I love the #AROMA of it

Hello there my lovelies! 

It’s pretty hot here in Toronto, given the cold winter’s we’ve had I am very pleased. I love to accompany the (newly) hot Canadian climate with a nicely chilled cup of coffee. My favourite chilled blend at the moment is an Iced Aroma Light. 

The Iced Aroma Light is exclusively made at every Aroma Espresso Bar location. Aroma Espresso Bar is Mediterranean-inspired cafe, Founded in Jerusalem in 1994. Aroma Espresso Bar has expanded to more than 165 locations, in 6 countries, worldwide. Countries including Israel, Canada and the United States (yay!). 

Aroma’s coffee is the best that I’ve had for a very, very long time. The flavour is richly full of flavour. Aroma takes pride in their coffee and have created their own signature blends of cappuccino, espresso, filtered and decaf coffee, using coffee beans imported for South America, Asia and Africa. 

Aroma has a roasting facility in Israel’s Valley of Elah. The roasting facility was established with the cooperation of the Ballestra family from Naples, Italy; who has been roasting gourmet coffee beans for generations. 

Aroma, however, is not only known for there amazing coffee’s, they are also known for their incredibly diverse Mediterranean-inspired menu. Being a vegetarian, it is hard for me to find a café with healthy, vegetarian alternatives. I have consistently and genuinely found Aroma Espresso Bar to carry a sense of nutritional integrity with every meal and drink purchase. Aroma starts from scratch every morning in each of their locations, in every aspect of their ingredients. I have never known of a café that prepares every meal fresh and made-to-order. They even freshly bake loaves of bread and pastries, that are then served only the same day as they are prepared. 

Aroma Espresso Bar, literally raises the bar (pun intended), I have honestly never been to such a beautiful establishment. Aroma revives all of my senses, all of my senses become happy just by sitting in the café. Don’t just take my word for it, go and try it for yourselves! When you do, don’t forget to tell me how much you loved it! 

I would love to hear your feedback! Send me suggestions, jokes or even some caffeine at this email address: thebeanmovement@gmail.com

Stay Caffeinated.

xoxo, Amelia

source: www.aroma.ca

Moroco Chocolat Boutique!

Hello my sweet caramel macchiato's!

This blog post is going to be all about two very special events:

#1 There is an Instagram and Twitter contest going on right now for The Bean Movement.
#2 I visited a cute boutique on Yorkville, Toronto this week called Moroco Chocolat Boutique.


So, about that Instagram contest... The contest was to reach my goal of 1,000 followers on Instagram. I was 320 followers away from that goal, I thought it would take by Valentines day to achieve that goal. Today, exactly THREE DAYS later I am extremely happy to announce that I have accomplished that goal, on Instagram I now have 2,000 followers. I am insanely excited about that! Thank you all so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so much!! I could not have achieved this without the help of my beloved beans.

Since the goal was achieved, its time for the contest!! From tomorrow (January 23) until February 13th, I want you to:
(1) follow The Bean Movement (if you haven't already done so)
(2) take a picture of whatever coffee you are drinking, from whatever coffee shop its from
(2) rate the coffee experience 1- 5 Bean Points
(3) tag The Bean Movement and hashtag #StayCaffeinated

On February 14th, I will be picking a winner. Will there be prizes you ask? Yes!

The prize are: coffee mug, coffee beans and a coffee gift card!

Rules:
you must be following The Bean Movement on Instagram
you must tag The Bean Movement and hashtag #StayCaffeinated
you must rate the coffee experience 1-5 Bean Points

Check out my Twitter feed for more information on the upcoming Twitter contest.



Now, as I said before this week I visited Moroco Chocolat Boutique. When I got there, I realized that it would be fair if I just spoke today about my experience instead of giving it "bean points" because it isn't technically a coffee shop.

So here I go!

As you all know, last week was more of an adventure then I am used too (ya know, the whole tire explosion situation), but it turned out for the good, because on my way to Nespresso me and my mom walked by a sign (I am a marketing graduate, so I'm obsessed with advertisements.. don't judge me..k?). This sign was not like any other sign.. it was really pretty and fancy; it also happened to say the word "Chocolat" on it aka the only thing I love almost just as much as coffee (almost). The sign was really girly, it had lavender purple cursive writing on it... and it had something to do with chocolate.. so why wouldn't I want to check that place out?

I walk towards this breath-taking building (photo below)

and my jaw was so wide you could fit an entire coffee mug in my mouth.

I walked in (starstruck) and confused because I never even thought about the fact that this place was a "salon cocoa bar" aka not a coffee establishment, so would they even have coffee? I walked into the front door (where there was a chocolate shop, look down for picture) and I asked the lady at the counter,  if I could get a coffee. She asked me if the coffee was "for here or to go?" I answered, with a smile on my face "for here."

She then took me inside this beautiful room (look down for picture), gave us (me and my sister) menus and told us our server would be with us soon.

After about 10 seconds of a glance, I already knew I wanted the Cafe Latte. A few minutes went by and this beautiful creation popped in front of me. As the waiter placed the coffee in front of my presents, he continues by saying "your coffee with a complimentary macaroon."  I literally was going to fall off my chair,  I LOVE MACAROONS!!!!!!!

The macaroons were so delicious that we thought maybe we should order ourselves another one.. which me and my sister both did. I had the cassis and my sister had the salted caramel macaroon. We both had heaven in our mouths. I literally didn't think something could taste as good as those macaroons did, so naturally we decided we had to bring some home. 6 to be exact, we bought 6 macaroons to take home to our family. Which btw (by the way) they LOVED.

NOT ONLY THAT! But they also had chocolate hand prints all over their walls of different celebrities that has ever walked through their lavender doors!! SO COOL!

In all, Moroco Chcolat Boutique was wonderful, it's the most perfect place on earth to surprise your beloved Valentine for Valentine's Day (hint hint). It is so fancy and elegant and everything tasted so amazing! Their macaroons were to die for. The absolute best I have ever had (if I was blogging about macaroons, they'd win first prize).




Moroco Chocolat Boutique, I will be back very soon. I promise.





Until next week! xoxo

Stay Caffeinated.




Don't forget to follow me on social media!

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Nespresso Cafe!

Hello there my lovely readers, me again.

This week has been so crazy, literally crazier then my typical overly-caffeinated life. I really had no idea where to go this week to fulfill my coffee-fanatic needs. I then spoke to my mom, she told me of a "cool" place in Yorkville named "Nespresso." She goes along by saying "Amelia you have to see the experience, you can tell it's Italian design (she was an interior designer in some part of her lifetime).. it's just a beautiful experience." Guys, my mom became emotional, literally with tears in her eyes...So with that, I decided I should give in to my mother's begging (constant begging) and go on a mother-daughter coffee date.

On our way to this magical land my mom describes as Nespresso, we were driving along minding our own business, we stopped at a red light (just like any other normal human being would do at a red light) when all of a sudden, a scary (actually petrifying) man knocked on the passenger window (I was petrified, thinking we were both about to die) and the man proceeds after I screamed in his face by saying "hey lady! You have a flat tire!" As if my life couldn't get any worse, we called the car dealership who then told us that we would need to be towed and the tow truck wouldn't arrive for another 3 HOURS. 3 HOURS!!! Man, was I ever mad.


3 hours (and a bit) later, the tow truck came and we were off set to find Nespresso on foot, just like the "good old days." GREAT MOM, I LOVE TO WALK (there's a reason why I blog about coffee and not fitness). Finally after a 45 minute walk in -20 degrees, we finally found The Nespresso Cafe. Actually, now that I think about it, they call themselves the "Nespresso Cafe Boutique." I have two words to be able to completely describe to you what the Nespresso Cafe was like and here they are: Nespresso understands. Guys, I don't know if you have been to the Nespresso Cafe, but it was worth every flat tire in the world, every minute of waiting, every different type of frost bite I got on my body and every step that I walked in the freezing cold Canadian winter. It was absolutely stunning. (1 Bean Point)

I took it upon myself to post pictures of the amazing boutique and here they are:

The Nespresso Cafe Espresso Bar.

Nespresso Cafe seating. 

Nespresso Cafe menu and monogrammed table. 

After being completely frozen over *singing the cold never bothered me anyways from the Disney movie, Frozen* we finally go in the warm Nespresso Cafe, there was a hostess at the front desk, who then sat us down at a table, gave each of us a menu and a glass of water with lemon. After I took a photoshoot of the cafe, menu, tables and pretty much anything with the letter "N" on it, the waitress then came (who by the way had a beautiful English accent) and took our orders. I ordered a medium Cafe Macchiato (and asked for it to be as hot as it could possibly be made). (1 Bean Point)

This was then brought to the table: 

And I literally almost fell out of my chair. I was trying to stay cool, calm and collected. I think I played it off well though, don't you worry. The flavour and presentation was absolutely impeccable. (1 Bean Point)

The cost? $7.50. Yes, I know, it was a pretty steep price, but considering the experience it was worth every penny. (1 Bean Point)

There was no drive thru option, but the location was perfect. Nespresso is located right on Yorkville, which makes up for the high prices. (1 Bean Point)

After my amazing cup of coffee, water and chocolate, I took a tour around the Cafe and saw that they actually sell almost all of their machines in their Nespresso Cafe, along with millions of different pods. It was such a cool concept. My mom was right, those Italians, they really do know what they are doing.


I know that I've mentioned this before, but I will say it again. I've been to Italy and I have personally seen with my own eyes what the Italian coffee experience is like, Nespresso nailed it. I have also been to France, and I feel as though Nespresso was an Italian and Parisian cafe styles mixed together. I felt like I was in both Italy and France at the same time (is that even possible?). The presentation, style and flavour was impeccable. Nespresso understands. 

Now it's time for the run-down:

Flavour: 1 bean point

Price: 1 bean point

Ambiance: 1 bean point

Drive-Thru: 1 bean point

Customer Service: 1 bean point

Total Score: 5/5 total bean points!

Overall, I was extremely impressed by you Nespresso. I love you Nespresso. You make me proud to be Italian. I hope you open up many other locations around the world so we can share with everyone what a true coffee experience looks like. You are classy and fabulous. Keep up the outstanding work. Love you long time. 

Reminder for the medium double-double challenge:
The Good Neighbour: 4/5 Bean Points
Coffee Culture's score: 4.5/5 Bean Points
Timothy's World Cup Coffee's score: 4/5 Bean Points

LavAzza's score: 0/5 Bean Points
McCafé's score: 5/5 Bean Points
Aroma Espresso Bar's score: 5/5 Bean Points
Faema Caffè's score: 3.5 Bean Points
Second Cup's score: 1/5 Bean Points
Illy Caffè's score: 4.5/5 Bean Points
Starbucks' score: 3/5 Bean Points
Tim Hortons' score: 2.5/5 Bean Points



Until next week! xoxo

Stay Caffeinated.




Don't forget to follow me on social media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBeanMovement
Twitter: @TheBeanMovement
Gmail: thebeanmovement@gmail.com
Google+: TheBeanMovement
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Do you have any suggestions to help improve my blog? I'd love your feedback!
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Starbucks Eggnog Latte!

Hello my little beanies,

So nice to be back on my blogging quest. I am so sorry my posts have been less frequent, the holidays have been a bit on the cray side.

As promised, new and exciting things have been happening to The Bean Movement. As of today, I am an official blogger on a online magazine called "Generation Nothingness" (http://gnothingness.com/). I will be writing all about coffee trends, news and other cool coffee topics twice a month! Stay tuned to my social media websites, I will let you all know when my posts have been published on there. Below you will see a screenshot of my Generation Nothingness profile.

I know that by now, most of the holidays are over, its officially 2015 (crazy how fast time flies), school has started back up and diets are being planned; but I still just LOVE the holidays. I love the way the malls are during the holiday season and I love how festive people are. Now, being a coffee addict, I also really love how coffee shops change it up a bit during the holiday season, I love how they change their cups, their flavours and they customer service is on its game too.

Now as you all know, for the winter season my goal is to find the coffee shop with the best Eggnog Latte. The first place on the blogging list was Starbucks.

If it wasn't for Starbucks, I can honestly say that I wouldn't even know there was such thing as an "Eggnog Latte" they were the first that I heard to have such a thing (a very long time ago, aka pre-blogging days) and I can say that because of them, I have the pleasure of looking forward to having an eggnog latte almost every day of the holiday season (don't judge me, I'm addicted).

Starbucks tends to never disappoint in the eggnog latte section of my life, they are consistently encouraging my eggnog latte addiction and I do not hate it.  Now, unfortunately I tried to write this same blog post last year ( LOL, get it.. last year? It's 2015....) but I had a little set back. The Starbucks I visited RAN OUT OF EGGNOG!!!!!!!!!!!!! My heart was broken for about a second, then I decided to have a wet cappuccino (aka the love of my life).

Thankfully, this week when I went to Starbucks, they were in high stock of the eggnog for me, and this is how my story begins....

I went to Starbucks and the lady behind the counter was actually so sweet and cute. I literally loved her, she brightened my day! She took my order, tall eggnog latte, and actually ASKED me how to spell my name; instead of guessing and completely bombing it, which typically makes me want to get my name legally changed to something "normal" and easier to spell. (1 Bean Point)

When my lips touched the lid of the magical eggnog latte, I thought my mouth tasted what heaven tastes like. Needless to say, the flavour was perfect, creamy and brought me back to the first day I every tried an eggnog latte (I think it was 2008?). It was amazing. (1 Bean Point)

The price? $3.75. That hurt my bank account... I feel like Starbuck's prices keep rising and my bank account keeps getting smaller and smaller....... (No Bean Point)

The Starbucks location was prime and had a drive thru, which makes me very happy when it's -20 outside (not kidding, it was literally -20.) (1 Bean Point)

Now, I didn't enter the Starbucks this time, so I didn't get to vote on the ambiance. The point is given to them because I know it's amazing in there and because I chose to not enter, which isn't their fault.



Now it's time for the run-down:

Flavour: 1 bean point

Price: 0 bean point

Ambiance: 1 bean point

Drive-Thru: 1 bean point

Customer Service: 1 bean point

Total Score: 4/5 total bean points!

Overall I am very, very impressed by you Starbucks. I love your eggnog latte, and as I said before you are the reason I know it exists so I owe you my eggnog latte addiction. I am hoping your prices may lower... even just by a couple of cents, and if it does you deserve a 5/5!! Keep up the great work! Love you longtime.

Reminder for the medium double-double challenge:
The Good Neighbour: 4/5 Bean Points
Coffee Culture's score: 4.5/5 Bean Points
Timothy's World Cup Coffee's score: 4/5 Bean Points

LavAzza's score: 0/5 Bean Points
McCafé's score: 5/5 Bean Points
Aroma Espresso Bar's score: 5/5 Bean Points
Faema Caffè's score: 3.5 Bean Points
Second Cup's score: 1/5 Bean Points
Illy Caffè's score: 4.5/5 Bean Points
Starbucks' score: 3/5 Bean Points
Tim Hortons' score: 2.5/5 Bean Points



Until next week! xoxo

Stay Caffeinated.




Don't forget to follow me on social media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBeanMovement
Twitter: @TheBeanMovement
Gmail: thebeanmovement@gmail.com
Google+: TheBeanMovement
Instagram: TheBeanMovement
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/thebeanmovement
Zomato: TheBeanMovement
Pinterest: TheBeanMovement

Do you have any suggestions to help improve my blog? I'd love your feedback!
Email me: thebeanmovement@gmail.com