Sommelier-blended tea: Sloane Teas (Image: Anya Chibis)
Small-batch root beer
Nickel Brook Brewery
Babbling Brooke’s Root Beer contains only ingredients our grandmothers would recognize: cinnamon bark, star anise, orange peel and water. The soda has a strong licorice bite, a hint of vanilla and a minty finish. $2. 864 Drury Lane, Burlington, 905-681-2739.
Leslieville-roasted coffee beans
Pilot Roasters
Andy Wilkin moved to Toronto from Wellington, New Zealand, bringing with him his native city’s coffee mania. He founded a pair of cafés (Te Aro and Crafted) and a roasting business, which supplies dozens of espresso bars with his blends. He makes trips to Central America to establish direct trade relationships and adjusts the roasting process with each new bag of beans. His Burnout Dark Roast is smooth and chocolatey, and his Ethiopian Sidama is bright with an uncanny hit of blueberry. $13–$16 a pound. Te Aro, 983 Queen St. E., 416-546-4006.
Pineapple beer
Spearhead Brewing Company
This two-year-old Etobicoke brewery makes an unusual Hawaiian-style pale ale that’s infused with pineapple juice. It has a hazy copper colour and a faint caramel sweetness. The finish is hoppy but not as bitter as a heavy IPA, making it an excellent early autumn sipper. $14 for six bottles. LCBO 294520.
Raspberry Milk
Moo Milk Bar
Danielle Oron, who trained at New York’s French Culinary Institute, opened Toronto’s only milk bar last year. She stirs add-ins like vanilla bean paste and house-made fruit preserves into creamy two per cent from Hewitt’s Dairy in Hagersville. The raspberry version has only a touch of sugar, which makes it a tart cereal soaker or light milkshake alternative. $3.50. 1918A Queen St. E., 647-343-4272.
Sommelier-blended tea
Sloane Teas
Hoda Paripoush, one of a handful of certified tea sommeliers in Canada, imports some of the world’s highest-quality and rarest leaves, like a single-estate Darjeeling dubbed the Cristal of teas for its pedigree. She mixes them with natural spices, scents and blossoms, creating tea so unusual and layered, it’s easy to get geeky over, with talk of top notes, balance and finish. Case in point: the Persian Palace is a perfect blend of malty Assam black teas, intensely aromatic cardamom and Jaipur roses. $26. Sloanetea.com.
Micro-distilled hooch
Still Waters, 66 Gilead, Dillon’s, Toronto Distillery
Ontario spirit distilling is poised to become a mini-movement. Concord’s Still Waters recently released a micro-distilled whisky called Stalk and Barrel. Because whisky takes at least three years to age, however, most of the new breed of hooch artisans are focusing on spirits they can bottle and sell more rapidly. For Dillon’s, a family-run operation in the Niagara fruit belt, that means a fearsome un-aged white rye made from 100 per cent Ontario rye (most big brands are supplemented with corn). In Prince Edward County, 66 Gilead infuses whole wheat vodka with fresh Canadian pine needles grown on the property, and makes gin that tastes like lavender and cucumber that even compares to Hendrick’s in smooth drinkability. Closer to home, the fledgling Toronto Distillery Company has set up shop in the Junction; its organic grain liquor (a.k.a. moonshine) will definitely put hair on your chest. It’s available both neat and in cocktails at the Queen West hipster bar Happy Child. Still Waters whisky, stillwatersdistillery.com; Dillon’s The White Rye, LCBO 337600; 66 Gilead Pine Flavoured Vodka, LCBO 288464; Toronto Distillery Company, 90 Cawthra Ave., 416-558-5523.
Falooda
Royal Paan
After a taste of the royal falooda, bubble tea seems as staid as a cup of orange pekoe. The rose-scented Indian milkshake is made with soft serve, puréed cashews and almonds, soaked basil seeds, a healthy splash of rose syrup and a fistful of chewy vermicelli noodles. The disparate components are suspended in the thick goo and come up helter-skelter through the straw. The mix of sweet and flowery flavours is very nearly overpowering, yet irresistible—an acquired taste that’s worth acquiring. Take-home tubs $3.50–$5. 2654 Islington Ave., 416-743-7226; plus three other GTA locations.
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