acidity, syrupy body and wonderful sweetness.

I found it to be very good in my Aeropress while camping on Hornby Island when I was vacationing in August. The coffee itself blends Ethiopia and Colombian coffees.

Caffè Verona

Having worked at a Starbucks in the early 2000’s, I’ll admit I picked up a love for this blend because I drank so much of it for free. It was a great perk.

The coffee itself has been around since 1975 where according to Starbucks “it was created for a Seattle restaurant, naming it Jake’s Blend.”

The coffee’s second name – 80/20 Blend – refers to the initial blending of 80% Yukon Blend and 20% Starbucks Italian Roast.

I get the Italian Roast taste here which many people associate with Starbucks and its burnt way of making and roasting coffee. I don’t find it burnt personally.

Helliwell Medium

Helliwell Medium is named after Helliwell Provincial Park on Hornby Island. I visit there in the summer to vacation and over the years the Hornby Island Coffee Roasters brand has really grown there.

I grabbed this blend while there obviously and it is a great coffee for any type of brew method.

The biggest thing that I can say about this coffee is the memories it brings back of the Park itself while drinking it. I’ve included a picture. below.

Skookum Organic

I’ve reviewed this coffee before and it’s one of my favourites from the Sunshine Coast. Produced by Strait Coffee Traders, it blends their Italian and French Roast coffees.

Skookum is interesting because it blends two coffees that each contain two coffees themselves. The French Roast blends natural Ethiopian with hearty Mexican coffees while the Italian blends Central American and Indonesian coffees. That being said the flavour and taste of this coffee is a unique one.