Friendly Entrepreneurs

Inspired by this post on Blog TO, Christian used his Nova Scotian charm to get us an invite to a coffee cupping session at te aro in Leslieville last week. I've never been to a wine tasting myself, but this is very similar to what I'd imagine the ritual to be. A lesson on coffee history, flavours, roasting, and grinding - complete with 'Coffee Tasters Flavour Wheel' for descriptive inspiration, some bean profiles to give us hints about our samples, and a list of cupping basics.

I forgot my camera that evening, so I apologize for the poor-quality cell-phone images. I just hope that I can convey the value of this worthwhile little business, and how hard the owners are trying to reach out into the community to share their passion for coffee. Thanks very much to owners Jessie and Andy Wilkin for the experience, and for helping add to my knowledge of and interest in this place called Toronto.

te aro in its renovated garage space on Queen st.

Fuzzy view of the tasting table. I particularly loved this gorgeous salvaged wood countertop.

We had the opportunity to taste three yummy coffees, and decided to take home some beans and a grinder too. Our favourite was the Etheopian Sidamo (description: blueberry, rhubarb, lemon, lime, jammy, fruit punch, floral).

And for my mother we snapped this shot of the Swiss Made Coffee Center with her personal hero Roger Federer. More on the Federer connection here.