Subtext Coffee Roasters is located in Toronto’s West End. The cafe highlights smallholder producer coffee with a daily rotation. With the roastery releasing over 120 coffees last year, the cafe has become a tasting room for a wide range of regions, varieties, and processes. Six pour-overs are featured regularly, showing the season’s range, complemented by a “vintages” menu of frozen highlights from previous seasons. Pour-overs are made on six steep-and-release brewers, with every coffee served alongside a detailed card on in-house-made walnut boards. Depending on the menu, curated coffee flights are available that often compare different processes or varieties from the same farm. Two different espressos rotate on bar through Ceado’s newest grinders and a retrofitted Slayer pulling shots on 49mm SWorks baskets.
The lofty industrial space, unassuming from the outside, is alive with greenery. It features stadium seating for talks, classes, and lectures where they have hosted coffee producers, historians, importers, and other industry professionals. Here, the team also runs regular cuppings and brewing courses on weekends.
Throughout the week, guests can watch the roasting happen through the garage door. They feature sourdough pastries from their local bakery partner, Noctua.
