After Hours Cafe

I know a lot of people cut off their caffeine at a certain time of day or they won’t be able to sleep.

But there are those of us that can pound back 4 shots of espresso and pass out like my one and a half year old granddaughter did after a long day at my daughter’s wedding without getting a much needed nap.

So I was pretty happy to hear that there was a new cafe opening up in New West that promised later hours. I often find myself wanting a cappuccino mid evening and most places are closed by then.

I know all my Italian readers are shaking their head at me but I don’t care. Coffee is great late! And you can get it as late as 10 at After Hours.

Merilynn actually popped in last week on opening day and very much enjoyed her experience. As today is my day off I thought I’d give it a try as well.

I found it to be bright and airy, with a good amount of seating and even a couch and a couple easy chairs to relax comfortably. Which I did for half an hour while I started this review.

I am using straight espresso as my baseline for comparison these days, though today I started with a cappuccino.

Smooth espresso but the balance of milk to foam was off. I think the problem here might be the size. It’s probably too big to get the proper 1:1:1 ratio. Too much milk, not enough foam. It could also be an inexperienced barista who isn’t pulling the foam properly. Regardless the potential for a great cup of coffee is there.

I also tried a straight espresso.

If you look at that picture closely the first thing you’ll notice is the color of the crema. It’s too dark. This can come from a few different factors. Over extraction, too fine a grind or water temperature being too high are the common reasons this happens. The shot wasn’t overly bitter and I didn’t have any sludge in the cup so my best guess is the water temperature. However my barista skills are a little out of practice so I’d have to have a closer look at their process to know for sure.

Merilynn had an iced latte.

Not my usual drink so I don’t really have a good reference point to compare, however I would say it’s better than a lot of iced lattes I’ve had. Having said that, most of the iced lattes I’ve had have come from Starbucks, so that’s not a particularly high bar to reach.

Since our coffee the other day I’ve been back to try the Pain au Chocolat.

And the Tiramisu.

We did ask where they got their pastries and it seems like they get the base croissant from a bakery in Port Moody and then finish it. It was very fresh but lacked the crispness you will find at any higher-end pastry shop.

The Tiramisu, made in house, had really nice flavor but its balance of cake to custard was way off. Too much ladyfinger, not enough custard.

The After Hours cafe is definitely a nice spot. Good coffee, great atmosphere and fresh pastries might be enough to make it our new go-to for caffeine in New West.

A quick Google search turned up another new cafe, which I’ll endeavor to get to as well.

One thing we do know for sure: it’s time to stop giving so much money to big chains for what is too often mediocre coffee.

7/10

Check out my list of New Westminster’s best coffee shops here