The Roadside Attraction Coffee Series
Join us on our virtual road trip to cool and quirky Canadian roadside attractions!
The names and logos of these Limited Edition coffees are inspired by giant sculptures found across the country.
We visit a new destination every 6 - 8 weeks. Don’t miss any - follow us in your inbox to the next Roadside Attraction!
November 2024: Tin Soldier
Our friend Trudy showing just how tall this guy is!
New Westminster, BC
The World’s Tallest Tin Soldier on our coffee label is found in New Westminster, BC, right next to the Fraser River at the foot of Columbia Street.
This cute and enormous fellow is almost 10 meters tall and weighs 4540 kg. He’s been here at the New West Quay for over 20 years and still looks very dapper.
Tin Soldier: the Coffee
Sumatra + South America. This organic medium roast blend of coffees will warm you up with its earthy dark chocolate mixed with hints of sweet-tart dried cranberries. We love making TIN SOLDIER as a pour over / filter coffee though it is also fabulous as espresso.
“THE WORLD’S LARGEST TIN SOLDIER
The Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, founded, surveyed, and laid out the City of New Westminster. This Tin Soldier looks out over the Fraser River where the first soldiers set ashore. The detachment of Royal Engineers were instrumental in laying the foundations for law and order, communication routes, communities, government services, and more, during their time here: 1859 to 1863.
The Soldier stands as a replica of a Sergeant Major with his distinctive scarlet tunic, blue trousers with wide red stripes and most noteworthy his red gold-trimmed pill-box hat.
The Soldier was completed as a highlight of the Royal Christmas Festival in New Westminster in support of the Simon Fraser Society for Community Living and their programs for children with special needs and adults with disabilities. Unveiled on November 29, 2000 adjacent to the Armoury of The Royal Westminster Regiment at 6th Street and Queens Avenue, it was moved here and rededicated on February 14, 2002. A time capsule was placed within the Soldier to be opened in 2025.
Built as a labour of love by the joint efforts of the Sheet Metal Workers International Association Local Union 280 and the BC Sheet Metal Association (SMACNA-BC) for the benefit of The Simon Fraser Society for Community Living. The Soldier is 32 feet tall, weighs 5 tons and was fabricated using materials to last 100 years or more.”
Seasonal Coffee Selections
Each coffee in the Roadside Attraction Coffee Series is a limited edition blend (our seasonal selection) made of premium coffees roasted in Toronto and delivered to your coffeemaker.
We’ll fill you in on the specific coffee sources and roast level as they are released. The beans that go into the Roadside Attraction Series may be a single-origin (from one country or even part of a small lot from one farm) or a blend of special beans from a couple places. We don’t plan the specific coffees far ahead as we are always on the lookout for extra special coffees and grab one as soon as we find it, so we can bring it to you!
What makes a coffee extra special?
Good question! For the Roadside Attraction seasonal coffees, we are looking for:
Delicious (of course!)
A chance to try coffees from a different country or region, especially one that we haven’t visited for a long time or ever (Congo, El Salvador, or India!)
Different styles of coffee - honey processed, natural processed or other interesting ways that the coffee has been grown or processed that give it a different taste
One thing is for sure, each one is a limited edition. It's only around for a few weeks so try it out while you can!
Drink up & dream of YOUR next road trip!
Here are our 2024 travels so far
Cool Canadiana - the roadside attractions our coffees have featured so far this year…
September 2024: the BIG APPLE
next to Highway 401 in Colborne, Ontario
September is apple harvest season, making this the perfect time to pick The BIG APPLE in Colborne Ontario as our roadside attraction coffee destination.
While there is an apple on the label, this medium roast blend gets its delicious syrupy, gingery, zesty flavour from the other side of the globe - Papua New Guinea (PNG) in SE Asia.
We love the BIG APPLE as a filter or drip coffee. May we suggest pairing with some apple crisp or apple pie? It is the season!
photo from thebigapple.ca official Big Apple website
Our BIG APPLE coffee - in the Roadside Attraction Coffee Series
Colborne Ontario’s Big Apple
If you’ve ever driven along the 401 between Toronto and Kingston, you will have seen the BIG APPLE on the south side of the highway. Like many roadside attractions, it was built to capture your attention and tempt you to stop for a bit.
Originally built in the 1980s as an info centre to promote the local farming community, the Big Apple was conceived by an Australian immigrant, George Boycott, who was inspired by Australia’s Big Pineapple. Forty feet / 12 metres tall, it got even cuter in 2013 when a cartoon face was painted on.
Unlike some of the attractions in smaller or more rural towns, the BIG APPLE is more than a cute place to stop and take photos. It is also a spot to shop for apple pies, pick up apple themed souvenirs, visit a petting zoo, play miniature golf, and have a picnic.
Rumour has it that the Big Apple sells 2000 pies every week and has about half a million visitors a year. Busy!
sources: Wikipedia, TheBigApple.ca, Tourism Ontario
Summer 2024: Kelowna
featuring the fabled Ogopogo on its label
a monster of a coffee
KELOWNA is a lighter roast blend of Ethiopian and Costa Rican coffees.
This blend delivers HUGE flavour for a lighter roast coffee. Brown sugar sweetness, apple juiciness, cinnamon spiciness - it’s destined to be legendary, just like the Ogopogo lake monster featured on its label.
We love this as espresso and it makes delicious drip / filter coffee, too.
What’s that monster on the Kelowna label?
Ogopogo is the legendary monster of Lake Okanagan. Ogopogo is elusive and hard to catch in person so its easier to visit the statue of Ogopogo in Kelowna, British Columbia.
Tales of Ogopogo go back hundreds of years. Some of its history is found on Ogopogo Quest, a great resource put together by Bill Steciuk who first saw Ogopogo in 1978 and has been researching it ever since.
Bill’s website has various theories about Ogopogo - including the possibility that Ogopogo is a form of primitive whale, Basilosaurus cetoides, that lives deep in Lake Okanagan. Cool!
we found this photo of Ogopogo on Wikipedia, unfortunately with no attribution
If you’re a diver, there’s another statue of Ogopogo for you to check out. It is at the bottom of Okanagan Lake. While there, we hope you’re lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the real Ogopogo gliding through the lake depths.
“There are multiple things people have seen in the lake which they believe to be Ogopogo and there are various ideas about what kind of animal it could be. There is evidence to suggest that a cryptid species could be looming under the water. It is possible that Ogopogo could be an aquatic serpent, a giant sturgeon or a prehistoric species which has lived to modern times. Whatever species it may be, it is severely endangered and it is important to be respectful of the creature and its habitat. The old days of blurry, low-quality pictures and videos are over and we have entered into a new era of Ogopogo research. If you live in the Okanagan or plan on visiting, make sure to keep your cameras ready, your eyes peeled, and your minds open because you might just see Ogopogo.”
A photo of the Ogopogo statue IN Lake Okanagan - from the Salmon Arm Observer article Feb. 12, 2019
Moonbeam limited edition Peruvian honey process blend coffee
June 2024: Moonbeam
This Honey of a coffee is Out of this world!
Our MOONBEAM gets its delicious flavour from an organic HONEY PROCESS* coffee from Peru.
Roasted on the lighter side, MOONBEAM is juicy, jammy, with hints of milk chocolate.
Named for the town of Moonbeam, Ontario and its sweet UFO. You can’t miss it as you drive by on Highway 11.
* No bees involved! Honey process refers to how the coffee beans are treated after harvest and before roasting. It results in a coffee that is intense, rich, fruity, and naturally sweet. Here’s more info on honey process coffee: What is Honey Process Coffee?
Joe and I taking a selfie with Moonbeam’s flying saucer on one of our many drives towards Thunder Bay on Highway 11
How did Moonbeam get its name?
The town of Moonbeam got its name from early settlers who saw flashing lights – or moonbeams – falling from the sky.
Did they see UFOs?
Or maybe it was northern lights?
Whatever the truth, don’t miss the chance to stop & snap a selfie with Moonbeam’s UFO on your next drive through northern Ontario.
April 2024: Quesnel
Tanzanian Peaberry blend
This coffee is GOLD!
Featuring a Tanzanian peaberry* coffee, QUESNEL is a medium-light roasted blend with flavours of cocoa and blackberry jam.
* Peaberry is a specially shaped coffee bean. About 5% of coffee beans are peaberries. They are generally more expensive both because they must be hand sorted and because many people believe they are more delicious than a standard bean.
Here is a photo of the giant gold pan in its original location
And here is the Gold Pan in its new location with a fence to screen off the rail yard behind
here’s my dad panning for gold on a summer road trip through the Cariboo - yes, that’s me next to him!
Quesnel’s Giant Gold Pan
We named this coffee for the town of Quesnel, BC, home of the WORLD’S LARGEST GOLD PAN.
It’s Quesnel (not quetzal - the South American bird, like our friend Georgie thought) and it’s pronounced “kwah-nel” with a silent “s”.
I always assumed the name was derived from an indigenous word but it turns out that Quesnel was named after the explorer Simon Fraser’s clerk. And it is located at the confluence of the Fraser and Quesnel rivers.
During the Gold Rush in the 1800s, Quesnel B.C. was on the Cariboo Wagon Road and was the main town in the Cariboo. The giant gold pan is 5 1/2 meters in diameter and weighs 1400 kg.
This giant gold pan has moved around, and may be on the move again. After 33 years at the intersection of Highways 97 and 26, the gold pan was moved to the Rocky Mountaineers Train Station where it got a bit of a facelift. You are correct if you think that the nugget is not real gold. Can you imagine how valuable that would be? And how heavy?!
I haven’t been to Quesnel for a very long time so haven’t had the chance to see the gold pan in its new location. But I do have fond memories of visiting Quesnel - it’s a lovely town in the spectacular Cariboo region.
When I was a kid, my dad was interested in gold panning and BC history. He travelled with gold pans in the trunk of the car and there were quite a few times when we’d be driving through the Cariboo or Shuswap and my dad would pull over by a stream and we’d all get out and pan for gold. Or play in the river while he panned for gold. He found a few flakes, nothing big enough to call a nugget, but it was pretty cool.
our coffee tribute to Gladstone Manitoba’s Happy Rock statue
March 2024: Gladstone
perfectly balanced Bolivian + Ethiopian blend
This medium roast Ethiopian + Bolivian blend gets us doing a happy dance.
Sweet vanilla, rich walnut, smooth milk chocolate - this blend of organic beans is perfectly balanced so that every cup will put a smile on your face, just like the Happy Rock it is named for.
The Happy Rock
Before it was on a coffee label, the Happy Rock was on a Canada Post stamp!
We heard about the giant Happy Rock statue from our friend, Alexi, co-owner of our fave local Toronto cocktail bar, Henrietta Lane.
The Happy Rock is not too far from where Alexi grew up and is the roadside attraction for the town of Gladstone, Manitoba. GladSTONE. Happy ROCK. Get it?! Ha! So sweet!
You’ll find the Happy Rock statue on the Yellowstone Highway, about 20 minutes from the bustling metropolis of Neepawa and 2 hours west of Winnipeg.
Made out of fibreglass, the Happy Rock is 11m tall and weighs a tonne! Actually, it weighs 1300 kg / 3000 lbs. Imagine how heavy it would be if it were carved out of rock. It was featured on a Canada Post stamp in 2010 - very cool!
January 2024 - Beardmore Ontario’s giant snowman
January 2024: Beardmore’ Giant Snowman
Beardmore the coffee: Sumatran Darker Roast Blend
Named for the GIANT snowman in Beardmore, Ontario, this blend features a coffee from Sumatra, Indonesia.
BEARDMORE is roasted dark to bring out the earthy, spicy, jammy flavours typical of Sumatran coffees.
I think this coffee tastes a bit like Christmas fruitcake - hints of molasses, raisins, cloves and figs. It’ll be sure to warm your spirits on a cold winter day.
Beardmore: the Snowman
This coffee is named for the 10.5m tall snowman next to Highway 11 in Beardmore, Ontario.
That’s about 200 km NE of Thunder Bay and 100 km from where my hubby grew up. I have visited this cool character several times on drives between Toronto and Thunder Bay. Yup, that’s me in the drawing!
He’s not the tallest snowman statue around - he’s about 3m / 10 ft shorter than the snowman in North St. Paul’s Minnesota. We think Beardmore’s is MUCH cuter, though!
TVO has a great article on Beardmore and its snowman from its 2021 Roadside Attraction Showdown.
FUN FACT - the snowman gets new accessories to match the season! A curling broom in winter, fishing rod in summer. Cool!
Beardmore has had a snowman since 1960. The previous one “had a hollow belly that was used as a tourist centre, before becoming a concession stand that sold chips and ice cream”. I wonder if it was open all year or just in the summer?
Send Us Your Fave Roadside Attractions!
We have shortlisted a number but are open to your suggestions. Send them in and tell us WHY it would be a good pick for the Roadside Attractions Coffee Series! Your suggestion has a much better chance of being selected if you share photos of you with it &/or personal stories of why you love it.
Here are some photos of Canadian Roadside Attractions shared with us by Sparkplug coffee lovers. Will one of these be featured in our Roadside Attraction Coffee Series? Stay tuned to find out!
Don’t miss out on our next seasonal coffee and other coffee news: