Best of Toronto
The Best Coffee Roasters in Toronto
The best coffee roasters in Toronto are engaged in a polite battle over just how this coffee-obsessed city prepares and consumes its beans, a war that goes well beyond ethical disputes over fair trade and organic business practices. If your coffee habit extends much past buying a bag of whatever indifferent beans you find in the supermarket aisle, you'll likely find yourself being forced to ask questions like "micro-roast or home roaster?"
Most of these coffee roasters have storefront operations, and cafes where you're welcome to sample their wares, but two entries on the list don't, and work out of distant Scarborough and Concord, where they supply coffee to restaurants and consumers who've learned to look for their products. Ultimately, though, they're a testament to how serious we've gotten about our java; the day of instant crystals or dusty cans of pre-ground percolator coffee have gone the way of home perms and jellied desserts.
Here are the best coffee roasters in Toronto, as voted by readers of this site.
Just missed the cut: Remarkable Bean, Social Coffee and Savoury Grounds.
Dark City photo courtesy David Thompson.
Te Aro
Andy and Jessie Wilkins’ Leslieville coffee shop has come a long way in a year and a half, thanks mostly to the couple’s almost evangelical approach to the drink. They’re relentless in their pursuit of new and better beans, and sponsor regular coffee cuppings to help regulars figure out the flavour they favour, and hone discernment. Their policy is to roast lighter, but select a more complex bean that helps avoid the inevitable hint of toast and charcoal. More »
Merchants of Green/Fresh Coffee Network/I Deal Coffee
Located in an old warehouse next to the DVP, in an out-of-the-way corner of Riverside, this three-tiered operation deals, respectively, in coffee importing, consumer sales and business wholesaling. Since coffee loses its freshness a week or so after its been roasted, the Fresh Coffee Network sells a little countertop roaster and green beans, along with lessons on home roasting. More »
Sense Appeal
This small but stylish roastery near Spadina and King includes a former sommelier as one of the partners, and a very jovially masculine approach to creating flavour profiles, with stress on experimentation and competition. Beans are sold in season, blends shift accordingly, and the overall presentation is impeccable at this brand-new cafe. More »
Dark City
David Thompson’s roastery began as a retail operation, and expanded into two storefronts before a catastrophic fire led to bankruptcy, a business reorganization and a relocation to Scarborough, where he roasts his daily orders to a carefully selected soundtrack. Orders made by phone will be filled the next day and delivered anywhere in the GTA. More »
Balzacs
While the Toronto locations are in Liberty Village and the Distillery District, the roastery is in Stoney Creek, where founder Diana Olsen still oversees production. Small, micro-roasters are still used, hand-operated, and with a reputation for an exemplary dark roast. More »
Moonbean
It’s no surprise that this collection of rambling rooms in Kensington is a bastion of Fair Trade, befitting its truly bohemian atmosphere. You can buy ethically starting at $10.99 a pound, but connoisseurs will find it hard to resist the Blue Mountain Mavis Bank Estate roast at $50 for the pound – one of the best deals in the city for this luxury coffee. More »
Alternative Grounds
Opened, like many of the roasteries on this list, in the artisan coffee year zero of 1995, this Roncesvalles Village institution has a wooly, indie vibe that’s only underscored by the discrete Che picture on the wall. Specializing in Fair Trade coffees, their retail operations are augmented by wholesale sales to churches and schools. More »
TAN Coffee
The name stands for The Alternative Network, a variation on Fair Trade where beans are sourced directly from farmers, and sold as single-source beans. The West Queen West storefront is TAN’s outlier – there are four locations in Nova Scotia, and a new one in Ottawa, and though a new owner has recently taken over, the shop has retained its quality on this Starbucks-free stretch of Queen. More »
Classic Gourmet Coffee
John Rufino’s engineering background inspired him to create the most nearly perfect roasting process imaginable – an all-stainless steel plant in Concord that recycles the heat from its roasters to increase energy efficiency. Since coffee’s footprint is hardly small – as long as we can’t grow it here, transportation will always be a factor – Classic tries to make what goes on here as low-emission as possible, while maximizing pure flavour. It’s worked, and customers include Bulldog Coffee, Cava, Woodlot, George and the Gladstone. More »
Green Beanery
Besides the shelves full of green, unroasted beans, this Annex roastery sells a dizzying selection of brewing machinery, including home roasters, grinders, drip brewers and espresso machines. Started by a non-profit, they buy from farmers and offer a range of unique, distinctive beans, with a convenient cafe to help you decide what works for you. More »
Full of Beans
This elegant Dundas West roastery puts its machinery in pride of place – a sample batch roaster displayed in the window, where customers can order roasts as small as half a pound, though a full pound is preferred for consistency. Owner Lori Nytko is happy to sit down with new customers to figure out what they want. “Everybody thinks they like a stronger coffee,” she says, though they're often surprised to discover that lighter roasts yield more flavour – the dirty secret of the roasting business. More »
Coffee Tree
This busy, cluttered Bloor West shop is the granddaddy of Toronto roasteries – in business for 22 years, and the training ground for many of the roasting professionals that have built the city’s coffee boom. The sample roasters at the front always seem to be in operation, lineups are common, and it’s no surprise that the European emigres that once dominated this strip of Bloor made it a favorite when the city was still getting by on plain old joe. More »
Discussion
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Also, when they opened hey had a 'free coffee' promo for a week during which they advertised much lower prices that they currently charge. Felt very misleading to go in and have higher prices on the menu after the 'free' period.
<i>the overall presentation is impeccable</i>
A facet of café presentation, though, is unavoidably customer service, and here is where SA falters a bit. The general impression one gets after visiting a few times is that the coffee drinker is the least important aspect of the business to the proprietors. Now, I'm as passionate about coffee and hateful of people in general as the next gal, but the trick in service is to learn to <i>fake it</i>, professionally, and never let that façade drop for a moment.
My recommendation is that once SA is solvent, established and humming along nicely they find budget for actual baristas with customer service experience. If the atmosphere of vague disdain for the coffee drinker carries on SA <i>will</i> fade and disappear. This is a hard and fast rule. Cafés are about community first, coffee second.
The coffee is awesome, though. Just flipping awesome.
The staff there really know their coffees well, and are solid roasters as well.
As usual, it seems that Toronto doesn't exist west of the Humber River...
Always prompt delivery and great quality.
1. Te Aro: At least they are on the list.
2. Social: Runner up? They school everybody else on the list.
3. Detour: Is it because they are in Dundas? I hope that's the only reason they aren't on this list. I would drive an hour to get fresh roasted beans, but you can get them at Darkhorse and several other good cafe's in Toronto.
Just sayin'
Thank you for your post. I am extremely sorry for the service that you received while at Sense Appeal. This is definitely a part of our business that we will continue to work on. We hope you can stop by again and our promise is that you will have a better experience.
Sameer from SENSE APPEAL
Thank you for your post once again. Your post on our blogTO space was fantastic and I hope that we can continue to better ourselves from a coffee standpoint as well as a service standpoint!
Sameer from SENSE APPEAL
Good job TeAro, Sense Appeal. Social and Detour should not have been left off this list! The only roasters worth mentioning in my book are the 4 I just mentioned!
I'll also take issue Corina Newby's mention of overcharging at SA. I don't know what their falsely advertised prices were the first week, but last I was in there earlier this week, an americano was $2.25, which is actually one of the lowest prices for a high-grade americano in the city, which are not uncommonly $3.
Thank you for including us in your post!
Just wanted to be clear that Merchants of Green Coffee is an importer of green coffee beans who also sell home roasters, while Fresh Coffee Network specializes in the local roasting of coffee. I Deal Coffee on the other hand, while loosely affiliated with MGC and FCN is an entirely separate business entity and should be considered a local roaster in its own right.
Lindsey
MGC
With the exception of Coffee Tree, Full of Beans & TAN, most of the others have their machinery hidden or off-site?
And people, what's the point of mentioning roasters in Dundas or Muskoka in a Toronto blog?
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Here's my main beef with Sense Appeal... they launched a 'free coffee' campaign during their first week open. At this time, they had a price list posted that advertised significantly lower prices than everywhere around them (I know a latte was priced at $2.25).
I was told that the price list had been printed 'incorrectly' but would remain up and on display until they re-printed it after the 'free coffee' campaign. I found this very misleading.
I will say that the place is busy and bustling; they don't need my business or approval. But I still find their launch tactics rather distasteful.
i may be the smallest roastery but i would welcome anyone to stop in and give me a try--1075 bathurst-416-5885282
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I don't care how long someone has been roasting for, how quaint their location is, how many certifications they have stamped on their beans, the number of piercings the owner has, or if he has a fair trade trade tattoo. It's about the coffee — everything else is a distant second. I'm willing to put up with poor service, ugly packaging, and a bad location if the coffee is exceptional. That combination may not make for a successful business in the long term, but I'll buy from those guys before I go back to a place with "atmosphere" where they didn't care about the coffee and serve espresso fit only for a sink drain.
Rick, thanks for putting together this list; but you have to get Social on it on the strength of their espresso alone. I met the boys from Social for the first time at the Coffee and Tea show when it was here a couple years ago. They were the only ones I saw consistantly tasting and adjusting, not just passing out dixie cups of black wretchedness. They easily had the best espresso at the show (Detour was the only other notable roaster there).
Obviously the SCAA members (many of whom are roasters) think Social's pretty good too. They took second in espresso at SCAA 2010 in Anaheim CA, and second in Blends for 2011 in Oregon — No other roaster in Ontario, maybe Canada can claim that.
It's fiendishly difficult to source and roast a 90+ point espresso (Coffee Review), and Social's got two of them, plus two 90 point blends.
I've sampled espresso all over the city, and there isn't much that's stellar — or even good. But these guys can hang with the best in San Fran or Chicago; I know, I've been there and tasted the competition. I don't necessarily care who the top ten roasters in Toronto are; I want to know who in T.O. can compete with the best in North America.
Lastly, I'm a roaster too — just learning right now (started on a Behmor, and bought a Diedrich IR-3), but I hope that I can one day roast some coffees that are in the same league as the stuff the pseudo-commies (love their sense of humour!) put out every week.
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There are good and bad coffee roasters in TO but we are not saying the most important part of the subject:
IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE TASTE
Yes it does. What some people consider some coffee roasters to have good coffees others don't because the taste is different as people are different and is the same as food.
Of course another matter is that this coffee roasters are small business and we as Torontonians should support our local businesses so the small coffee roasters can grow and with Growth businesses become more qualify to serving the costumers needs.
Regards
Totally agreed. These three (I'm most familiar w Social and Te Aro but have heard similar things about Detour) are certainly in a different category.
My top pick for the next tier would be TAN, although I'm not in the neighbourhood any more..
I recently tried SA for the first time (service was great, btw) and really liked what they were doing. So, at least in terms of espresso roasts and drinks service, they seem competitive..
But TA and Social are fully-formed, virtuoso roasters able to perfectly finish a wide variety of beans, create beautiful custom roasts for discerning customers like Manic, Thor, etc., and maintain a high standard of quality.
Social's Kenyan (when in season) are my daily brew via Chemex.
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