Jet Fuel Coffee has been a haunt of caffeine addicts in Toronto for years. The intertwined worlds of cycling and coffee collide here, making it a refuge for lovers of both. There’s even a bike sharing station directly outside.

Former bike courier and Jet Fuel owner John Englar knows the importance of a shot of caffeine to the system in that fast-paced job. He also brings his knowledge of pastries to the ones baked in house here.

The narrow, black and red shop has long been a refuge of creative types in the city who bond with live wire Englar. When I arrive at the shop I’m wearing a Broken Social Scene tee, and he comments that Amy Millan used to work here, smoking joints in the back with Emily Haines and bragging about how one day they’d be rock stars.

Bike-themed artwork hangs around the space, photos by Bryan Wilcox at the time of my visit. There’s also an insane music set up here, with a huge control panel and giant old speakers looming over the cash, speaking to the musicians for whom this is a day job.

Coffee here is luscious, layered, and thickly topped with rich crowns of foam, shots are always doubles, and small drinks are $2, large are $3. They do something called the “Jet” here which tops coffee with a more equal layering of milk and foam than a latte.

Baristas create unique textures here by playing with proportions of micro foam and dry foam. Micro foam has smaller bubbles and is wetter than dry foam.

An iced latte is more generally milky. Balanced, bold coffee is provided by Classic Coffee in Vaughan.

An iced Americano brings through the richness of those beans much more, with an added splash of milk for creaminess that offsets bitter tones.

They sell cookies ($1) and pastries ($2) here, including croissants which come in flavours like almond and ham.

A raisin danish is a regular offering, flaky with sweet little raisins and warm spices, and they do orange danishes on weekends.

There’s a metal bar with stools at the front window atop a slight ledge, and the skinny space crams a few high tables in opposite the cash and espresso station with a Faema Legend E61 before opening up to a more spacious area in the back.

Whether working for hours or grabbing joe to go, however angsty this place is it has your back.