Merchants of Green Coffee

Came here for a coffee date last weekend. One of the best «regular» (meaning non latte or specialty) coffees I’ve had in the city. Did not try any food however. Ambiance is a bit dark but cozy. This place could use a bit of sprucing up but otherwise coffee is fantastic and would definitely return, despite it being very off the beaten path!

Excellent Sumatra black coffee brewed by the cup and last visit, a Rooibos tea served in a carafe. Great laid back vibe with unpretentious energy. Washroom is unisex which may be disconcerting. Friendly staff. Quirky location makes it all the more interesting. Super sweet place.

Super hipster place with good coffee. As I walked in, the place was packed with people on this beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Lots of people here working, reading or playing social games.
I went over the counter to order and the 2 ladies were SO confused. .Thank god my cortado turned out great!
I was afraid it would be overly fruity but the flavor was nice with a hint of chocolate :)
This place is pet friendly so I would definitely come back with my dog.
They also have many couches available. .I’m sitting on one and about to fall asleep as I am writing this review: p

Ok it’s been several years now with absolutely no improvement in the dismal service, so I’m chopping some stars off.
I’ve purchased green beans here no less than ten times and every single visit has been fraught with service issues. If there was an east end alternative, I’d have stopped buying beans here years ago.
It should be a relatively simple thing to buy ten pounds of coffee, pay for it and leave. But every time, it’s like I’m taxing the limits of human intellect and computational processing powers. On my last visit I was actually asked whether I wanted to pay $ 100 in total or $ 12 for each of the ten bags. WTF!
Cool café. Great coffee. And morons.

Great atmosphere; it is a good place to come to if you want to work, read, or meet friends. I’ve never had any issues with the servers/​service — always nice and friendly. Unfortunately, the places closes pretty early, so that’s one of the main reasons I don’t go as often as I probably would otherwise. They also don’t have good artificial sweetener, but I realize I’m probably asking for too much from a hipster-​y coffee joint.

Very relaxing, good coffee. The space is huge, very rare to find a coffee shop with such a large space in Toronto. They even have a library of books you can make use of. It’s a littl off the beaten path but it’s just one more thing I love about this place.

Smooth, sweet espresso in a space comfortable enough to take a nap. This is the place to absorb the unchanging pursuit of excellence in the cup.

Over rated spot that caters to the apparent coffee lover but leaves a lot to be desired by the end of it. The design comfort of the space makes it appear less hygienic.

Love this place! The Café Solar is the only coffee I’ve had in recent memory that doesn’t make me crash. It’s so fresh, well-​brewed, and perfectly balanced for me. However, while the coffee is great, I don’t come here for the coffee. The space is an old warehouse. It has exposed beams, high ceilings, and lots of natural light pouring in. There’s an adorable cat that hangs out in there. They recently started serving actual food so I don’t have to worry after spending 5+ hours there. It’s my go to place when I have a huge batch of marking to do or if I wanna relax with my boyfriend on a Sunday.

I would totally recommend coming here to meet with friends, study, do work, relax and read… or whatever it is you would do at a coffee shop (to each their own?).
Pros:
–good, fair trade coffee
–pet friendly (they even have their own cat.!)
–lots of tables and couch space to do work!
–lots of outlets in case those electronics run out of batteries while you’re doing your work
–they have a program where you can pick up fresh, locally grown vegetables and fruits I believe. Haven’t tried it myself but it sounds amazing!
–good music to serve as background noise — ie a great atmosphere
–baristas are pretty nice
Cons:
–asked if they had any cold drinks, only a few smoothies in the fridge and they have ice so they can convert a hot drink to a cold one. I was hoping for a specialty tea/​lemonade made in house, but all their hot drinks are still nice!
–only open 9/​10am-​6pm every day (extend your hours please!!)

I recently visited this coffee shop because I heard that they are dog friendly and I love to be able to bring my dog wherever I go. Sure enough, he was allowed in!
The atmosphere is really neat, it is a large open concept café with plenty of seating options from tables & chairs to couches & coffee tables. They have several coffee and tea latte options, and a few baked goods to choose from. A nice plus is that they also give free dog treats!
I will definitely return here with my pooch for sure! It is a bit tricky to get to, but there is plenty of free street parking nearby.

I really enjoy this place. This is good quality coffee beans. The coffee beans are freshly grind infront of you and brewed. There are different coffee beans to pick from. The café is a confortable and homey atmosphere. I would definitely come here more often.

So we headed to this unique place, which has a pretty cool edgy vibe about it. However, we ordered two cortados, which were probably the worst cortados I have ever had. The coffee was burned and looked like brown dishwater. Most disappointing for a place that prides themselves on green high quality sourced products. Not going back for sure!

The French press here is fantastic. However, you can only buy them in large bottles $ 10 for 1 bottle (3 cups). So if you ever visit here with a group, get their french press, you won’t regret it.

The Baristas are great. I became friends with them all and yayaya the peanut butter cookies are yum, but filling. one for breakfast will last you till dinner. They taught me the differences in taste between coffee growing regions. Africa, South America, pacific. it’s a big place. a cute place. there’s a resident cat called luna or Lunnette or something. black and white damn it’s cute. lots of wood. free water.

The place is super cool and the Café solar is a good cup-​a-​joe. You get your mix of people… regulars, hipsters, dogs and cats and… me.

So glad I discovered this gem of a place hidden away and in the awesome Riverside neighbourhood. Has a great vibe, fantastic coffee and will be having a scone again next time I’m back. Which will be often. Bringing friends next time.
Roast coffees on site. All coffees organic and free trade.

This is Toronto’s best kept secret. I can’t believe I’ve lived in the area for so long and never knew the café existed!
Honestly, this is probably the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had. The beans are ground for each individual cup, and this is evident in the fresh, authentic taste of the coffee. Seriously delicious. The strength was also just perfect, my cup of Dominican perked me up and satisfied my caffeine craving, but didn’t give me a huge unhealthy buzz or an energy crash afterwards.
Despite what others have said, I found the staff vhelpful and friendly. The ambiance and clientele were very diverse, there seem to be no stereotypes here, which was refreshing. It was very relaxing and chilled out inside, perfect for reading or studying. Loved the cosy sofas too!
These people really love their coffee. I thought I knew a lot about coffee before coming here, but the range of coffee machines and various apparatus for sale showed me I have a lot to learn!
Highly, highly recommended. I can see myself becoming a regular here.

Been here a couple of times in mid summer and let me tell you, if you don’t have a sauna at home then this will become your favorite place for that reason. You get to sweat out your pours in the unbearable heat and lack of ventilation. Extremely hot and uncomfortable. Service has a bit of attitude, like they don’t need your business. Product is good despite them. Never saw this place busy… I believe they supply a few places with coffee and this shop might be a secondary income stream that is not important to them. It certainly feels that way from the service.

Do you like coffee? How about of the fair trade variety?
Do you like old spacious and rustic warehouse spaces?
Do you dream of working/​studying/​playing/​reading in a coffee shop all day in a space that you could easily mistake for your own home?
Do you like it when the staff are rad?
Do you like hole-​in-​the-​wall hidden gems?
Heck, do you enjoy the sounds and sight of an adjacent busy highway?
If you answer ‘yes’ to most or all of the above, then your next challenge is to find where the heck Merchants of Green Coffee is at. If you succeed in locating this establishment, you will be well-​rewarded with a unique down-​to-​earth, away-​from-​this-​world café experience this side of the Don Valley.
When torn between this and the nearby Dark Horse or F’Coffee, I’d rather go here – less busy, plenty of space to stretch, and less of a pretentious atmosphere.
They are also a roastery importing green beans from all over. And they sell coffee-​making gadgets, including used commercial-​grade espresso machines.