Some time ago I wrote a post detailing where to find some great coffee shops in downtown Calgary. However, due to a few new shops opening up, and some great new discoveries, I think it's appropriate that I add another post to this worthy topic. So, here's a few more small cafe's where you can find some uniquely delicious caffeinated beverages. Oh, I should note that there is a reason why I am not mentioning all the large chains like Starbuck's, Good earth, etc. Really, with them one location is pretty much the same as another, and they're all over downtown so no one really needs a guide to them.

Cafe Koi

1011 1st Street SW

Cafe Koi is part stylish cafe, part breakfast joint, part vegetarian mecca, and part spin club. A bizarre blend of ideas and concepts provide downtown Calgary with a forward thinking, and very alternative, environment that supports local art and culture. Warm colour tones, candles, and glowing concrete floors, as well as small tables for two that are easily grouped together, are counterbalanced by the two manned turntables that play an eclectic mix of upbeat music. It all adds up to an interesting, yet relaxing, setting with great coffee (organic fair trade, of course) and some really good, healthy food.

Open Mon-Thu 10am-11pm Fri 10am-11:30pm Sat 5pm-11:30pm

Cafe Deville in Fashion Central

214 7 Avenue SW

There are now three Cafe Deville's in Calgary. They started in Art Central, and now have off shoots in Fashion Central and the Commerce Building. I think the key to the Deville success story can be found in their equipment. A great coffee really is the sum of its parts. At Deville they use good quality, fair trade coffee beans and run it through a state-of-the-art espresso machine; to bring it all together, they ony use water that they've purified with a reverse osmosis re-mineralized water filtration system. And while in many cases you do get what you pay for, at Deville the prices are actually more reasonable than at the Starbuck's across the street. Not that that's saying much, but still.

Deville is also a licensed bar, and so they also have several happy hours throughout the week (Monday - Friday 4-7pm, and weekends are all happy, all the time).

Hours of Operation:

Monday-Friday 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Saturday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Sunday 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Insomnia Coffee Company

239 - 8 Ave. SE

Insomnia is a pretty young little cafe. It opened on for the first time on July 1st of 2009 in the historic Burns Building in downtown Calgary. Insomnia Coffee Company Ltd. is a unique, family run destination for coffee lovers. While 'normal' coffee is available, this place was designed more with coffee connoisseurs in mind. After all, Insomnia specializes in gourmet coffees from around the world. They serve fantastic espresso-based beverages, and even their regular coffee is made in a French Press. They also have quite the little bakery there, and everything in it is produced on site and made from scratch.

Hours of Operation:

Monday - Wednesday: 7 am - 5 pm

Thursday - Friday: 7 am - 7 pm Saturday: 9 am - 5 pm Sunday and Holidays: Closed