I’ve been cooking this piece of meat for so long that I’ve forgoten why. Is there a Greek myth about that? Was that one of the 12 labours of Hercules?

It was going to be ribs, bought on the first spring day that was sunny and warm enough to barbecue. But the butcher didn’t have ribs so I bought a five-pound piece of brisket. There were spices toasted, cumin and coriander, ground with chilies, guajillo and chipotle, brown sugar and coffee beans. I rubbed the brisket, the dark powder streaking its fat a rust colour, leaving it in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, when it was no longer warm or sunny, I carried the beef down to my neighbour’s yard, where my barbecue lives, along with charcoal, crumpled newspaper, applewood chips and a pepperette for Dexter, the neighbour’s dog. Dexter panted uncontrollably as I mounted the beef on the grill, repeating his performance every time I returned to blow on the coals and add wood chips.

By the end of the day, the cold-smoked brisket (infused with smoke and charcoal flavour but without sufficient heat to cook it through) moved from the barbecue to my oven, with another cup of coffee, to steam-braise overnight.

It’s only when my guest, Toronto coffee guru Sam James, introduces his friends — general manager Andi Larocca, Capital Espresso owner Alex Tran and Nick Chen-Yin, who runs Smoke Signals, a barbecue catering company — that I remember the impetus for the recipe, merging coffee and barbecue. And that’s after James mentions how much he hates coffee-flavoured things.

“I don’t like coffee-flavoured s---, at all. I think it’s gross.”





So I’m feeling less confident about my coffee pudding dessert.

Tran says that smoking meat is very similar to roasting coffee. It’s all about precision, controlling the heat, coaxing flavour and subtlety out of a dense substance.

That’s been James’ focus in recent years, as he’s become a roaster, initially to supply himself but now shipping to restaurants and other coffee shops around Toronto.

His tiny, eponymous Harbord Street coffee shop gave way to an outpost in Koreatown, even tinier, a gleaming white shop in the underground PATH system of the financial district where the business clientele have learned to throw back a quick shot of espresso, and a fourth location at Queen and Ossington.

While Toronto has gone from a Starbucks- and Tim Hortons-dominated market, to a wonderland of independent espresso cafes, the latter are concentrated in the southern, walkable sections of the city. Locations near streetcar stops and train stations do best. The Coffee Pocket location near Christie Station, about the size of a Brooks Brothers change room, is the most profitable. As James and other coffee folk have told me, Torontonians will travel no more than three blocks for their coffee.

“Harbord and Pocket are good examples,” says Larocca. “They’re literally a block away. And you won’t see the same customers cross over.”

The beef is good. It’s less coffee-flavoured than it is coffee, chili and spice flavoured. Which is better. But also I turned the coffee and beef drippings into a red-eye gravy, which we’re soaking up with hunks of bread.

But the coffee pudding is a disaster. Everyone gets excited about dessert, choosing mugs from my collection: Barbapapa, Ghostface, John Tory (open John Tory's policard). I’d made it before, but remembered it being too thick. So this time I reduced the number of egg yolks from 12 to eight. Beneath the top layer, it hasn’t set. Just a cup of liquid cream flavoured with coffee.

Leave coffee to the experts, I guess.

Like any successful drug dealer, James has moved beyond retail, reaching further up into the supply chain.

And I mean that with all due respect, that James is an artisanal drug dealer. The cultural experience of a café — lighting, décor, attitude, groovy tunes, handsome staff — helps distract. But you can’t ignore the queue of caffeine addicts, cash in hand.

Last week’s dinner guest, Drake Hotel impresario Jeff Stober, told me that people aren’t there to buy a product. They want an emotional experience.

That approach doesn’t work for this week’s guests. “All you really need is a great product and,” James pauses, calculating his words, “a good experience. It doesn’t have to be brass and marble.”

Back when James could be found behind the counter, I’d hear him complain about the inconsistency of bean roasters and distributers. Now he acquires his own beans and spends his days in the office of the roasting location, going through about 1,200 pounds a week. Though there’s also a half-pipe in there so who knows what the die-hard skater really does with his time.

But the roasting isn’t just a matter of quality. The price of beans keeps going up — climate change making growing conditions inconsistent, inflated Canadian dollar, rising fuel prices — and taking control of the supply chain is the only way to stay ahead.

“Leaf rust affected a lot of Costa Rica. It’s a fungal disease,” James says, continuing to list factors. “There’s a potato bug in Rwanda that’s affected crops there.”

He expects the price to keep going up.

“This time next year, all of us are going to be paying four bucks for a coffee.”

He’s raised his retail prices incrementally. So has Tran. But there’s only so far they can go before customers forsake quality for cheaper coffee.

“I’m not going to close. We’re thinking about, how do we get to Brazil and ship a container ourselves?” Spoken like a true Scarface.

RECIPE

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Coffee Smoked Brisket

The spice mixture here is for more than you’ll need. But at the beginning of barbecue season I like to make big batches so I’m ready to start smoking whenever the weather is nice.

1/2 cup (125 mL) coffee, ground

1 tbsp (15 mL) cumin, ground

2 tsp (10 mL) mustard, ground

2 tsp (10 mL) coriander, ground

3 tbsp (45 mL) chili powder

1/4 cup (60 mL) salt

1 tbsp (15 mL) black pepper, ground

1/2 cup (125 mL) brown sugar

5 pounds (2.3 kg) beef brisket

1 cup (250 mL) brewed coffee

1/4 cup (60 mL) all purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, combine coffee, cumin, mustard, coriander, chili powder, sugar, salt and pepper. Rub beef with ½ cup (125 mL) of the spice mixture, setting aside the rest for future barbecuing.

Using minimal charcoal, smoke the beef over a low heat for 3-4 hours, adding wood chips every 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 275F/135C.

Transfer beef to a roasting pot along with coffee. Cover and place in oven overnight. Strain off liquid and reserve in fridge.

To serve, reheat beef in pot with a bit of water to keep moist.

In the fridge, the fat will have settled at the top of the liquid. In a small pot, melt ¼ cup (60 mL) of the beef fat. Stir with equal amount flour. Add liquid from beef (which should be coffee and beef drippings). Bring to boil, whisk and season with salt and pepper.

Makes 6 servings

Star-tested by Corey Mintz