So I'm all about the quality of the coffee.
I have been disappointed by coffee in Toronto. All the "Third Wave" coffee shops seem to only use Intelligentsia's Black Cat espresso and on the rare occasion 49th Parallel beans. Why do we have to go to Chicago or Vancouver to get well roasted coffee? So the small handful of local roasters I have been to generally don't have discerning barista's capable of extracting the full potential of their beans.
So then we come to Te Aro. They know what they are doing with the roast. They use a fluid bed roaster which definitely has a distinct difference from the drum roasters that everybody else uses. Better? Depends on your taste. Definitely worth a try.
Their barista are not exactly consistent, which may be changing as they are a fairly new operation. For example sometimes you get a nice rosetta (pretty leaf pattern in the milk) in your latte, and other times you get an attempted rosetta. That being said the shots have always been pulled in good taste and the milk is frothed well.
The staff have always been super friendly and seem happy to be there. The space is very cool. It has a charming little outdoor area, set back from Queen St. enough to feel removed from the hustle. The inside is airy and tasteful and on warm days have garage doors which open up to the world. Definitely a nice place to sit and write or conversate while you caffienate.
In conclusion, I would much rather go to Te Aro for locally roasted and well prepared coffee then go to a bundle of other places in town that do a poor job of extracting espresso from beans roasted in Chicago. But then I've never been that excited about Intelligentsia's Black Cat. Add to that the friendly vibe and cool space and you have a great place to go.
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