With a mix of science, social consciousness, and the desire for a heightened sense of taste, Detour Coffee Roasters have set themselves apart in the local coffee world. Based in Dundas, Ontario, Detour was founded by Toronto native Kaelin McCowan just over 2 years ago in the Hamilton region, and now supplies a number of impressive coffee houses in the city and online.
McCowan is taking a different approach to coffee, with his eco friendly location, he looks to bring a larger audience and attention to his craft while forging direct relationships with coffee bean farmers around the world, ensuring the finest quality beans are produced and even going over and above fair trade regulations to ensure the farmers are getting their fair share of the profit. These relationships lead to a greater understanding and appreciation for the ingredients that they use and serve to their local customers.
McCowan describes a key element to their roasting process that set Detour apart -
“A special scrubber unit has been built for our roastery to reduce our emissions. Normally roasters install something called an afterburner to get rid of smoke before it exits the chimney. An afterburner essentially runs at very high temperature to incinerate the smoke. Its a costly process but also produces extra greenhouse gases by burning large amounts of natural gas.
In May we visited a roastery in California which was using the same wet scrubber we now use to reduce emissions. (…) after leaving the roaster the smoke enters a large cylindrical tube that has a bunch of spray nozzles on it. The smoke gets sprayed in multiple directions and the mist captures between 60-70% of the smoke particles. The same water gets filtered and recirculates through the system again. I'm pretty sure we are the first roastery in Canada to use this technology”
Their re-vamped location opening January 10th, 2011, will include a new bistro/café headed by McCowan’s wife, Crystal, at the front of the house, while the roasting business will continue out back.
Tatar Art Projects will be furnishing the cafe with contemporary art works.
Detour coffee can be purchased at Dark Horse Espresso Bar, Zoots Cafe, and Cool Hand of a Girl in Toronto, for a complete list of where their coffees are brewed and sold, please check out their great website www.detourcoffee.com
Detour Coffee Roasters
41B King Street West
Dundas, ON L9H 1T5
