onoscafe Senior Member Joined: 26 Feb 2003 Posts: 55 Location: Toronto Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Gaggia Classic Grinder: Gaggia MDF Drip: Pyrex percolator from '50's Roaster: buy vac pac beans from Italy
Posted Sat Oct 30, 2004, 6:26pm Subject: Re: Fabulous espresso blend in Toronto!
I usually go to Italian cafes for espresso. I prefer a coffee bean roasted in Italy. Lavazza, Ionia, Mako, Kimbo, Mauro, Moak and Iti to name just a few. I find that these coffee taste better and are fresher than local roasts.
Some of the Places I go to are on College St. Bar Italia, Gatto Nero, Tavola Calda, Riviera Bakery and a couple of other places.
Some of the Places on St. Clair W. close to Dufferin St. are: St. Clair Village, The Ranch, Metro Sports Bar, Tricolore, Non Solo Caffe, Donato's.
I avoid places that serve local roasts like Barzula, Caruso, Montini, Reunion Island.
I also avoid places that serve Ily. Real bad coffee for the money.
One thing I look for is the barista drinking espresso. It it's good for him, it's good for us.
There are more places that serve good espresso here in Toronto than there are in most cities in Europe.
By the way, use the Italian terms and not the Seattle or Vancouver terms.
jump Senior Member Joined: 31 Oct 2004 Posts: 23 Location: Toronto Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Saeco Classico Inox Grinder: Solis Maestro
Posted Sun Oct 31, 2004, 7:55pm Subject: Re: Fabulous espresso blend in Toronto!
Nice to find some fellow "Torontonians"(loosely defined because of earlier posts!!) online. I recently visited I Deal Coffee, and also Moonbean(around the corner from I deal). I had an espresso at both, because I was looking for a espresso blend to get into for awhile as I just bought my first home espresso machine(saeco classico/aroma). I did not like the espresso from I deal. it was big and ugly and bitter. the moon beam one was better. granted it may have been the barista that made the difference, but call me fickle, i went with moonbeam.
KGB Senior Member Joined: 5 Apr 2004 Posts: 47 Location: Toronto Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Nov 1, 2004, 10:05am Subject: Re: Fabulous espresso blend in Toronto!
Probably the worse cappa I've had in the last year was at Bar Italia.
How could beans roasted in Italy be "fresher" than beans roasted locally? (yea..I know locally roasted STALE beans don't taste any better than Italian stale beans).
"I also avoid places that serve Ily. Real bad coffee for the money."
The best cappa I've has so far is at b Espresso (I mean besides my place)...and oddly enough, they used Illy beans. I would never buy them, because you are right...they are not worth the money...$36/lb...that's absurd. Illy is the only company that's been able to package beans roasted a "while" ago AND market their name as upscale....yea...the "best" place proudly proclaim they use it...and of course they sell it at Holt's...so how could it not be great?
There's no shortage of hip, cool places, with the sexiest machines...they break the bank on Electras and E61's or whatever...they know how to impress with equipment and interiors by II X IV , but basically nobody knows how to use them.
These places either use beans supplied by contract with the company they bought the equioment from (that's where the equipment supplier makes the money). Those commercial beans are all stale. Or...they use Illy because of the upscale marketing factor. Illy is sorta not stale because of the expensive packaging techniques. Or, they use fresh-roasted beans from local micro-roasters.
So why does it ALL taste bad?
The Illy tastes bad because Illy is not the greatest beans, roast or blend out there...better than all the other "stale" beans...and if it's extracted right, it is quite drinkable. But, it's almost never extracted properly. And then there is the matter of steaming the milk...and nobody seems to be able to that right at all. So even a decent shot will be ruined by a bad milk steaming....even the espresso-milk volumes are not correct.
The micro-roasters themselves have cafes...are they any good? Nope...Balzacs, Coffee Tree, etc don't necessarily choose their beans, roast or blend that well, and like everybody else, they don't know how to use their machines to make a decent cappa.
So why is b Espresso the best I've had so far?
Ok...they use Illy beans...but they know how to extract it properly (at least the chinese girl barista who works there does)...they know how to micro-foam milk properly and pour latte art into a properly heated Illy cup.
But nowhere have I seen every variable done right. If anybody knows...please let me know.
onoscafe Senior Member Joined: 26 Feb 2003 Posts: 55 Location: Toronto Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Gaggia Classic Grinder: Gaggia MDF Drip: Pyrex percolator from '50's Roaster: buy vac pac beans from Italy
Posted Mon Feb 14, 2005, 10:38pm Subject: Re: Fabulous espresso blend in Toronto!
Personally , whenever I see a Leva espresso machine I run away from the place or order drip coffee. The Leva machine was replaced with the machine with a heat exchanger for two reasons: the temperature of the water extracting the coffee and the source of the water extracting the coffee. The leva machine uses the water straight out of the boiler. It is extremetly hot (it makes the steam) and extremely stale. The heat exchanger is constantly filled with fresh water and it has a lower temperature so that the coffee is extracted better.
In Toronto most of the restaurant/bar/cafe owners and opertators do not take the time to regenerate their water softeners and do not install proper filters to ensure good clean water goes into their machine. Most operators do not even backwash their group heads or wash the handles and filters nightly.
The secret of making a good espresso is: the barista has to be an espresso drinker and a lover of espresso. Along with a well maintained and calibrated espresso machine with fresh clean water.
As far as coffee is concerned there is a reason why the likes of Lavazza, Mauro, Kimbo and Segafredo are the leading suppliers of roasted espresso beans in the world. They know their coffee and their coffee is excellent.\
A good local roasted coffee is Lambada.
Caffe Illy is peculiar. If not made right it tastes like crrrrr/ but if it is made right it tastes better than great.
Bar Italia has just changed their beans, they now use Ionia Coffee from Sicily. The coffee is good, but maybe the machine and the barista aren't.
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