Mató & Maple Syrup » coffee

Cortado

alexandra — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:49:37 +0000

My favourite coffee: a long espresso shot with some steamed milk, served in a little glass. My favourite one in Toronto is from Manic Coffee, at College and Bathurst.

Te Aro

alexandra — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:09:29 +0000

I ran into Thiago, the barista from La Merceria, at Manic Coffee yesterday morning. I hadn’t seen him in a while and he told me he no longer worked at La Merceria, that he was now learning the roasting side of the business at a place called Te Aro. I confessed I had never heard of the place and he encouraged me to drop by. Te Aro is a new cafe in Leslieville known for roasting its own beans in a very impressive hot air roasting machine. Since we had a day pass yesterday, Alan and I decided to go check out the place during our afternoon break. My only caveat is that they didn’t have cortados but the macchiato was pretty good. Click on the picture below to see a slideshow of the few pictures I took in the place.

Cortado

alexandra — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:08:10 +0000

I love coffee. I’m not addicted and usually have my first coffee of the day some time in the afternoon and I don’t usually have more than two a day. Some days I have none and that’s fine. But I really love the taste of a good coffee and in Barcelona I learned that my favorite way of drinking coffee is what the Spanish call a cortado (tallat in Catalan). It’s usually served in a small glass and in Spain at least half, if not two-thirds, of the glass is filled with espresso and then topped with steamed milk. I like it better this way because the coffee taste is not drowned out by too much milk as in the lattes and capuccinos commonly available in North America. In France I learned that the closest thing to a cortado is a petit crème. Here in Toronto it’s always a bit tricky. Technically, the closest thing is a macchiato, which is an espresso topped with some milk froth. So I usually order a macchiato and ask them to add steamed milk rather than just froth. Call it a wet macchiato. We used to have a perfect cortado every saturday at Ozzie’s but unfortunately he stopped serving them in the little glasses since they broke so easily. Now we have our cortados in half-filled capuccino cups, which is not quite the same.

But lately I’ve noticed that some of the baristas in Toronto know exactly what a cortado is and I can even order it that way – simply asking for a cortado and not explaining how to alter a macchiato. So far I’ve had great cortados at the Dark Horse, La Merceria, and Sam James Coffee Bar. The latest one – the one on the photo above – was from Manic Coffee. It certainly brought me back to Barcelona.

Capuccino

alexandra — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:56:28 +0000

At b espresso

Finally, a nice cortado in Toronto

alexandra — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:03:49 +0000

La Merceria
506 Adelaide St West (a couple of blocks west of Spadina)

Chabichou

alexandra — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 20:27:09 +0000

We discovered a new place today. Chabichou is mainly a cheese shop but also serves quiches, sandwiches (grilled cheese with a choice of brie, cheddar or swiss) and tasty tarts. I had noticed it last time we cycled by and today we decided to stop for a light lunch after our market rounds. Loved the atmosphere, the cheese display, the thought of homemade butter, and the smell of fresh-baked croissants in the air. Very nice indded.

Coffee heaven

alexandra — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:51:49 +0000

I don’t think there are enough words to explain how great it is to be able to order coffee the way I like it without having to go through lengthy explanations of how I want it done. In France, all I had to do is ask for a café noisette and here in Spain I ask for a cortado (or tallat in Catalan). No eyebrows get raised and back they come with exactly what I wanted: a long espresso with a bit of hot milk. In Toronto I always have to explain that I want an espresso with a bit of hot milk. “You mean, a latte?” In North America, a latte is usually a short espresso with at least a cup of hot milk added to it making it more of a coffee-flavoured milk than a real coffee. So I have to say, “No, it’s not a latte. It’s an espresso, made in an espresso cup, with hot milk to the top”. In some places I can make myself understood by saying it’s a macchiato with more milk than foam. It’s always a struggle. But for the next month, I don’t have to worry about it. All I say is “un cortado, por favor/ un tallat si us plau”.

Brazilian Coffee

alexandra — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:37:40 +0000

When Canadians ask me about Brazil, almost the first thing they ask – after the weather, of course – is about the coffee. “It bet you get really nice coffee there!”, they’d say. When I first arrived in Canada, in the days when the only coffee we had at home was sent by my mother through the mail, I’d probably have said “oh yes, our coffee is great!”. But I have since learned otherwise.

Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer and many experts across the world vouch for the quality of its beans. And while Brazilians are avid coffee drinkers, that does not mean they have access to good coffee. Most of the best beans are reserved for export and what remains on the shelves of the supermarkets is often mixed with other stuff. Most roasters tend to burn the beans, effectively making the coffee too bitter and leading most people to over-sweeten their coffee.

Unlike in Italy, Spain or Portugal, most of our coffee is percolated rather than pulled from an espresso machine. Until a few years ago, it was served already sweetened with loads of sugar.

It was only after moving to Canada, and later traveling to France, Spain and Portugal that I have learned what really good coffee is supposed to taste like. I now know that a good espresso can be drank pure, without sugar, and it won’t taste bitter (unthinkable to any Brazilian). And that a real cappuccino has no chocolate in it. But my mother still gets bewildered whenever I call home and refuse her offers to send me ground coffee from Brazil. I’m happier buying my Brazilian coffee at Casa Açoriana, at Kensington Market.

Coffee at Louie’s

alexandra — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 23:35:52 +0000

I keep saying that I LOVE going to Kensington Market for coffee on Saturday mornings. It has became our Toronto tradition. As I mentioned in a comment below, even at the depths of my comps’ blues, we still made it to Kensington every Saturday morning, summer and winter. So I decided to post here what I like to have when I go there:

It’s nothing more than a long espresso with a big of steamed milk. The small size means there is less milk than in the average latte/capuccino, which adds more punch to the coffee taste. It’s perfect in its simplicity…