Sam James Coffee Bar

Sean, the new owner of our favourite bike shop, told us to check out his friend Sam’s new coffee shop on Harbord street. Heeding his advice and always eager to try a new local place, we cycled over. Turns out his friend is Sam James, considered one of the best baristas (if not the best) in the city. The cafe is very small – it’s truly a coffee bar – but well worth the visit. He uses coffee beans from the Toi & Moi Café, one of my favourite cafés in Montreal. Alan had a latte, Janine had a capuccino and I ordered my usual espresso  with a bit of steamed milk and he understood immediately that I wanted a cortado.  Sam lived for three months in Barcelona in his pre-coffee days and he credits Spain for teaching him about coffee culture. Each coffee came with flawless latte art and it tasted just right. Sam was extremely nice, down to earth and not at all like some of the snotty baristas out there who seem to see every customer as a coffee ignoramus.  We’ll definitely be going back for more.Next time I’ll take some pictures of the actual coffee… I was too excited about it to remember my camera

Other reviews of the place:

Toronto Life

BlogTO

National Post

On the issue of making espressos at home, Sam says, “When people talk about buying a home espresso setup I tell them to save their money and just go to a coffee shop. To get a good home set-up it’s going to be about $5,000 for something that compares to a commercial machine, when you might as well buy a commercial machine and have it at home. For the two or three bucks you might pay every day for a good espresso, it’ll take you years to pay off that machine. You’ll be a lot happier if you go to a coffee shop.” He is absolutely right. Alan and I considered buying an espresso machine at one point. After much research on what makes a good espresso, we’ve decided it wasn’t worth it. We would never be able to pull something that was similar to what a well-trained barista can get out of a commercial machine unless we were willing to spend thousands of dollars. So we bought a good quality stove-top espresso for our occasional coffee at home and spend our time exploring the nice independent cafes the city has to offer.  Sam James is one.

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