Toronto Guide: Balzac's Coffee

Address | 1 Trinity St, Toronto, ON M5A 3C4, Canada

Lynette and I just returned to NYC from Toronto where I had a quick, all expenses paid, 48 hour trip to work on a project.  I'll reveal more about that later.  In the meantime, I thought I'd take my coffee guide global and review a handful of coffee shops we stopped by while in Toronto. First up for the Toronto Coffee Guide is Canadian coffee company, Balzac's Coffee.

My wife and I arrived in Toronto on a rainy Sunday.  One of our good friends in Seattle had connected Lynette with a couple of locals to get an idea of the best places to go in a short period of time.  One recommendation was that we begin our exploration of Toronto in the Distillery District.   The Distillery is a great area.  Its pedestrian only brick layed streets make for an intimate exploration experience through the 19th Century buildings that once housed whisky distilleries turned to art galleries, coffee shop, restaurants, and boutiques.  Large sculptures can be found on each street making every turn a new experience.  We weaved through tourists snapping photos and locals enjoying happy hour from place to place and enjoyed each stop we made. I'll follow up this review with some of the shops and local gastro/beverage experiences we had.  For now, back to the coffee!

TORONTO COFFEE GUIDE: ALL ABOUT BALZAC

Balzac's is a Canadian Coffee Shop with 13 locations, so we did come across it more than once while exploring Toronto.  Around 4:00 p.m. I really needed that post flight, touring and tasting as much as I can in a new city,  caffeine jolt. Balzac's in the Distillery is housed in a large airy space with coffee posters, and ornate decor. The menu offers the Cafe Canadienne which I immediately correctly guessed as a coffee beverage with what else but maple syrup of course! Tempting as that was I ordered the machiato and Lynette went with her traditional Americano.  My machiato was really good.  It was smooth with perfect dark chocolate notes.  It was served very hot, just how I like it. Lynette has a strict policy of sharing whatever she orders with me no matter the circumstances.  Her Americano was likewise perfectly made.

There were small bites but we had already hit a chocolatier, brunch, sake tasting, and bakery (more about those later) so we stuck with the coffee. The coffee experience was elevated by the yellow accents of the cups and to-go lids.  It reminded me of my daughter who's favorite color is yellow, and just made the experience even happier.

In conclusion, I definitely recommend Balzac's as a great coffee choice when in Toronto and I recommend the Distillery District too so when you're in Toronto, why not stop in at that particular location.  It's a fun experience with more to explore once you finish your cup!