Ethica Coffee Roasters
Ethica Coffee Roasters serves coffees roasted in full view of an industrial cafe space.
The cafe specializes in single origin specialty coffees roasted in a European style using a small Dutch Giesen roaster.
The high-ceilinged interior is furnished with locally made Tice Tables and decorated with prints by Anthony Burrill, a washroom in the corner is designed to look like a shipping container.
Ethica doubles as something of an eccentric post office: for a flat $3 fee they'll mail letters for you worldwide. Purchase paper and an envelope for $2 or a Guttersnipe Press postcard kit for $8.50, and you can even use their provided typewriter.
Around five varieties of house-roasted coffee are available at a time from regions like Ethiopia, El Salvador, Colombia and Kenya.
All beans have been hand-picked, and roasting techniques are always being modulated to experiment with results. The Giesen roaster may look old school, but it's secretly hiding high tech firepower with the ability to connect to laptops.
Lattes ($5) and all other milk-based drinks work well with a clean-tasting Ethiopian Yergacheffe Melese Gedachew.
Sweet, high quality milk from Sheldon Creek Dairy combines nicely with the fruity coffee.
A Vanilla Raf ($6.50) is a less conventional milk-based option with vanilla sugar and espresso that's apparently very popular in Europe. Smooth and buttery, I could certainly see this catching on here as well.
An Espresso Tonic ($6) is made with coffee sourced from El Salvador and Fever Tree tonic for a bitter but refreshing jolt of energy garnished with a lime wedge.
An Espresso Dream Soda ($6) is a collaboration with nearby Henderson that adds their cream soda to espresso, though the flavour of the soda is relatively obscured by the bold coffee.
Coffee is also available for wholesale purchase so other cafes can stock it.
Food offerings from Mira Mira include sandwiches, wraps and bowls.
Pastries such as danishes, cookies, scones, muffins and croissants are provided by Hadrian Verrier.
The Ethica space is also available to book for private events, and is open to hosting live performances.
Hector Vasquez