Indie Coffee Passport adventures

When I was at our April meetup for Cafe Happy at Creeds on Dupont I decided to splurge and get an Indie Coffee Passport...which consists of 26 independent cafes in Toronto. You get your passport "stamped" at each place and they have a list of offerings including cappucinos or lattes or even the special drinks of the house..the passport costs $28 plus tax  and is well worth it! It also gets one out exploring neighbourhoods you wouldn't normally visit and even discover cafes that your might have overlooked in your own 'hood! The program operates in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Chicago, Washington, Vermont and East Bay.

By the way Creeds features lots of snacks and even vegan meals from Yamchops! It's a huge space with a dry cleaning business at the back so if you need to host a big event/meetup and get some drycleaning done at the same time..Bob's your uncle.

One of the first cafe lands I journeyed to was at 1691 Dundas Street West sometimes known as Brockton Village...the Cygnet. It is charming and cozy and faces a beautiful church across the street...

I had a house made mint Matcha which they kindly allowed me ...a little off menu because I am always excited about places that offer Matcha lattes!

I also sampled a delicious Almond and Matcha cookie..they have lots of great baked goods...I felt that the walk from King and Bathurst justified this..ha ha. Photos are from BlogTo.com


On my way back I stopped in at  Tucana which is a bite sized takeout spot at 1413 Dundas Street West..they have vegan cookies...yumm....great latte too.

Tucana Coffee

Sufficiently caffeinated for one day I left my new explorations for a few days...to one of my fave spots which I have written about before - Fika in Kensington Market. Because the weather has finally decided to become more spring like I could also enjoy the back patio..one of the areas not so hidden gems anymore. Not to worry because there's space inside and also a front deck! Always great music selections and dangerously good baked items...with cool staff. Look for the teal green house on Kensington Avenue





Yesterday it was the Coffee Bar Inc on Front Street (346 Front St. West). The staff and I think perhaps the owner was super friendly and made me a Velvet Latte which is the specialite de la maison. They have a private upstairs seating area which apparently is used by visiting celebrities (such as Will Smith and the Bieber) who venture over from Soho on Wellington so they can relax, chat and not be harassed/gawked at...

 


 


As you can see they do amazing coffee art too...and take pride in their coffee. The person I was chatting with said she has had a Indie passport for the past two years as well and had been less than impressed with some places (no longer in business big surprise) She took a couple of sips and in those cases promptly and discreetly poured it out after she left the premises. I understand completely ...I visited a place south of my residence amongst the new condo developments on Lakeshore and sheepishly ducked out leaving my full latte on the table.  I also an atypically less than stellar experience yesterday at a certain French cafe in the Thompson hotel with tea...it was quite frankly weak and flavourless..perhaps they know how to do coffee better than tea. I now understand Brits frustration with getting a good cuppa abroad. New rule: from now on let people know you are disappointed in a good polite Canadian way!

Back to the Coffee Bar... great choice if you're on your way to or from a ball game. I was on my way to the Ripley's Aquarium...although I felt very guilty about going there with all the imprisoned fish I must confess it was secretly thrilling to watch sharks swim overhead along with manta rays and sea turtles...plus one of my faves..seahorses! I could watch the graceful undulations of flounder for ages - their bodies move like the ruffles on a flamenco dress...

5 down only 21 to go..