Last Saturday, 18 happy coffee lovers sampled 10 different coffees while Gary Dickenson of Hillside Coffee in Sydenham explained their origins and discussed the nuances of roasting. He compared Aribica and Robusta types, and explained the differences between city roast and French roast, drum roasting and air flow roasting. (I was intrigued to find out that a west coast friend who has been roasting his own coffee in his hot air popcorn popper is definitely on the right track.)

We passed around samples of green coffee beans, and learned tantalizing bits of the strange history of coffee’s spread around the world from Ethiopia where it was discovered over 2000 years ago. It has been both banned and blessed, and frequently smuggled; a French governor’s wife hid several small rooted slips in a farewell bouquet for her lover, who carried them to Porto Rico where he began the coffee plantations of the New World .

Hillside Coffee stocks 25 different types of coffee, which they roast on the premises and will blend to the customer’s taste. Most, if not all are fair trade, and many are organic.

Gayle Dickenson says the success of this coffee cupping means they will be holding another in May, and are considering a similar session for tea lovers.

And that’s not all: there’s live music every Saturday from 1-3 p.m. at Hillside , and they’re planning to hold an outdoor Celtic festival in June. Hillside Coffee 376-6823.