[twitter]Starbucks may be comfortable and convenient and familiar, but the coffee it serves is hardly premium. The prices are, but the coffee is nothing special anymore.

Tim Hortons may wrap itself in the flag and promise freshness and smiling faces, but the quality of the brew is nothing any coffee fiend would line up to get his mittens on.

Tims and Starbucks may have pioneered our current coffee culture and are the superstars when it comes to business, but the cup they serve just doesnt cut it. What they have done, however, is created a demand for coffee that has allowed those who want to it properly to effectively enter the market.

In Vancouver you have Caffe Artiggiano promising the best artistic baristas in the world and offering up premium selections that actually match their price point.

In North Vancouver you have a beautiful secret in Moja Coffee. An indepent roaster with a slick storefront that is has many spreading the word to friends and fiends about this quiet little secret.

I’ve tried them all, but until this week I’d never had the best cup of coffee in Vancouver. Medina Cafe is a rustic joint on Beatty Street in Vancouver. A few steps down from the Stadium Skytrain station and sandwiched between The Dirty Apron and Chambar. The breakfast menu early in the morning is simple: waffles and coffee.

The waffles are honey kissed and sugared and served alongside your choice of tiny dips. Chocolate or maple syrup notch up the sweet doughy goodness, but the star of the show is the latte.

A simple latte.

The foam came swirled like the baristas of Artiggiano, but the sip was simply splendid. Creamy, smooth, rich and not the hint of bitterness. Medina Cafe serves, without doubt, the greatest cup of coffee I have ever had.

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