Goddamn. Doug's the best. Ever. Of the whole world. Maybe the whole universe if I had that kind of vision. Why? Why the heck not. Everyone needs some praise every now and then. Some more than others. So today, Dougie, it's all about you. And the tasty organic brownies. But, again, moreso about Doug.

a-tron-o-matic-al

Whew. So Matthew's back in action again and my espresso never tasted so sweet. Experience counts. So welcome back.

In other news, we have delicious blueberry muffins as well as muffins with green tea in them. Three cheers for antioxidents!

Last night was the kick-off for Amsterdam Tuesdays at the Savannah Room and the boys from Barons and Lengthy rocked the house. They came home to a power outage in their neighborhood but there was so much beer flowing I'm not sure anyone noticed. Thanks to An Arctic Turn and the Incidentals for coming out and holding it down as well. Dear Alice is probably nursing a hangover today on her well deserved day off. Hi Alice, it hurts so good don't it?

a-tron-o-matic-al

So apparently I'm the "new guy" here at Merc (I think I might have to start referring to the espresso bar by this hipster worthy shortform...or then again maybe not). For all of you regulars and occasional visitors who may not have met me yet, I'm Drew. I love strong coffees and great tunes. Soon enough I guess I'll have to come up my own signature drink and whatnot. All in good time, all in good time...

I'm told we're gonna get some live music up and running here at the Merc Espresso somewhere down the line. Keep your ears to the ground.

Today, Vicki's orange cranberry scones sold out like hotcakes, and I have to say the chocolate chip cookies she came in with later (organic of course) pretty much blew me away. It was raining but that didn't stop the crowd from popping in for the necessary brews.

Just listening to some Black Flag right now. It's pretty laid back here. Tomorrow is Alice's first day off in like forever, so I guess some of us may have to go out to the show at the Savannah Room on College Street to celebrate for a bit with her -- and then I'll return to do the whole thing again tomorow.

Sweet.

A-mo here once again. Fall got scared off by old man winter a little early this year so we're left freezing our buns. But the coffee's hot. The freezing rain this afternoon was not something pleasant to ride through. But the coffee's red hot. Something about the cold makes me want to get a tattoo though. I can't explain it, I just heed it's call. FYI: the numbers "888" translated into chinese is pronounced "baat, baat, baat" which sounds close to the word for luck which is "faat". They consider it a very lucky number so three of them in conjunction is considered VERY lucky. There's a lot of cell phone numbers with three eights owned by chinese folk you can bet on that. Anyhoo, enough of the culture lesson, I'm feeling bold so I'm going to get it tattooed on my arm. Just working my way up to the 'big one'. More updates to come. I know you care. Kisses.

A-mo-tron-o-matic-al

Word. A-Rod reporting here once again. How are you guys? Good? Great! There's cranberry muffins crawling around on our condiment stand with the brownies not too far behind. I'd say get in here and snatch them up before they have and accident and end up on the floor. You can't trust those organic pasteries to not get themselves in trouble. I mean, they're ORGANIC.

a-tron-o-matic

Some people would say that after you get married you start to take on the aromas of your significant other. Does Doug smell different now? I'm not too sure on that, I'll let Alice figure that one out.
It's a very nice Tuesday evening here at Mercury, the sweet sounds of TV on the Radio is playing and I'm so chilled out I might fall asleep. Wake me up before you go-go.

Alex

Hello again. Doug's off getting married. Matthew is probably at home relaxing. Me, I'm just hanging out enjoying an espresso here at Mercury. What a beautiful day! Thanks to Alice for saving my butt once again. What a trooper. Speaking of troopers, that was my song selection for last night's karaoke session. What fun! Nothing like a little Iron Maiden to end the week off.
The muffins we have today are cranberry. We also have these fantastic cupcakes courtesy of Vicki, our wonderfully, brilliant baker. She made a birthday cake for me to give to my friend Kerry last night. I don't need to reiterate how delicious it was. But I will. And did. Good day Leslieville.

Alex

What's goin on you beautiful people of Leslieville!? Alex is back and he's here till 9pm tonight! That's right! 7 whole hours of yours truly in the best espresso bar this side of town! Vicki will be bringing in the evening treats soon but I'm not sure what's on the menu exactly. You'll have to come in to find out. Eagles of Death Metal are playing in the background, the sun is shining outside, and I'm still figuring out what to sing for tonight's karaoke excursion. Hmm....any ideas? ANyone out there?

alex

Oh what to report today...hmm...hmmm...uh huh... See? THis is what happens when I have to blog a lot. I run out of things to say. Then I start rambling like this. And I go off on tangents on things people don't care about. I start to wonder, "Who am I? What am I doing? Where am I going?" No one needs to read about my existential cosmic angst. I'm sure everyone has their own questions and don't really need to hear someone ask them out loud. That's just being flakey. But here we are again, dear reader. We've three brownies wondering about their purpose in life. Come on down and give them an answer. I could give them an easy way out but then my tummy might hurt. Oh right, by the way, congrats to Doug who'll be walking down the old dusty trail. I mean he's getting married. Way to go buddy. I'm sure you'll make Ben Sherman look goooood. Go easy on him Laurie, he's got a espresso bar to run.

Alex

It's cold, wet, and slightly miserable. That's the weather. Here in Mercury the mood is laidback, chillin, and most certianly relaxing. So come on down where the coffee is warm, the treats are sweet and someone may know your name. The muffins are still hanging out with us too. They bare cranberries and other good things. Can anyone recommend a good karaoke song? I think I might be tuning the vocals for some fun on Friday. Other than that, I'm looking forward to meeting you here in our little espresso bar.

alex

Ho ho! Guess who folks? That's right, it's Alex again! First off I'd like to give a shout out to Matthew who's starting his two week vacation away from Mercury starting today. Have a good one buddy, don't worry about the store, it's in gooooooood hands. ;) Sorry about the wink, I didn't mean anything by it. I swear! Dear readers, it's not going to be the same without Matthew but if you give us a chance I think you find that he's a very good recruiter. Just wait and see. Lattes will be flying off the espresso machines and the cookies will continue to kick some major organic butt. There may be a little more singing going on behind the counter than usual. We may also bug our valued customers and friends into silly conversations a bit more than normal, but aside from that, it's business as usual. Come one come all. It'll be fun. Really!

alex

Well, where to begin? What to say? Matthew and I ran into a few technical snags this morning with Delmar. Delmar, for those of you that don't know is our espresso machine - our sole means of production. He started going off right in the middle of our morning rush - demanding equal treatment in the workplace for people and machines alike (A bunch of commi jive). Matthew was kind enough to give Delmar the rest of the day off for repairs. Hopefully tomorrow Delmar will be as good as new. Until then, please bare with us - your patience is most appreciated in the matter.
-Adrian

Anyone sick of me yet? Cuz I'm back once again. I enjoy our moments, dear reader, even if it is rather frequent lately. The Beach Boys are playing and everyone in the cafe is singing (no not JUST Adrian but some of our customers as well). Wouldn't be nice if every day could be a Mercury day, much like the one we're having today?
Blueberry muffins are waiting to be devoured. Lattes are impatiently flying off the counters. What fun. Come on down.

Alex

Guess who's back?? That's right, Alex is here again! I just noticed with all the excitement of welcoming our newest edition I almost forgot to send off our very own Jacki! Oh Jack-a-boo you'll be sorely missed here at Mercury. Although I didn't work WITH you that much I certianly looked forward to saying hello to you on your way out. But now I guess I have to go to Morning Glory for that. Come to think about it, I think this works out better. Now I have more of a reason to go over and enjoy MG's wonderful foodstuffs. Good luck Jacki, you'll need it I hear.

ALex

Update! Mercury will now be open till 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Come by and hang out with your truly after the sun sets. Who knows what will happen?

Alex

Hi there everyone!! My name is Ashley, and this is my very first day working for Mercury Espresso Bar. I'm very glad to be here, and I'm having alot of fun. :) I was given the lovely privelage of writing the blog today, so here I go.

I guess I'll tell you a bit about myself. I'm a student at Sheridan College in Oakville, studying Illustration. And although I plan on working as an Illustrator after four loooong years at School, I actualy plan on opening my own Cafe here in Toronto. As Matthew would say, we need more great Espresso Bars in this city! I live here in Toronto with my husband, three cats, lizard and turtle. What else can I say... I'm pretty goofy and fun loving, and a little wierd. But you'll all grow to love me I'm sure. LOL! Look for the tattooed lady, that's me!

Anyhoo, I know I'm going to really enjoy working here. This place is great, the costumers are so nice, and so far I really like the people I work with. :)

So come see me and everyone here at Mercury Espresso Bar, sit down, have a latte, and try Vickies DELICIOUS Pumpkin and Millet Muffins, or the MYSTERY muffin, Vegan Banana loaf, chocolate chip cookies or a chocolate brownie! OR... why not try our NEW organic apple juice. Hope to see you all soon, and take care.

ovcr and out..!

Hello everyone. Alex here again. Yet again. I realize the mornings are crazy but I think the people deserve to hear from someone else other than me. I mean there's only so much non-sensical (is that a word?) verbal garbage people can take from yours truly. But then again, having a monopoly on the Mercury Blog isn't such a bad thing. I mean I could do stories that span over a week or so. Wouldn't that be nice? We could have "A Week in the Life of..." well, in this case me! Are you still there? Hmm...maybe I should rethink that.

I just met one Mercury Blog reader and she told me thought my blogs were cute. Hehe, I'm obviously flattered but this is just more encouragement for more of my crazy antics. Look out!

Stop by and snack on Vicki's cranberry, granola muffins while laughing at me singing behind the counter. And if you're lucky enough I might even do a little dance. Don't tell Matthew I'm having way too much fun at work.

27 and sunny. That's what the forecast for tomorrow is. And that's what I'm keeping in mind today to hold me in my content state. But who the heck knows, the weather will not be told what to do. We're open again tonight until 8pm instead of the usual 7pm. It's gets dark earlier now so Mercury takes on a different vibe when the sun goes down. Come on over and check it out. There's one pumpkin muffin left with your name on it. I'll save it just for you.

alex

Mercury has new hours of operation; we're braving the elements of the night to serve you all with the finest espresso this corner of the globe. Fridays and saturdays we are now open until 8 pm!!! So you know what that means! One more extra hour to hang with yours truly. It's dark and lonely here past 6:30 so don't be afraid, come on down a chill. I'll be here waitng......for you...or you....and you.

alex

So Mercury is on the lookout for another aspiring/experienced Barista. I wonder who it will be? What will they be like? What will they add to the store? Will they be able to handle the pressure of making perfect latte art? Will they eventually replace me? Only time will be able to answer these questions. I'm excited, are you? New blood means you can all use those tired jokes all over again! Welcome grasshopper, and all the best!

Alex