I thought I should start with Coffee on the Moon. I frequent here as it is less than a minute from my house. As you will see I like this place, but do have some reservations on becoming faithful to this place….

Coffee: This may be COTM’s strongest quality. They use Cowboy Coffee beans. These beans pack punch. There shots of espresso are so creamy that you could stand a spoon in them! This makes for awesome americanos an lattes. These drinks are especially good in the early early AM. Lucy and I often walk to the moon at about 7AM to grab a coffee… a great way to start the day!

Atmosphere: Coffee on the moon may be one of the oldest coffee shops in town so it has a great setteled in feel. They haven’t changed the way the place looks in a long time! They play great music so no need to bring the iPod, and art is always on the wall, displaying local artists masterpieces.  They have young friendly staff.  They quickly remeber what you order which alway makes me happy.

Location: For me this is a real winner, and for most I think it would be too. Located downtown Duncan, it’s easy to quickly whip in and out of the moon.

Fair Trade/Local/Organic: Although they don’t advertise these things Cowboy Coffee’s website mentions organic and fairly traded roasts. I have asked and they didn’t know if there roasts were or weren’t fairly traded or organic. These beans are fairly local coming from Vancouver. Interestingly enough I’d say every one who goes there is concerned about fairly traded products so it would be great if Coffee on the Moon advertised this a bit more.

Food: Coffee on the Moon has a decent food menu. You can get a small breakfast or lunch, and plenty of tasty snacks! I highly recommend the tuna panini or the blueberry or raspberry muffins (made by another coffee shop Black Coffee).

Wi-Fi: Coffee on the Moon seems to be in the dark ages here and hasn’t yet set up a Wi-Fi network. If they did this I think they would significantly see a boost in the business communities loyalty. This is my biggest complaint about Coffee on the Moon, and the reason I don’t go there quite often. If of course this doesn’t matter to you… then coffee on the moon is pretty much perfect… except for one thing….

…one other thing to note about Coffee on the Moon is that they don’t have an interact payment machine! This is absolutely ridiculous… I have only been to one or two other stores that don’t have interact. I know many many people who don’t go here because of there lack of debit technology. They do have a cash machine that will ding you $1.50 for taking out $20 though…not the best way to thank there customers for loyalty.

Overall Coffee on the Moon is a great place… I’d give it a 6-8 out of 10.  Go there, get an Americano and a Blueberry muffin and let me know what you think!

It wall started a few weeks about when a friend and me were talking about finding a “usue” as in a “usual,” a coffee shop that we would always go to, the place we are faithful too, where we spend our hard earned money. It has been hard to find, not because there is a lack of good coffee shops, but because there is so many to choose from! You see I live in the Cowichan Valley a town that boasts dozens of coffee shops… I can’t begin to count all the coffee shops, and I can’t begin to choose which one of these should be the “usue.”
So I have come up with a grading system to determine which of the many coffee shops will become the “usue” here in the Cowichan Valley. They are as follows….

Coffee: obviously the most important in the grading system!
Atmosphere: this can make or break a coffee shop, if the seats suck or the music it’s almost not worth going too…
Location: we don’t want to drive to far. We are eco-friendly here….
Fair-Trade/Local/Organic: This is a must… we can’t have our consciouses bugging us because we are being un-ethical while we are enjoying our freshly ground heaven
Food: we all love food, it may be lunch or just a muffin with your coffee, but if it’s good the day improves greatly!
Wi-Fi: Internet access does not matter to some, but it’s a big plus for me!

There it is… the standard at which the coffee shops shall be judged. Every week I will pick a new location and let you know my thoughts…. Join me by commenting your thoughts on the shop of the week!

PS: A note to coffee shop owners I will definitely take bribes of free coffee while I am at your place!