The Black Sheep

Have you ever walked down a street and thought to yourself, “why is there not a coffeehouse here?!” I sure have. I might have even screamed it into the air more than once (well, maybe not verbatim but you get the idea). On 17 Ave SW down in Mount Royal, there are a few points like that where the coffee houses are spaced out quite a bit. I welcome more coffee cafes.

The Black Sheep sits nestled in a strip of shops, across from Mount Royal Village, the coffee house and bakery has a nice brick exterior with large windows, unfortunately the sign wasn’t up yet but when talking with the owner, he told us it was hand carved wood and would be up soon.

The Interior

Inside, the place was arranged nicely and has a very calming decor. The walls are white with square molding with some very cool pixelated art on them that is for sale. There are 3 larger tables that sit 4 and the some small shelf like tables on the side walls that seat 2. Then there is seats in the front windows. Everything is very open including the kitchen, if you stand at the front of the shop, you can look right into it.

We were there very early on Saturday which was great because it was very quiet with the music playing in the background.

The Drinks

My wife ordered the Marco Polo tea – $3.50. The tea is a premium French tea called Mariage Freres in which Black Sheep is the only place in Calgary serving this tea. The tea has fruit and flower undertones. She told me the tea was unbelievable, and she is a person who drinks a lot of tea. This past weekend we were kind of in the area we had to stop by again so she could have another.

My daughter ordered the Café Au Lait – $4.50. My daughter went with this because she drank these when she was in France last year. This is coffee with milk, but it really tasted like what she had in France.

I ordered the Café Latte – $4.95. Black Sheep does not make these drinks with an espresso machine. Black Sheep uses a traditional Moka Pot, please see attached picture. It is a different way of doing things. This day I found the drink to be good but seemed a little weak. When we were there this past weekend again, the drink was better on our second visit, lots of flavour and very smooth. I could really taste the coffee this time.

The coffee that The Black Sheep serves is a local roaster called Chronicle Coffee Roasters. The Black Sheep serves two blends which is made specifically for them. They have a dark roast named Fleece’s Pieces and they have a medium roast named Shear Factor.

The Food

First off everything looked outstanding. Also, I want to let you know that everything is baked daily, no carry-over here. They are starting to work with various agencies to donate the food at the end of the day that is left over. So since everything looked so good, I think we ordered one of everything they had.

Almond Biscotti – $3.50. This is a large piece of biscotti. The biggest I have ever had.
Pecan Banana Kouign Amann – $3.75. Tasted like banana bread but better.
Almond Croissant – $4.25. Super delicious.
Ameretti Cookie – $2.75. Absolutely amazing flavour.
Shortbread & Caramel cookie – I think it was $2.50. The cookie was unbelievable, 2 shortbread cookies with caramel in between. We actually told them they should sell the caramel that they place in the cookie. They make this caramel in house.

Madeleines

Classic with lemon zest – $1.50. We really like lemon and felt it could have a bit more flavour.
Matcha Green Tea – $2.00. This is covered in white chocolate. Fantastic, very tasty.
Raspberry – $2.00. Vanilla madeleine filled with house made raspberry jam and covered with dark chocolate.
Marble – $2.00. Vanilla and cocoa madeleine covered in milk chocolate.

Everything we ordered was amazing. Then as we are sitting there, Ben, the owner comes over and asks if we would like to try something and of course we say yes. He brings over right out of the oven and Maple Pecan Croissant. All I have to say was WOW. It was to die for. I wanted to say bring me a dozen more. Our daughter is not fond of those flavours, and this is nor her favourite treat to have there. She is a believer.

The Service

Overall the service was outstanding, all the staff were very friendly and were terrific explaining everything. It is always a pleasure when the staff want to talk to their customers.

The Hours

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 7:00am to 5:30pm

Closed Tuesdays

Saturday: 8:30am to 5:30pm

Sunday: 8:30am to 4:00pm

Parking

Get there early as street parking on 17 Ave fills up fast.

Last Words

Many would say a single visit that demands future visits is always a good thing to have.

In this case, I consider myself fortunate to be able to say that I have had two really good visits with The Black Sheep. I definitely hope to have more.

Get yourself down there, you won’t be disappointed.