Featured Bean: ideal (end of summer)

ideal -Kensington
Address: 84 Nassau Street, Toronto -

Neighbourhood: Kensington Market
website, @twitter, Tel: (416) 364-7700

 Summer sweltering heat must have been a pain to roast with no AC, but heavy duty fans helped this Toronto Roaster keep up their stock.
Pumping out so many different origins and blends it's hard to keep up.

Machine: Manual machine
Beans: Espresso
Composition: Still a secret
Verdict: Sweet, sweet, sweet!

Thank you - water pressure for keeping your end of the deal!

Food for thought: Hibiscus

Hibiscus
Address: 238 Augusta Avenue

Neighbourhood: Kensington Market

website, @twitter, Tel: 416-364-6183

Seriously.... it's not only vegans and gluten-free seekers that come to Hibiscus in the market, everyone enjoys the wholesome freshly prepared dishes that come from the back of the kitchen.
In my travels around the city - Hibiscus throws down the best value for quality dishes. Personally, I have a good handful of close friends who swear by this cafe - mainly vegans, but it's not to say it's only for "vegans". Not only is it animal-cruelty free, but it's tapping into that new market to combat the gluten allergies - it's running rampant.
(talking about coffee after the break)

Food for Thought: The Bellevue

Hump day - Wednesday - will feature a new section of restaurants.

The Bellevue
Address: 61A Bellevue Avenue (corner of Nassau and Bellevue)
Neighbourhood: Kensington Market
Meal: Brunch

Breakfast is the most essential meal of the day - but second to that is Brunch. Tucked in that time zone where you've clearly woke up later than the usual 7am, and drifted past your start time for conventional business hours. You've now creeped into the "sleeping in" time of 10am. Not quite feeling like a bowl of cereal as your appetite will not be sated. Too early for soup and sandwich, but the craving is ever so present.... Now what?. That's how I feel about brunch.The joyous meal, where Breakfast and Lunch foods come together. Quite happy with the fusion brunch culture in Toronto.

Jazz, Coffee, Patio: Sublime

The Sublime Cafe
Address: 219 Augusta
Neighbourhood: Kensington Market
website

Smack in the Market, ala Kensington, there is a spot that could describe the vibe that is ever so present.
Chill with a dash of art.
That would be my description of Sublime.
A bit of a front "porch" area doesn't really give away too much.

Moonbean Coffee Company

Moonbean
Address: 30 St. Andrews Street
              (St.Andrews and Kensington)
Neighbourhood: Kensington Market
website

Moonbean Coffee Company established itself in 1995 bringing a presence for micro/batch roasting. Giving a local choice for Toronto - it's been a mainstay in the for well over a 15 years. What's brings established coffee go-ers to this location, relaxed feel.
Citizens of Toronto discover this charm most likely during their travels through the Market - and once they find this charming spot it begs for more frequent visits.

First Experience: Café Pamenar

Café Pamenar
Address: 307 Augusta Avenue
Neighbourhood: Kensington Market (the Market)
website, e-mail, Tel: (647) 352-3627


Located in the Market, it seems that even Kensington can't be over saturated from Cafes. Counting more than a handful of locations seems that we are not short of options.
Start of the summertime fave - Pedestrian Sundays - Car Free Zone during the last sunday of May til October meant that there would be crowds. We welcomed the celebration with open arms as drones of Torontoians gathered to soak in performers and artists, while food vendors filled the air with succulant aromas. Everywhere you looked around - people were enjoying the weather and strolling through the glorious streets without a worry.

9: ideal coffee

ideal Coffee
Address: 84 Nassau St.
Neighbourhood: Kensington Market
Contact: 1-800-762-3067 or 416-364-7700
(Website)

Well situation in the heart of Kensington, it is quite easy to walk past this cafe onwards to Bathurst Street, but the aroma that wafts thru the streets makes you want to discover and peer around the corner for what surprises are in store. ideal Coffee has three locations in Ontario (2 in Toronto, 1 in Ottawa) that promote sustatinable fair-trade organic beans.
The on-site micro drum roaster is used every couple of days for batch roasting. The drawing point is the nice patio, the kensington bohemian feel and the Manual machine that is the centrepeice of this location.

 Machine: Manual
Doser: Mazzer
Turnover: Medium- High
Beans: Own Blend of espresso beans from three continents, south-east asia, central, south america and african beans.

Music: great indie flares with emphasis on female singers (Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins) 
Indie Coffee Passport: YES
 Promotion: Free Coffee with purchase of beans. 

 

 Verdict: Hints of Citrus/Berry tones with cocoa to round out the back of this shot. 

Exceptionally pulled shot from an experienced Barista (not pictured). She was very honest and told us with this manual machine it's very hard to control the pressure if someone were to use the washroom. Seems like a minor glitch...., but takes skills and experience to overcome that flucuation in pressure within the machine. Kudos to the barista, she was very inviting.

Don't forget about the front patio area with the LARGE tree trunks now acting as tables for customers to bask in the sun, on the long benches or eccletic chairs.

Inside seating is limited to booth style but in the back-back there is an ancient realic... an old Pac Man video console that no longer is in use, but doubles as a table for your lovely drinks.

Depends on the barista that is pulling the shot, but 9/10 times it'll be quality. These guys/girls know what they are doing in Kensington.