THE BARISTA SERIES: KT

Do you have any future goals you're working towards?

I really enjoy learning about coffee! While I don’t see myself behind the bar forever, I would love to be in any role that would let me nerd out and learn everything about coffee. I went to a workshop where we tried different coffee varieties, and being able to taste coffees side by side and learning the differences was so fascinating to me. I want to understand how different factors affect the way coffee tastes, and to learn how to appreciate roasting styles as well.

What do you really enjoy about working in coffee?

I really enjoy the complexity and simplicity of it. I love applying what I learn about coffee into how I craft it (whether it be dialling in, etc.), and enjoying the moment afterwards where I can slow down and appreciate the brew. It’s especially rewarding when the person at the receiving end can tell and appreciate my efforts.

I also really enjoy the community aspect of it. While customer service has its hardships, there are other moments where experiencing life with others can make the job feel very romantic, such as cheering on a student who is graduating or being able to slightly make someone’s day better if they were having a rough one by making them their favourite drink.

...and something you'd like to see change?

There are a lot of people I know who love coffee but can’t justify staying in the industry because there isn’t really any money to be made. I would love to see that change where everyone, from baristas to farmers, can be earning a living wage and be able to afford healthcare they may need.

Any final thoughts you want to share?

I’m really thankful for all the people I’ve met in this industry! Besides loving coffee, this industry has let me meet some really cool people who I have learned so much from.

Where can we grab a coffee from you?

Boxcar Social’s Summerhill location! :)

THE BARISTA SERIES: ANSKAR

You’ve seen him all around Toronto pouring beautiful and delicious drinks; this week’s feature on The Barista Series is Anskar Shin! Anskar has graced the stage at latte art competitions and throw downs, honing in on his talents as a barista. Here’s what he has to say:

Do you have any future goals you're working towards?  

Some future goals I am working towards are:

1. Open my own coffee shop.

2. Win a Coffeefest World Latte Art Championship.

3. Win the Canadian National Latte Art Competition. 

What do you really enjoy about working in coffee?

The craft, the coffee and the community definitely make working in coffee enjoyable. I love how coffee can change someone's day whether it's a delicious pour-over or beautiful latte art. 

...and something you'd like to see change?

I'd like to see a few things change:

1. I'd like to see more respect for coffee - similar to how wines and craft beer are viewed. 

2. A livable wage, benefits, sponsorship and more opportunities to grow for coffee professionals. 

3. Less Starbucks and more specialty coffee shops. 

Any final thoughts you want to share?

I love coffee! 

Where can we grab a coffee from you?   

You can grab a coffee from me at 450 Dufferin! 

THE BARISTA SERIES: JUAN

We’re finally back with a new feature in our Barista Series! You may know Juan if you’ve been haunting Subtext Coffee or maybe you’ve seen him land his big win during the 2022 Toronto Aeropress Champs - regardless, Juan gives us an insightful look into his journey with coffee with this interview.

Do you have any future goals you're working towards?

I’m always working towards growing within the coffee industry, either by being active in the community or by connecting with it. I do want to compete next year in brewer’s cup so that is one of main goals. 

What do you really enjoy about working in coffee?

I love the community aspect of it. How big the community is but at the same time we all know each other somehow. I’ve worked a few years behind the bar and it’s definitely made me a better person. Also, the excitement of new coffees every new season and seeing the improvement of work from producers year by year and connecting with them, recently back in December I was able to be in Huila, Colombia with Importer Osito Coffee and being able to connect with producers which coffee we had in the past was just an amazing feeling. 

...and something you'd like to see change?

I’d like to see change the credibility over what wealthy and famous farms/families have been doing lately with processing coffee. Coffee is always moving forward and it should but for producers getting affected by climate change and inflation and social barriers it’s hard to move forward while also being sustainable. Small scale producers deserve more visibility, their coffee is as amazing (even better) than some big scale farms but for roasters sometimes having the farm’s name in their bags is a profitable business. 

Any final thoughts you want to share?

Being coffee has always been an accident for me, I used to work in the film industry prior to this and having stumble upon coffee bags on set from roasters like Pilot or Propeller back then and wondered why the coffee tasted different than a Tim Horton’s Take 12. It was a happy mistake that literally changed my life for the best. After working at a few cafes during COVID I almost lost my love for working in coffee to the point of not wanting to do it again. Then Subtext Coffee came to the rescue and made me fall in love with coffee again. I love the Toronto Coffee Community and I love events when I get to see everybody!

Where can we grab a coffee from you?
(optional)

You can grab coffee from me at Subtext Coffee Roasters at 130 Cawthra in the Junction! Mon to Fri 9-3 :)

THE BARISTA SERIES: DYLAN

We’re here to celebrate another great face in coffee - Dylan! Dylan comes to us from the UK and has been working in Toronto for the last while. With a positive attitude and eager-to-learn attitude, this barista has quickly made an impression on the local community and industry. Clearly, we have nothing but good things to say about him!

Do you have any future goals you're working towards? - 

In terms of my working life, it's all about community building. I want to be able to build up passion, curiosity and knowledge within my customer base around the specialty coffee industry. I'd really like to be a driving force involved in bridging the gap between those in specialty coffee and those who are knocking at the door. Personally, I am looking forward to my first experience in the competition scene. I hope to compete in the Canadian Brewers Cup during this or next year's rotation. Through this avenue I'd love to be able to show that competition is an accessible step for many baristas. I believe that competition has become an increasingly unattainable goal for young baristas due to financial and resource related limitations. Of course, the goal is to succeed and hopefully win these competitions, but just to get there would be an amazing achievement for me. 

What do you really enjoy about working in coffee? - 

The ability to provide people with the best hospitality possible while serving them the best possible product. I think the main thing is to make people feel comfortable in the space, this makes it a better experience for both the customer and the barista. I love to be able to give people good experiences in our spaces. With coffee, I also love the idea of being the last variable along the chain. If everyone in the chain of coffee production, from tree to cup, performs to the highest quality, the customer will be truly impressed by the cup they are served. Then, with a little more education, customers will be more understanding of paying the industries rising prices. I think its special to be the one portraying the work done by all the producers and roasters we work with. 

...and something you'd like to see change? - 

Right now, I think the industry and the community is generally moving in the right direction. However, i would love to see this industry become a little more welcoming and accessible for people. I think we really need to put effort in to make this industry enjoyable and rewarding, especially for young people getting their first job in hospitality. Rather than just keeping staff turnover as low as possible, I'd love to see employers begin to invest in their staff a little more and really try to plant that passion for hospitality. I've got really lucky landing up with the team i have, Antoine and the rest of the team remind me to stay curious and to always be passionate about this industry. This kind of investment into staff is something I don't think we see enough of, which is why a lot of staff often feel overworked and under-appreciated. 

Any final thoughts you want to share? - 

Since arriving in Canada, I have been introduced into the kindest, most welcoming coffee community. I urge anyone who is beginning to become remotely curious around specialty coffee to please go to your local coffee shop and make conversation with the barista. Ask questions, compliment our latte art, tell us about something coffee related you just read. We all love it when customers and community members show an interest in our industry and our work. Also look out for events that local coffee businesses put on. We always want new people to come to events here at 10 Dean, Toronto Coffee Community does some amazing stuff and so do many others like Subtext. 

Where can we grab a coffee with you? - 

No. 10 Dean (The Waverley at College + Spadina or The Parker at Yonge + Eglinton)

THE BARISTA SERIES: GABBY

Toronto Coffee Community wouldn’t be where it is without the people who serve their community. Being behind the bar in a cafe or coffee shop can oftentimes be monotonous and thankless but we want to change that by celebrating the local faces who we see every day making beautiful cups. We are delighted to introduce our first in this series; Gabby!

Tell us a little about yourself and/or about your relationship with coffee:

I’ve been in coffee for about 6 years. I initially was interested in coffee from watching a couple British YouTubers go around to different coffee shops in London and talk about it. 

When I moved to Toronto for university, I started to venture outside campus to different specialty coffee shops which lead to my start working in coffee. 

I first started working at a spot in Yorkville and then moved on to work at Dineen where I was fortunate to be trained by Gaya Liou. Everything I know about coffee, I have Gaya to thank for. She was patient, supportive, and saw in me what I didn’t see in myself at the time. There isn’t a shot I don’t pull or milk I don’t steam without Gaya crossing my mind. 

My relationship with coffee is an open one. I have jumped in and out of the industry throughout the years but have always found my way back and it’s made me realize that my true passion lies with the beans! 

Do you have any future goals you're working towards?

For the last 6 years, I’ve mainly worked on the Barista front. Now with all this experience, I’m working towards being on the back end. Whether it be through roasting or working for a roaster in a logistical, operational, or administrative sense. 

I’m also hoping to work towards putting myself out there more in the community and expand my skill set. Either by participating in more competitions, learning how to roast and taking more sensory courses to evolve my palate!

What do you really enjoy about working in coffee?

Over the past 6 years, the coffee industry (specifically in Toronto and Ontario) has evolved so much. I’m from Kitchener-Waterloo, and when I left for school there were a few third wave coffee shops but now there are more specialty coffee shops popping up. 

What I like about coffee is that it is an ever changing industry. This often provides more opportunity and spaces for shops to open as well as more opportunity for people to find their way into coffee.

In Toronto, just 6 years ago, there were virtually no women-run roasters. Now we have incredible coffee by women like JAVA Roasters, The Angry Roaster and even Zombie Queen coffee in KW. 

...and something you'd like to see change?

Although coffee has many different types of people working on the front and back end. I do find there’s a homogenous voice that’s being uplifted.

In the future, I want there to be more spotlights on Indigenous coffee, more events for Black, POC and Queer baristas, and more educational sessions run by people who aren’t white cis men for people who aren’t white cis men. 

We also need to talk more about the process of coffee, and the disparity between us getting the beans and what it takes to cultivate them. In full honestly,  I am not educated on this, and I definitely want to change this about myself to do better for this industry. 

Any final thoughts you want to share?

To me, a good barista is someone who is compassionate, knowledgeable and open to building upon what they know. Every bean is different, every being is different and we should do what we can to best work together. 

If we run this industry on the basis of gatekeeping, then we are further pushing the colonial agenda that is attached to coffee. In order to make this industry sustainable (not only for the planet but also for the people within it) we need to do better of acknowledging who isn’t in the dominant discourse surrounding coffee and why. 

Where can we grab a coffee from you? (optional) 

Every Saturday and Sunday, you can find me in my bright orange crocs at Milky’s Cloud Room. 

Thanks to Gabby for their insightful and wonderful thoughts!

Check back next week for the next interview in our Barista Series!

Toronto Aeropress 2018

On May 25th the good coffee people of Toronto gathered for an epic night of community and competition at Quantum Coffee Co. on the corner of King and Spadina. The 2018 edition of the Toronto Regional Aeropress Championship kicked off with a bang—quite literally—when the kettles, emcee, and DJ got way too hot for the breaker to handle and blew out the venue's electricity! Luckily the good vibes kept rolling and the packed house enjoyed a delicious dinner courtesy of IQ Food Co., while the amazing team at Quantum resolved the issue. In no time, the Toronto Aeropress competitors were back at their brewing stations and ready and eager to plunge their way to glory!

Btw, most of the pictures you see here were taken by the incredibly talented Britney Townsend. You can learn more about Britney from a Q & A we did with her earlier this year HERE. A few of the photos were also taken by yours truly!

Poster designed by Melanie Sarazin

As usual, this event was a MASSIVE community effort, so we have lots of people to thank for making it possible. Rachel Rava and Gemma Morrison-Hunt both from Pilot Coffee Roasters were key in volunteering their time and effort to bring the #TorontoAeropress2018 to life. 

In case you didn't know, for the past two years our Toronto Aeropress coffee sponsor has been chosen in a blind cupping. This year, the folks from Beanstock and the Canadian Specialty Coffee Association hosted a cupping at Propeller Coffee Co. and selected the 2018 coffee sponsor out of over 20 coffee submissions from around the country (thank you to everyone who sent in coffees!). After tirelessly slurping and tasting, their expert panel chose local roaster Hatch Coffee as the favorite on the table. This was Hatch Coffee's second year winning the blind cupping. Boris Lee, Hatch's roaster submitted a "curve ball" blend of 80% Ethiopia Guji Mokanisa Natural and Costa Rica Tarrazu La Cuesta Honey Process. We were so grateful to have their continued support. 

Gaya Lou, Alex Castellani, and Vica Pelivan were the esteemed judges for the evening (pictured above & below). They graciously lent their well-tuned palates to the community by tasting coffee brewed by 27 competitors over the course of 3 rounds of elimination (yes!...that's a ridiculous amount of coffee!). Andrew Long (also pictured below) was our fearless leader and MC. Andrew kept the good vibes flowing along with Boxcar Social, our generous beer sponsor, who were a huge help in making it possible for us to sell their beer at a cheap price so attendance was fun and free for all. Oh, and thanks to the folks at National Cappuccino & La Marzocco, DJ Decaf Wolf showed up with a crowd pleasing playlist for the competitors to press to and kept the sweet tunes rolling all night. 

Our very generous prize sponsors: Eight Ounce Coffee Supply, San Remo Canada, Soul Chocolate, Fika Cafe, Marco Beverage Systems, Hatch Coffee, Pilot Coffee Roasters and The Roaster's Pack made sure the top three Aeropress competitors went home with some sweet, sweet brewing gear, chocolate, coffee, and swag. Thank you again to these companies for making the night extra fantastic!

The third and final round of the 2018 Toronto Aeropress Regional Championship saw three awesome baristas go head-to-head. Graham Hayes was the wild card of the night. He stepped in to the competition at the very last minute to fill the spot of a competitor no-show. With zero preparation for the comp, and borrowing some gear from other competitors, Graham ended up bringing home the gold! Chad Staunton, and James Bayford placed 2nd and 3rd respectively. A massive congratulations goes out to Graham, Chad, and James!!

Although we are only mentioning the top three finalists in this post, THANK YOU to everyone who competed and made the night a huge success! We were overwhelmed with the community's enthusiasm for this event this year... and still can't believe all 27 competitor spots sold out in less than 24 hours. 

Also, FYI, The Canadian National Aeropress Championship is taking place in Hamilton on September 7th find out more information by following along on the official facebook event page! X

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2018 Latte Royale in Photos by Britney Townsend

This past January, Propeller Coffee Co hosted their inaugural Latte Royale--a latte art competition with the goal of bringing together the coffee community. Hosted in Propeller's stunning Wade Avenue cafe and roastery, this wild event welcomed a packed house, was made possible by lots of generous sponsors, and the proceeds went to support Food for Farmers——a NGO that works with coffee growing communities to build food security for farming families. It warms our heart to see this kind of community building in action!

We are so thankful that photographer Britney Townsend was there to volunteer her time and capture the evening in photos on our behalf. Britney is both a coffee industry pro, and a professional photographer, so along with sharing her photos today, we also asked her a few questions about her photo work and how she got into coffee. We hope you enjoy!

Oh, and if you are looking for someone to shoot your next event, or if you are need of any other photography work, you can get in touch with Britney here: http://www.britneytownsend.com/

TCC: You have a special interest in coffee—can you share with us a little bit about how you got into coffee and your journey in the Toronto Coffee scene?

Britney Townsend: I've always loved coffee culture. The beginning of the journey started when I was in high school, but I moved to Guelph, ON for university and got a job at a fantastic spot called The Red Brick Cafe. It was there that I developed a love for beans, roasts, technique, and I was able to compete in the Central Canadian Barista Competition after training with Phong Tran. I moved to Toronto about 4 years ago and immersed myself in the coffee community here. It was the only place where I immediately felt like I was home. I got a job at a cafe and we started doing weekly cuppings. We would also travel to other third wave spots in the city to meet and chat with the baristas there. I started shooting for Sprudge, volunteered with the SCA, and have attended the Canadian Barista Academy as well. There is always something going on if you have an interest in coffee, and Toronto is one of the best places to be. 

TCC: You recently worked as a photograher on The Hunt City Guide to Toronto alongside journalist Ama Scriver. Can you tell us a little bit about the process of working on a city guide book? Was there anything in particular that you learned about this city that you may not have known before?

Britney Townsend: Working with Ama Scriver is always such a pleasure. The Hunt Guides was an intenste month of shoothing but Ama was able to guide me to some incredible spots in the city. We included everything—stores, restaurants, bars, parks, cafes. We made sure to include day guides and maps as well. We featured some great cafes——Arvo, Neo, Boxcar Social. It was really important that we guided our readers to spots that do coffee well and KNOW what they are selling. Ama also comes from a coffee background and some of my greatest projects for the coffee scene have been with her. You can grab our city guide here: http://thehuntguides.com/guides/toronto/

TCC: What led you to launch a career in photography?

Britney Townsend: Honestly, it's the only thing that I've always wanted to do. I can't remember a time where I didn't want to shoot. I was working for an event coverage company for years and when I went out on my own it was pretty terrifying. I am still working out the kinks of owning my own business, it's a slow process of getting set up, but I am having so much fun. You get to meet so many different types of people when you work in the arts. I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

TCC: These photos which you took at the recent Latte Royal latte art throwdown at Propeller Coffee are stunning and filled with a lot of feeling. What was your experience photographing the event?

Britney Townsend: I've shot events for years, but whenever I get to mix my passion for coffee and photography I get way more excited. It was completely packed in there! In the past years, coffee events have been dominated by the same people, but Latte Royal had a ton of new faces. I'm pretty sure guests came from all over the GTA. It was great to see how much our community is growing. I'll also be shooting Beanstock in May for those of you who are looking to attend the next big coffee event. If you see me with a camera, come say hi :)

TCC: What would you like to see more of in the Toronto coffee community? 

Britney Townsend: Events! More meet-ups, more tastings, more community. I've made some great friends in the Toronto Coffee scene and I would encourage anyone else with an interest to get involved. Also, awareness. Talk to your local baristas about what it is you are drinking, where it comes from, and who is growing it. Nothing is more important than knowing the source of what it is you consume. 

TCC: What's your favorite thing about the Toronto coffee community? 

Britney Townsend: Seeing friends that I recognize and connect with in every cafe. It's great to have a common interest with people who are as nerdy as I am. XX

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2017 EAST QUALIFIERS

With the Canadian National Barista Championship coming up this weekend in Edmonton we wanted to take a moment to relive the excitement of the 2017 East Qualifiers by sharing a TON of photos. For those that didn't have a chance to attend, this event was hosted at Toronto's Harbourfront Center on August 20th.

The first photo set below was taken by our extremely talented guest photographer, Winnie Zhang. You can find more of Winnie's work on Instagram at @whtvrwinnie.

The rest of the photos were taken by our resident photographer @thelittleblackcoffeecup and are broken down by competitor. We hope you enjoy!

Oh, and best of luck to all those competing in Nationals this weekend.

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EDWARD ANDERSON:

COFFEE QUALITY CONTROL AT BOXCAR SOCIAL 

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NATHANIEL FRIED: 

HEAD OF ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT AT PILOT COFFEE 

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AIMEE FERGUSON:

BARISTA AT PHIL & SEBASTIAN COFFEE ROASTERS

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SAMUEL YOUNG SOO KIM:

COFFEE QUALITY CONTROL MANAGER AT EARLY BIRD COFFEE

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KALEISHA BOUDREAU:

LEAD BARISTA AT PLANET BEAN

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NOAH WALKER:

BARISTA & JUNIOR ROASTER AT BAROCCO COFFEE

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KHALED RAYYAN:

OWNER OF HALE COFFEE CO

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ANNE CUMBY:

OWNER OF CANNON COFFEE

& CLIENT DEVELOPMENT AT REUNION ISLAND COFFEE

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RAICHEL NEUFELD:

BARISTA AT PILOT COFFEE