Iced Coffee Smackdown: Our Search for the City’s Best Cold Coffee
Te Aro, the sleek east-end coffeehouse from Pilot Coffee Roasters, is the only café in Toronto that pulls coffee from a tap. Coarse-ground beans are brewed in hot water, then chilled and stored in a nitrogen-tapped keg, which shields the coffee from flavour-decayers like light and oxygen. The result: a cold brew with the creaminess you’d expect from a Guinness. $4
. 983 Queen St. E., 416-465-2006
At Rooster, the new downtown outpost of the popular Riverdale café, coffee is brewed, blanched and then chilled for 20 hours. It’s strong, but the flavours are actually quite delicate: sweet and vaguely peachy. $3.75. 343 King St. E., 416-995-1530
Ezra Braves, the owner of the Ezra’s Pound coffee shops on Dupont and Dundas West, hates when lumps of ice dilute a strong brew, so he pours shots of espresso over cubes of frozen coffee. The drink stays cold and potent from first sip to last. $4.10. 238 Dupont St., 416-929-4400
Early Bird Espresso, the new café on Queen West, has an elaborate cold-drip system imported from Japan. Icy water filters through four towering beakers, pulling a bright, citrusy concentrate from the grounds. $4. 613 Queen St. W., 647-962-4204
