- General
- Subscriptions
- COVID 19
- Mobile Ordering
- Coffee
- Sourcing
- Drive Thru
General
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Where are you located?
Our roastery is located at 451 Ottawa St. in the friendly town of Almonte, Ontario. We also have two cafés in Ottawa - one at the National Arts Centre and one in Westboro. Click herefor locations and hours.
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Can I take a tour of the roastery?
Our Roastery Tours are on pause during COVID19 for precautionary reasons and will resume once Provincial guidelines allow.
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Do you serve food at your cafés?
Almonte: in Almonte we have a full kitchen and make a mean breakfast. We also serve salads, and sandwiches. We have many gluten-friendly and vegan options, just ask the barista!
Westboro: we serve a great lunch, delicious pastries, and sandwiches for on the run. We have many gluten-friendly and vegan options, just ask the barista!
NAC-CNA: We have a small but mighty food menu at the NAC, including sandwiches, salads, and sweets.
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Where can I buy your coffee for at home?
You can purchase our coffee at our cafés (click herefor locations and hours) and at many grocery stores across the city. To find a store near you, email outreach@equator.ca. You can also purchase our coffee from our online store where we offer free shipping on orders over $49 for ON/QC and $79 for the rest of Canada (that’s 1 x 5lb bag or about 4 x 340g bags). For any orders that do not qualify for free shipping, a $10 flat rate fee will be applied (across Canada).
Subscriptions
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How long will my subscription continue? Do I have to reactivate it annually?
We’ve made it easy for you to never forget to buy coffee again. Your recurring order will continue to be billed and shipped until you cancel it - no need to renew your subscription.
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How can I manage my recurring order?
You can login to your account from the confirmation email we sent you when you signed up or from www.equator.ca - just click the account avatar in the top right corner and enter your login information. From there you can click Subscriptions.
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Can I skip my recurring order?
Headed out on vacation and want to pause your subscription? No problem!
Log in to your account, and click on Subscriptions.
Click on Edit.
Then click on the Skip Shipment button on the left side of the screen. This will show you when your next order will be shipped, skipping the upcoming one.
Click on Skip to confirm.
Please note: You will need to make this change at least two days before your next shipment.
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Single Origin of the Month - The Fine Print
Thank you for your interest in the Single Origin of the Month subscription. This is a great way to enjoy a wide variety of coffee and access to our latest releases. We release about 10 single origin coffees per year. With the Single Origin of the Month subscription, you will receive the most recent release from the series. In the event there is no current release at the time your subscription ships, you will receive our Ethiopian Sidama. Please note, that due to the expensive and limited nature of our microlot coffees, the Single Origin of the Month subscription is only available for releases under $20 (which represents the vast majority). Special, limited releases over $20 will not be included with the subscription.
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I received a subscription as a gift, how do I continue it?
Awesome! We’re glad you enjoyed the service so much that you wish to continue. You’ll have to start your own subscription. Just head over to our subscription page here.
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I forgot my password. How do I manage my subscription?
Click on the account avatar in the top right corner, or click herefor the login page. Click on Forgot Password? and we will send you a link to reset your password.
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When do recurring orders ship?
Your first order will ship within 4 days of the date you subscribe and then again 2-weeks or one month after that date (depending on your selected frequency). So if you placed your first order on a Monday, your order will ship (ie leave our warehouse) no later than Thursday. Then the courier should have it to you within 3-5 business days.
COVID 19
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What precautions are being taken to limit the sharing of germs?
All staff at the roastery and the drive thru follow specific instructions as provided by public health authorities. This includes regularly sanitizing all surfaces with any contact; regularly and properly washing hands; wearing gloves where needed; keeping a distance of 6 feet or more with colleagues; limiting all social contact outside of work. Staff showing any symptoms of illness will be excused from work. Staff who worked in close quarters with an ill colleague will also be asked to self-isolate at home as public health authorities have advised.
At the drive-thru, payments will be made with contactless tap; if the payment processor is touched by a customer, it is immediately sanitized before the next customer comes to the window. No cash payments are accepted.
Mobile Ordering
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How does it work?
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How long does it take?
Your order can be ready in as little as 10 minutes. You can order in advance for pick up any time within our opening hours.
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What can I order?
You can order anything we have in the café - from brewed coffee to bags of beans, as well as sweets and sandwiches.
Coffee
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How is coffee roasted?
Roasting coffee is a cross between science and art. During the roasting process, the time and temperature for each batch is measured and recorded by the roastmaster on computer software. This is to determine the "roast curve" (think of it as a recipe) for whichever origin he might be roasting. We roast each origin differently, depending on its flavour profile, its moisture content, the density of bean, and other aspects of its composition. It's up to the roastmaster to determine what the optimal conditions are (temperature, time, airflow, etc) for each coffee, hence the name "master". Establishing a roast curve allows us to guarantee consistency and quality, time after time. Many of the roast curves for our classic blends date back to when Craig first got started on his 10kg Toper. But two roaster upgrades and over twenty up-and-down years later, we’ve made a lot of changes and improvements.
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Which type of grinder should I buy?
There are grinders for every budget, and every level of coffee lover. Ideally, you would go with a burr grinder, hand or electric. Burr grinders do a much better job at grinding coffee consistently (i.e. same size particles which means same level of extraction which means smoother coffee). A blade (the zip-zip ones that beat the beans around until they pulverized) grinder will do in a pinch but doesn’t do as well on the consistency front. Learn more about our top picks for coffee grinders here.
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What is naturally decaffeinated coffee?
There are two forms of decaffeination that are natural (as in no nasty chemicals) and acceptable to organic certification: the well-known “Swiss Water Process” and the less well known but just as natural Carbon Dioxide Process. Equator’s decaf coffee is processed almost 100% in the CO2 process. We prefer this to Swiss Water because we have found that it helps preserve the flavour of the coffee better than the Swiss Water process where the flavour components are often removed and then put back in again at the end of the process..
The way the CO2 process works is that the green coffee beans (the raw, pre-roasted product) are soaked in compressed carbon dioxide, which acts more like a liquid than a gas in that state. Carbon dioxide, when compressed, combines with caffeine so that when the CO2 is filtered, the caffeine is actually removed. Because carbon dioxide is what we humans produce and what plants need to survive, it’s obviously a natural and harmless product thereby making this process of decaffeination natural and harmless!
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What is naturally decaffeinated coffee?
There are two forms of decaffeination that are natural (as in no nasty chemicals) and acceptable to organic certification: the well-known “Swiss Water Process” and the less well known but just as natural Carbon Dioxide Process. Equator’s decaf coffee is processed almost 100% in the CO2 process. We prefer this to Swiss Water because we have found that it helps preserve the flavour of the coffee better than the Swiss Water process where the flavour components are often removed and then put back in again at the end of the process..
The way the CO2 process works is that the green coffee beans (the raw, pre-roasted product) are soaked in compressed carbon dioxide, which acts more like a liquid than a gas in that state. Carbon dioxide, when compressed, combines with caffeine so that when the CO2 is filtered, the caffeine is actually removed. Because carbon dioxide is what we humans produce and what plants need to survive, it’s obviously a natural and harmless product thereby making this process of decaffeination natural and harmless!
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What Are Tasting Notes?
“Tasting notes” are a term the coffee industry uses to describe the natural flavours that are detectable in the taste of the coffee. These are naturally occurring flavours; nothing is added to the coffee.
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What are the ingredients?
100% organic, fair trade coffee. Nothing has been added to the coffee.
Sourcing
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What is Fair Trade coffee?
Make no mistake: “Fair Trade” is a loaded term. But at its basic core, it’s an alternative way of doing business with the goal of improving life for the producer who has historically gotten the short end of the stick to put it mildly. Improving life can mean a variety of things but better trading conditions, higher wages, and improved social and environmental standards are a good place to start. Fairtrade Certification is the international system that uses Learn more here
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Where does Equator coffee come from?
We purchase coffee from over 20 different producer groups located in a wide range of coffees located on or around the equator (hint hint!) From Mexico to Colombia, Ethiopia to Indonesia, our warehouse is filled with fair trade organic coffee that has traveled thousands of kilometers and passed through countless hardworking hands. For specifics (producer profiles, contracts, invoices, shipping docs), please visit www.fairtradeproof.org.
Drive Thru
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Can I order food in the Drive Thru?
Yes, you can order food in the drive thru. You can also order food from our mobile ordering siteto pick up from the the café and the drive thru!
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Can I walk through the Drive Thru?
No. The Drive Thru is made for cars and it is unsafe to have folks walking in a driving lane.
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Can I buy a bag of beans from the Drive Thru?
Yes! You can order a bag of beans at the menu board along with your order!