In our backyard: Dundas, ON (Part 1)

Dundas, Ontario

The Espresso Adventure team decided to go on a little road trip to experience the quaint town of Dundas. Just outside of Hamilton, about 1.5 hours outside of the GTA is home to Detour Roasters - prior feature. This time the team decided to make it an official holiday EA, by hitting up the other cafes in the area.

Described as boutique shops, and welcoming vibe filled with an "older" crowd we were in for the count. Driving through back roads, and going up the escarpment last month seemed like a winter wonderland experience.

King street is the bustling strip where our adventure would start and end. Enough time was allocated for a 3 cafe adventure, and we were in for a treat!

First Experience: La Boheme

La Bohème Café Patisserie

Address: 2481 Yonge Street

Neighbourhood: Yonge & Eglington/ Uptown

labohemecafe.ca

Uptown has the boutique charm and the vibrant sass of the core downtown. What has always been a void in this 'hood, is the quintessential independent cafe. You'll find a lot of big brand name coffee shops, but it's lacking that local feel.

Food for Thought: Bloordale Pantry

Address: 1285 Bloor Street West

Neighbourhood: Bloordale Village
(Bloor and Landsdowne)
Website, @TheBloordale,  Tel: (416) 530-2999

This hot spot for Sunday brunch came up on our radar for its eats and not their espresso, but in true reporting fashion, we must discuss all things Espresso first then good eats as secondary bonuses.

On this visit we were able to chat with Rose, owner, to discuss about her lovingly restored classic Faema E61.

Cortado much?

Taken at Mercury Espresso.

Many Coffee lovers are confused when they walk into a cafe. 
Menu language has expanded over the years with signature drinks and divergents from the staples such as americano, latter, mocha etc...

Then there are other ones that you hear people ordering that seem to be made-up or discovered through certain baristas.. This is the exploration of coffee fanatics....
(Future post of lexicon)

What is a Cortado?
Its a shot (or two) of espresso with a very small amount of milk.
A 1:1 ratio of milk to espresso.
More milk and less foam than a Cappuccino. Allowing the milk to cut any unwanted acidity. Leaving the drinker to experience milk-coffee goodness.

Maybe this can help those that don't enjoy straight up espresso-- to slowly ease into the addiction of amazingness that you are missing out on.

Happy First offical Espresso Anniversary!!!

Keep it locked for the celebratory warp-up post of what happened last week.

Bundle up its -18, -20 this weekend. Enjoy an espresso indoors.

Undiscovered: Soma Chocolates

Soma Chocolatemaker
Address: 55 Mill Street
Neighbourhood: Distillery District
Website

Distillery District is located in the barrens of lower Toronto, where it's famous for galleries, and boutique crafty shops. Artisan, if you will. It's not an extra stretch to see Soma thriving in this preserved histroic area. I've come to LOVE venturing into Soma and picking up a bar of 70%+ Dark Chocolate to nibble, and gifts along the way. Always made in-house, it's no wonder why they've been so popular.

It struck me as odd that I've never thought to try the espresso while waiting in line. It was only fitting that it was a nice day during our visit to the Christmas Market.
Machine:La Marzocco GB3 (2 group)

Grinder: Unknown

Beans: Epic Espresso

Roasters: 49th Parallel

Verdict: Surprised at the quality, but then again - La Marzocco and 49th / can't really go wrong.
December edition of Epic, was bright, crisp, and screaming with high notes, and would settle for velvet smooth. 
Given the choice, I would rather walk 1 block to have great espresso as opposed to sub-par espresso in the other histroic building.
Athestics, aroma, and amibence all come to mind with I mention Soma Chocolates.
To die for products, and a great machine to pull amazing shots. Never brought the two together to experience the shop at it's full potention. Chocolate maker, and espresso puller. Yummy

Yet - dont expect the line to move fast, given that they have to park a truffles case next to the cash, you always want more aritsan chocolate. Unexpected good coffee in the DD, makes me smile when I open these doors.

You should make it a journey, even if it's just to watch the chefs make chocolate in the back. Worth every moment! Wave "hi", and be jolly as you sip your hot chocolate or Mocha beverage.

ENJOY!

First Experience: F'Coffee

F'Coffee
Address: 641 Queen Street East
Neighbourhood: Riverside

Nestled on the edge of the Eas/West divide, just before you hit the bridge to cross the Don, is where you'll find F'Coffee. It's the way of F'life

Locals popping in for their daily dose, or just neighbourhoodies lounging and doing their works... Usually find a mixed crowd of quiet folks plus the ones that get-together to catch up.
It's a great location to take a break from the dredges of the Queen Streetcar.

 The interior is lit up by the large windows that face Queen East - currently home to the next "loft/condo" expansion slated for that area. But be weary of their hours - as sometimes you think they'll be open... Guess again. I've tried multiple times to visit the shop at odd hours - and no dice. On this lovely Saturday morning I was able to luck out and sample what they had.

Machine: Saeco Aroma Se 200

Grinder: Unknown

Beans: Own Blend

Roasters: Unknown

Indie Coffee Passport:YES
Verdict: Seems like they have a decent machine, with decent beans, and decent staff. The shot just didnt have any character. Strong aromatic arabaca beans - but taste wise it was flat. My tongue/palette wasn't excited. After it cooled the acidic tones started to shine right thru. Not my cup of tea.

 If you notice the photo - it produces a rich dark caramel crema, but still - no character at all.

They do have great panini sandwiches, and pastries... but again - with their early closures - you better get in bright and early.

Featured Espresso: Cerrado

Spotted at Mercury Espresso Bar
Beans: Single-Origin from Brazil
Farm/Coop: Daterra, Cerrado
Roasters: Terroir
Located: Mass. USA

Tasting Notes: Smooth enjoyable profile for all palettes. Minor citrus qualities at the end of your sips, but memorable. Clean medium body, with tastes that remind you of aromatic fudge being made on the spot! Best of both worlds: chocolate but with the surprise of sweetness that lingers in rich fudge. Not the fudge that kills your teeth. Yummy for the soul

Special Feature: One of my favourite baristas - Josh - was on bar today and pulled the shots on Synesco on this lazy Sunday afternoon.

Enjoy this while you can! A couple of bags left- but limited! Afterwards they're going back to the much loved Mamuto.

In addition: goes really well in the Cortado!

From the mouth of GHH:

This is a wonderfully mellow coffee but with delicate clean fruit sweetness, giving a refined Beaujolais-like character to this coffee. Elusive hints of roses in the aroma. Very soft creamy notes of pecan. Medium body without any tang.

It was harvested from deep-rooted, low yield, very carefully hand-harvested Yellow Bourbon variety of Arabica. The owner of Daterra, Luis Pascoal, is a key coffee visionary in the quality coffee movement who never tires of tweaking everything he does one notch up every year for the quality of the coffee and for his social and environmental policies.