Manic Espresso - Ethiopian Yergacheffe Beloya Estate
It’s not every day I get served a cup of coffee that is so incredibly delicious, I can’t help but involuntarily announce it’s greatness between each sip. T’was yet again another clover coffee that tweaked my senses, an Ethiopian Yergacheffe microlot to be exact, sourced and roasted by 49th parrallel. It promised so much on that little white board, and amazingly delivered it with a clarity I’ve come to expect from a well made clover.
This morning’s suggestion of driving downtown (approx 1 hours drive) with the sole purpose of finding a good cuppa was remarkably well received. Wayne (my partner) who only just arrived has been enjoying his two course coffee order (espresso followed by a flat white) at Spring Espresso in Subi until last week. Now that we are happily settled in our temporary home for the next year, it was nice to know that exploring the Toronto coffee scene is something we are both very keen to do.
As far as I’ve heard, Toronto has numerous quality café’s on offer. Today, on Anthony Benda’s recommendation, we dedicated our taste buds solely to Manic Espresso. It’s always hard to say too much about the café on the first visit, so bare with me if I’m light on the details. Once I get a that chance to hang, meet the barista’s and really sus the place out I’ll hopefully post some pics and a more in-depth report. For the time being, I’ve felt compelled to share my experience today as it was such a memorable one.
From the looks of it, Manic is serving Intelligentsia Black Cat as it’s espresso blend and sourcing some micro-lots and single origin’s from 49th Parallel Roasters as clover and drip coffee. Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of Clover Coffee, it’s popularity in Australia is apparent by it’s only two known locations (to me at least) being Liar Liar and Brother Budda Budan, both Melbourne cafes. Clover is a very expensive machine ($10 000 plus aussie dollar) designed to step “brewed coffee” up a million notches. So no surprise it’s never really taken off here, as our brewed coffee culture is almost non-existent. One of the secret’s to it’s success is the ease of control over important brew parameters such as grind size, dose, water temperature and contact time (or how long the grinds are in contact with brew water). All this operating at a commercially viable speed, means that café’s can offer and variety of different coffee’s at varying brew profiles to enhance their individual characteristics. I don’t really have any experience on the machine itself, besides a small tinker with the one at Liar Liar, however, I’ve drank a number of different Clover coffees over the last couple of years, and in my experience, when it’s done well, even the average coffee consumer will stand back and take notice.
Now, back to the delicious cup I had today. I’m trying to think back … there were four Clover Coffee’s on offer … and I can’t actually remember any of them … Ah, sorry!! I simply remember seeing the white board with a special offering of said Beloya Estate. This particular estate is a natural processed coffee, meaning the cherries are picked and dried as is, often resulting in heavier bodied coffee with lower acidity as the pulp and mucilage are left to ferment on the bean. The characteristics of the Beloya we’re so accurately described as vanilla aromatics, intense blueberry flavor and citrus notes. While I was waiting, Sam the barista actually called me over to offer me a wiff of my freshly ground portion. Shortly thereafter I was presented with my mug of clover coffee, the temperature was perfect and immediately drinkable. I’d have to say they were spot on, Vanilla and blueberry aromatics and intense blueberry in the cup. Just when I thought it was over, the last sip which had cooled by the time I got to it, was undoubtedly the citrus as described in their cupping notes. It’s great when you a taste a cup that is so accurately and clearly represented.
Big props to Manic espresso and Sam (I only got his first name) the barista, located in downtown Toronto who managed to serve me a cup of coffee I’ll never forgot – for someone tasting coffee as part of their profession that is truly a remarkable feat, the memorable cup, I shall sing it’s praises for year’s to come.
Oh yeah … and I would do again in a heartbeat … well worth the six bucks!
Jenny
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