Ready, ready

Silver bells, Silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, (ring-a-ling) hear them ring (ting-a-ling)
Soon it will be far too late ...

Too late for a thoughtful gift that says you found the perfect so-you present months ago, and not half an hour before closing time on Christmas Eve in a blind panic.

Don't worry. That need not be you. At our store, on the corner of Bathurst and Bloor streets, we have a temptatious array of goodies the coffee/hot beverage enthusiasts on your Christmas list will thank you for each and every day of the next year.

Have you heard about this pour over business? Well, it's all true. The pour-over taste is clean, balanced, bright, and deeply pleasant; beans reveal their unique characteristics without bitterness, achieved through the slow pour of water over fresh coffee grinds in a cone filter for even flavour extraction. But, the best part, is how attractive the pour-over method can be. For instance, take the Chemex line [to the left on display in-store]. The supremely elegant hourglass design fastened with a wood collar and tie is an absolute "beautility" if the inventor says so himself [see Dr. Peter Schlumbohm - a chemist who essentially gave a laboratory flask to the coffee world and never looked back]. The Chemex enjoys the honour of inclusion in the New York Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection as "one of the best-designed products of modern times". And it's an affordable work of art! For the gift recipient, already a fan of the line, consider raising their joy vibration with a 64-ounce Chemex hand-blown glass stovetop water kettle [roll your eyes to the right] or a Chemex Ottomatic Coffee Brewer, which automates the entire pour-over experience but without departing from the MoMA-approved carafe and the line's signature aesthetic of beautiful simplicity. Because pour over is here to stay, we carry several pleasingly priced lines including Hario, the mighty Japanese brand that brought the pour-over revolution to North America (Hario, incidentally, got its start in heat-resistant laboratory glassware before moving into the beans biz).

For something less lab-like, a glamorous or funky fun take on a traditional French press is a terrific alternative. It always pays to bear in mind that French presses are the vessel of choice for cupping in the coffee world. Why? Because French presses permit the full blossom of the coffee experience - the aroma, body and flavour with every nuance amplified - that would otherwise be diluted by paper filters and the loss of the essential oils responsible for this heightened wonder. We use French presses exclusively for our in-house taste-testing in order to evaluate the characteristics of the coffee at its most direct point of access: the French press is the best coffee tell of all. Looks charming, too, on a tray with milk and sugar servers alongside newspapers, which is exactly how you can enjoy your order in-store.

On display you will also discover a coffeelicious array of grinders, brewers and roasters at various price points accompanied by helpful shelf-talkers listing the advantages and particulars of each, as well as an assortment of stocking-stuffer accessories (for both coffee and tea aficionados) and an abundance of fresh-roasted coffee selections we will grind on the premises for you (unroasted choices are also available). 

To get started, try some of our top-selling beans this holiday season to keep the festivities ... awake. A rich, bold, classic Colombian Supremo will elevate any occasion; choose from bright Kenyas, floral Ethiopian Yirgacheffes, earthy Ethiopian Sidamos and Harrars for body and complexity; experience the so-called "perfect cup" with a pick from Costa Rica or a rich and velvety Guatemala Antigua; a smooth and chocolatey Peru Fair Trade Organic or one of our espresso blends made from secret in-house recipes that sell out faster than we can bag them: those being Espresso Choco, Sweet Santa and Jubilee.

Alternatively, explore our extensive range of coffee offerings one chunk of the elephant at a time with a free (but thoughtful) "gift" subscription to our Coffee of the Week online promotion ($5 off our featured coffee for that week). Fill out the online form here to join 'em up, yourself included.