So, after that long and winding path through our French press coffees, we’ll now chat a bit about our espresso drinks, our teas, and our lemonades. Hopefully we’ll keep it shorter than before.

We use Classic Coffee espresso, which is also fair trade organic (notice an overarching theme?). Sadie, as I mentioned, is a decaf drinker so she went to extensive trouble to make sure to find a decaf espresso that tastes just as good as the jittery version. I love her for that.

We have a semi-automatic espresso machine—yes, that beaut of a machine that you see pretty much first thing when you walk in. The one that looks kinda like a Cadillac. None of that super-automatic stuff you get at your local corporate enterprise coffee shop. This means that each morning I get to watch Sadie yell as she fiddles to calibrate the grinders to churn out the perfect consistency of grinds for your drinks, and then taste the final product.

We serve all the espresso drinks you’re probably used to, but there are a few neat things I learnt about espresso here at the café that I’ll pass on to you:

a. The difference between a cappuccino and a latte is NOT the amount of foam. Unlike what popular coffee chains would have you believe, a cappuccino is not a bitter dredge of espresso with a ridiculous amount of foam on top. The espresso shot is more bitter than that of a latte, however the milk/microfoam situation is actually more or less the same. That’s really the difference—bitter vs. sweet.. not foam vs. milk. And now you know.

b. A macchiato is not a milky drink. This one I actually knew. In Spain we use macchiato and cortato interchangeably—it’s espresso with just a mark of milk. (“Macchiato” means marked in Italian, go figure.) It fits in an espresso cup, that’s how small it is.

Rather than talk about each and every drink on the board, I’m gonna zone in on a few of my favourites. Because I’m writing this.

The Espresso

The espresso at café novo is sweet, rather than bitter. This is actually what Spaniards expect in their espresso, so my family finally found somewhere in Canada we can drink espresso at. Italian espresso generally is more bitter, and is also the more common espresso you’ll find about the city.

The Americano

A sweet espresso follows with a sweet Americano. With a dollop of agave and a good stir; I’m in heaven.

The Latte Au Miel

My hands down favourite. Absolute. Just. UGH. A coat of honey covered with a sweet long espresso and steamed milk, and just the perfect amount of microfoam. With a quick stir to help the honey dissolve its like drinking an adult version of milk warmed on the stove with honey on a cold rainy night when the thunder is keeping you scared awake as a kid. The warm milk pours down your throat and warms you from the inside out, and the clear accent of honey lingers on your tongue, enwrapping you in comfort. Sadie made me my first one. She can now do no wrong in my eyes.

The Milks

This sort of goes for any of our espresso drinks that use milk, as well as anyone who puts milk (dairy or soy) or cream in their coffee.

We only use 100% organic milk. We get our dairy from Harmony Organics, from the glass bottle (which can be overwhelmingly annoying when a bottle breaks..) and our soy from Natura organics. We can make your drink as 1%, 2%, or soy with absolutely no charge difference between one or the other. We steered clear of skim because the reduced amount of fat in the milk just doesn’t carry, or mix well with espresso properly, and we’d rather not give you a drink that doesn’t taste up to par. We keep 2%, 10% cream, and soy out on the condiment stand for you in little bottles that we end up refilling pretty much every 10 minutes when its busy. But its worth it—because it means we know you’re not getting anything but fresh.

Because its always fresh from the fridge, and preservative free, when you pour the fresh, cold milk into your piping hot coffee sometimes it will separate a bit and you’ll get some white spots floating to the top. That’s a sign of a lack of emulsifiers and really not something to be alarmed about. It’ll still taste just as good, though we apologize for the less appealing visual. (Probably the reason ‘regular’ milks add emulsifiers..)

The Syrups

We use “Sweetbird Syrups” (first cafe in Toronto to do so!), and carry raspberry, mint, hazelnut, almond, caramel and vanilla syrups, as well as sugar-free caramel and vanilla. All of our syrups are certified vegan, and are 100% natural, no fake colour or flavor junk. We have white chocolate (not vegan) and dark chocolate (vegan) syrups for the mochas and hot chocolates (yes, you can get a white chocolate cappuccino here. Decadent, eh?) and neither of them are overly sweet. As they say—easier to add than take away. If you want it sweeter, we have all sorts of sweeteners on the condiment stand. Which brings me to..

The Sweeteners

We carry unbleached organic cane sugar (tastes similar to regular white sugar, though I prefer the taste—natural sugar has a beautiful depth that is surprisingly lost when it’s run through vats of bleach or bone char.), organic locally sourced honey, organic raw Agave nectar (comes from the same plant as tequila. Instant cred in my books. Honestly though, I love the flavor—and it’s more sweet and lower GI than honey or sugar so its more diabetic friendly), and “Organic Zero” aka erythritol—a zero calorie sweetener that’s naturally derived from sugar cane. Neat, huh?

The Lemonade

Made with a pile of fresh organic lemons, in an elegant metal lemon press, and organic raw agave nectar, this simple treat speaks for itself. Generally you’re drinking a batch made the day before, if not the day of, so it’s definitely some of the freshest lemonade you’ll have this summer. You can spice it up with a shot of our raspberry syrup for a nice punch too.

The Tea

We get all our teas from “Tealish”. All our teas are fairtrade and/or organic, except for the chai which is made in line with organic farming principles, however not full out certified. (Most teas are organic, since tea is such an ancient tradition, it’s only some that bother going through the certification process.) We steep our teas for you so that they’re just perfect—not too strong nor too weak, and we can also use them to make iced tea, novo lemonades (tea + lemonade, which pretty much equals love), and tea lattes (hot or iced). Chai lattes in particular have me swooning a little every time they’re prepared.

Our teas are:
Black: Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Vanilla Crème and Chai
Green: Jasmin Silver Tips and Sakura Cherry Rose
Rooibos: Provence, Wild Blueberry, Zesty Ginger, Tahitian Moon Vanilla and Honeybush (which actually isn’t a rooibos but is also an African plant that is prepared in a similar way and has a similar flavor profile)
Herbal: Peppermint and Deep Green Embrace

Check out the “Tealish website” for more details on each individual flavor.

Anything else you’d like to learn about us? Let us know!
♥