The rise of the indie coffee mini-empire
For Toronto coffee lovers, 2011 started in much the same way that 2010 finished: with further proof that the indie coffee craze shows no signs of slowing down. A third incarnation of Dark Horse opened at Queen and Euclid on January 2nd, joining Lit and Crema B Espresso as burgeoning mini-empires, with three locations each (a third Crema location is in the works). All of this, of course, raises the question: with indie cafés thriving due to their personal touch and attention to quality, will expansion mean selling out?
Dark Horse co-owner Deanna Zunde admits that operating three locations can leave her feeling spread a little thin. “It’s like being a parent with three children,” she says. But the key to avoiding the corporate, cookie-cutter pitfall, Zunde says, lies in making sure each location is tailored to its neighbourhood. It’s also about hiring knowledgeable, loyal staff to maintain quality.
Other players on the indie coffee scene see it a little differently. Nobody would dream of chiding shops like Dark Horse for their success, but Matthew Taylor, co-owner of Leslieville’s Mercury Espresso Bar, says that when he and his partner tried expanding, quality suffered. “We had people coming in and saying they preferred one location over the other,” he says. For him, that was unacceptable. Mercury’s second location shut down after about a year —“It was open six months longer than it should have been”—partially because the owners wanted to take back their quality control.
Sam James, having recently expanded to Bloor Street, is familiar with the expansion conundrum. At half the size of his minuscule first location, his new Coffee Pocket is quite literally just that, a pocket—no seats, no tables and no Wi-Fi. As a result, he’s able to focus on the coffee, which was exactly his intention in the first place. He also makes sure to work closely with all of his staff, which he says is crucial.
Bulldog’s Stuart Ross is hesitant about the idea of expanding. He doesn’t rule it out completely, but after about eight years on Granby Street, Bulldog is still one of a kind. “How could I be in two places at one time?” he says. “Maybe, if the moon and the earth and the sun were all lined up, and everything was perfect, I’d do it.” His assessment of Toronto’s coffee scene is that it’s nowhere near saturated just yet.
As for Dark Horse, it’s managed to keep out incursions of Starbucks culture for now. The new location has the same menu and the same indie decor (which, for Queen West, means reclaimed everything). We even watched as one tattooed barista dumped out an espresso he wasn’t satisfied with. Try seeing a Starbucks barista do that—but then again, even Starbucks began with a single location.
Expansion? Great! Why not?
Skinny, non-fat, no foam single location? Terrific!
I applaud the indie coffee shop for not being an end-note in a business textbook. Particularly while having to survive under corporate coffee’s shadow.
The beautiful thing about this business is the ability for customers to choose. I hope that doesn’t go away.
Unfortunately not many local, “indie” cafes support local, indie coffee roasters. If Toronto’s coffee scene is truly going to evolve, that has to change.
Once upon a time, Starbucks did dump shots – but with the fully automated machines that were introduced in Canada about 8 years ago, barista discretion was no longer encouraged, or trained…
The old coffee from the old La Marzocco machine actually tasted like espresso. Unlike the watery stuff they pull these days.
Sigh.
Crema only has two locations (not three as indicated), although I think a third one is in the works.
Although it’s great that indie coffee shops are opening up to suit individual tastes, this whole thing is getting a bit hypocritical. The Square Fruit Market that used to be on that corner was independantly run, sold great produce, the owners were friendly, and it was a staple in the area.
I find it a little sad that this fantastic little produce market was turned into ANOTHER hipster-centric reclaimed-wood coffee shop. Feels like gentrification at its worst.
If any of the patrons of any of these indie cafes have a problem with adding new locations, it’s a selfish thing, nothing more.
Some patrons get too much of a feeling of ownership over a cafe, as opposed to an appreciation, and to deny other areas of the city a similar experience is just selfishness.
Also, everyone on Queen West that still bleeds for the Square Fruit Market needs to wake-up, we need more shabbily-run, questionable health standards fruit markets like we need another hole in our heads. The strong cafes will survive and the weak ones will soon be gone.
Starbucks did used to throw out the shots. The espresso is the same bean that it is now but the art and the real machine made it so much better. Even Starbucks insiders agree that quality was traded for consistency since the quality of shot depends on many factors including the skill and experience of the barista.
More indie coffee shops make Toronto a richer city.
@KC……if independent coffee shops are to use locally roasted beans, I’d suggest that the roasters in this city improve their quality control first. The majority of roasters in the GTA are not nearly on the same level as an Intellegentsia, 49th Parallel, Toi Moi or even Te Aro bean. It doesn’t help that fact that a number of these GTA roasters are large scale, high volume operations which cater to offices and hospitality services. A good roast or blend isn’t necessarily about how much money you shell out on your equipment; it’s an art form and a chemistry. However, Detour Coffee out of Dundas, ON has a number of good blends, and should be available at more shops.
@T2…Oh, agreed. Most of the local Toronto roasters are large scale and interested in quantity over quality, and they end up giving all Toronto roasteries a bad reputation. But there are a number of local small roasters that are very much dedicated to producing a product that can compete with Intelli, 49th, Stumptown, etc. Local roasters like Detour, Te Aro, Social, and my own roastery are producing great coffees. But I can tell you firsthand, it’s an uphill battle to convince local cafes and restaurants to support us. Until they do, we will forever be overshadowed by inferior local beans, and imported ones.
Tango Palace in Leslieville has a beautiful, huge brass coffee machine which looks like its from another era and their coffee is the best I’ve tasted anywhere in Toronto.
Dark City is a wonderful local roaster that in my opinion is better than Intelligentsia (which is too large scale and rather overrated) — everything roasted to order and shipped immediately. I wish Dark City coffees could be found in more coffee shops. And no, I have no affiliation to Dark City. Just a very happy customer.
I like good coffee.
Crema will open it’s third Cremalicious destination on Spadina in March.
Indie cafes definitely make me feel more welcomed.
Indie cafes with board games (www.snakesandlattes.com), knitting (www.theknitcafetoronto.com) and the latest one wiht painting (www.paintlounge.ca) are also popping up … they’re much more fun than just coffee and tea!
Local roasters in Toronto work hard to produce great coffee. it would be nice if more Indies supported us in our efforts…. just saying….
When I opened lazy daisy’s cafe at Coxwell & Gerrard I chose to work with Andy at Te Aro. He roasts in small batches, trades directly with farmers and is a stickler for quality. He is also an extremely professional, affable chap who is always open to giving our team more training and assessing the quality of the shots we pull.
Just wanted to say hats off to our fave local roaster!
hale coffee company
http://www.halecoffee.com