Moonbean Coffee (Kensington Market)

I finally got back on the coffee passport band wagon and headed to Moonbean.

Unlike the other cafes where I ordered espresso, this time I got a double latte. It was really nice, creamy, smooth and had the right amount of espresso goodness. I opted for a more expensive drink because after careful reading I realized I can get a drink that costs up to $5 with my passport, so might as well milk it!

I love the big bean roaster they have a the front of the store and I like the self-serve coffee bean jars - very cool. I would definitely consider buying my beans here as I can see they'd be very fresh.

Another one done, yay

Creama Coffee Co. (53 Bloor St E)

This is the second location opened by these guys. This one in particular is situated within a Freshii salad bar - I suspect that the brands are owned by the same company. It's interesting to have a coffee joint with a salad place.

As soon as I walked in I noticed the Clover machine - super cool. The all chrome espresso machine is unique too - it can pour up to 3 shots at the same time. After a wee bit of research, I learn that this machine is a Mirage Triplette Classic by Kees van der Westen. What a Cadillac of a machine.

With this post I am going to attempt to standardize the review of the actual coffee I order. I am going to switch to double espresso shots, served 'for here' in a ceramic cup. I'll use three criteria (borrowed from Starbucks) to describe the drink, they are: 1. Aroma, 2. Appearance, and 3. Taste Profile.

Epic Espresso Roast

Aroma
Deep, caramelly and roasty. I pick up a strong earthiness of intoxicating goodness. Perfect.   

Appearance
As the beans are roasted really dark for espresso and even with the added water this brew is very dark, black gold. The creama (no pun intended) swirling on the top looks like a burnt marshmallow colour.

Taste Profile 
This is full-boded coffee and the flavour resembles the aroma - I pick up deep layers of caramelly sweetness with the roasty rich flavour. It floods my palette and I find that the sweet flavour lingers (so high acidity) all over my tongue with each sip. 

Overall, this is great espresso. I really enjoyed it. Cafe number 3 is complete.

Red Rocket Coffee (Wellesley St E)

Taking full advantage of the maximum $5 drink cost of using the coffee passport, I ordered a large americano at RRC with my buddy Daniel. Daniel ordered one of their italian sodas - pina colada flavour - this is not for me! 

I don't think the espresso here is worth raving about, I found I had a really watered down americano compared to what I have had elsewhere. Hopefully the drip coffee has more to stand on in terms of richness. 

This place is small with limited seating, but does have a chic feel (it's located in the verve condo building). It looks like the bench seating against the wall was salvaged from a church and the glass sculpture above the seating area is eye catching.

This place has been open less than a year, and location #1 is in Leslieville. 

As for the coffee, there's just not enough flavour in the brew here for me.

2 of 24 complete. 

Manic Coffee (426 College St W)

First up is Manic Coffee (just east of College and Bathurst Streets) - they sold me my official coffee passport and with excitement I got my first coffee (americano).

Manic has always been my favourite place to go for full-bodied dark espresso - it always exceeds my expectations. Lots of flavour (deep caramelly, roasty goodness, and lots of kick.

I chatted it up with the friendly staff about the passport program and they say they have a hard time keeping the cards in stock and have sold the most out of the slew of 24 participating cafes.

One down, 23 to go.

Indie Coffee Passport Toronto

I was overjoyed to find out today that the Indie Coffee Passport is being offered again. (Thanks for the heads up Edwin!)

The way it works is that you buy this $20 membership card which entitles you to a free coffee at 24 Toronto independent cafes. It expires March 31, 2011 so that's roughly 7 months of time to get to each shop.

I'm off to Manic Coffee (College St W) today to hopefully pick up one and this will give me a lot of material to blog about for the next several months.

Here's more info: Indie Coffee Passport Toronto

Jet Fuel (519 Parliament St) - Revisited

I headed back to JF for the first time in a long time and it was well worth it.
I bought a $4 large latte and enjoyed every delicious sip - perfect.
The artwork currently on display is of homo-erotica wrestling - looks like oil on canvas, forgot to check out who the artist is, but it's very provocative! There are also some original hand drawn sketches on display - very cool.
As always I love the uncomplicated-ness of this cafe, I liked the chilled staff. I was overjoyed to eavesdrop and hear a conversation about Harvey Milk :) This place rocks.

Euro Crepe Cafe on the Danforth

Thought about going to Tim H's this morning, but instead I decided to try out a random cafe on the Danforth (582 near Pape).

When I lived on this street I must have walked by this place many times, but never went in. It's a cool little Mom & Pop place. The friendly owner was sitting on the patio in front when I approached the shop.

I ordered a double espresso and grabbed a seat - they have table service. It was cool, the owner was running the place solo. He brought me my espresso, a variety of sugars and a glass of ice water. You just pay before you leave. The espresso was pretty good and I'm wired now, so double plus.

Besides the neat euro-inspired decor, this place has a unique Coca-Cola fridge by the cash register. It's really tall and narrow - stocked with Coke products that are all in glass bottles. I was thinking imported, but I bought a Coke and it said on the bottle it's made here - go figure! Love it.

Well, this place is known for it's crepes, I didn't try one though as I am still stuffed from breakfast. Next time I visit I'll be sure to order a nutella one... yum yum.

Van Houtte - French Roast

In Quebec Van Houtte is a well-known name and I recall seeing their cafes dotting the downtown core of Montreal.

If you work in an office that has self serve coffee you may have heard of these guys too because they supply many an office with their caffeine fix.
Usually, I found that drinking Van Houtte office coffee black wasn't all that great compared to the real Van Houtte coffee I experienced in Montreal.

However, the grocery store offering of Van Houtte French Dark Roast lives up to the cafe brew. It's 100% Arabica beans and price wise is a deal - 750g (1.65lb) at around $14.

This coffee is hearty and robust. It's well balanced though out and doesn't leave an overwhelming after taste. I detect some slight spicy-ness and the flavour is equally rounded on the pallet. I give this one 4 out of 5 stars.

I paired it up with a tasty bran spice muffin compliments of Mom - a great match!

Red Rocket Coffee

I was wandering around the Church/Wellesley neighbourhood today and noticed that I new cafe will be opening shortly in the Tridel VERVE condo (Wood and Wellesley).

This is location #2 for these guys as they have a shop over on Queen St East.

Sounds like it will be a cool little place, I only wish they were locating on Church St. proper because there are no indie cafes in that area (except Bull Dog which is south of Carlton).

http://www.redrocketcoffee.com/

Cafe Mania on Yonge

Cafe Mania @ 605 Yonge Street opened last fall and I have been meaning to get to it since.

Overall impression: really good.

We were impressed with the decor and the americanos were delicious. The staff was friendly and pleasant even though it was after 10pm as well. I must say I really like what they have done with the space - it feels very modern and chic - classy. They have table service which was nice.

Another great alternative to the chains - check this one out!

Soy in my coffee?

I am a strong believer in drinking coffee black so that it's possible to gauge the quality and taste profile of the blend. But, obviously many people add things to their coffee or order this concoction called a 'double-double' so their coffee resembles more of a mix drink.

Sometimes we can get impatient and don't want to wait for our black coffee to cool down to a drinkable temperature. Many times this has happened to me and I add milk to my coffee simply for the purpose of getting my much needed caffeine hit faster!

Well, last week I discovered a great (and less expensive) lactose free alternative to cream/half and half.... Silk for Coffee! I got the French Vanilla flavour, but it's also available in 'Regular'. This is a great product, it's very creamy and yummy! I have added regular soy milk to my coffee before and it really doesn't do my drink any justice. Haha this sounds like a paid plug for Silk, but seriously I just like this stuff, so go BUY it now!

Bull Dog Coffee

A great thing about living in a city is that many people run on coffee, so here in Toronto we have no shortage of cafes. Each neighbourhood seems to have their collection of great independently operated shops and of course all of the chains try to get in as well. The Church/Wellesley village where I call home is in dire need of some fresh, new cafes.

Thankfully, one indy has held on, even when the area's Letieri recently closed up. Back in 2007, Bull Dog Coffee (Granby/Church Sts) was made over when it was featured on the food network's Restaurant Makeover program. It's a quant (crammed) cafe, that is absolutely devoted to the coffee. Typically, the place is jammed with people, though the patio offers some great additional seating. This place has won countless awards for its employees' participation in latte art competitions and the last time I was in I noticed a framed recognition certificate from KRUPS on the wall - not too shabby!

The house specialty is the the Bull Dog drink - it's like a latte, with a twist. I don't know what the twist is, but I like the mystery behind it. This place creates the real cafe experience to me, check it out sometime!