Cozy up to specialty drinks from Luba’s Coffee Boutique

Cozy up to specialty drinks from Luba’s Coffee Boutique

Edith Barit, store manager, Luba’s Coffee Boutique

Text and photos by
Irish Mae Silvestre
The Philippine Reporter

You smell Luba’s Coffee and Tea Boutique before you see it.

Amidst the scent of baked bread is the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Tucked away from the bustle on the main floor of St. Lawrence Market, the little shop is a veritable treasure trove for tea and coffee lovers. What Luba’s lacks in floor space, it makes up for in height. It’s a sensory overload with rainbow stacks of tea boxes, jars of loose leaf tea, and gleaming bean dispensers. And with its menu of hot beverages, it’s a charming respite from the cold.

“In this kind of weather, the kind of tea I’d recommend are ones that are spicier with ginger and turmeric because it’s good for the body and immune system, something like chai tea,” explained store manager, Edith Barit.
“As for coffee, any kind; as long as you’ve got something hot.”

But if that’s not your, well, cup of tea, Luba’s has something sweeter on the menu. “Our hot chocolate is really good because it’s handmade and we use 100 percent milk and hot cocoa,” she said. “It’s quite different because we don’t use a machine – we froth the milk ourselves so it’s quite special.”

Barit, who moved to Canada in 1991 from Alabat, Quezon, is a self-taught tea and coffee expert. She learned about the trade through magazines and their Oakville-based roaster since she started managing this cozy corner of St. Lawrence Market in 1994. Named after the store owner’s mother, Luba’s Coffee and Tea Boutique was established in 1954 and has gone on to become somewhat of a St. Lawrence Market icon – just like Barit herself. She even has a coffee blend named after her: Edith’s Blend.

“Twice a week, I make the blend,” she explained. “I mix three different types of coffee and put them in a dispenser.” She added that it’s one of their bestsellers, along with their house blend called Luba’s Blend.
In addition to a regular customer base, the store draws people from near and far. “We have customers from England, Los Angeles, Chicago, Niagara, St. Catharines and Hamilton, they come over here just to buy our coffee,” she said, laughing. “Even the tea! I have one customer from Pakistan who comes here twice a year.”

And while Luba’s no longer has an online store, people can still place their orders over the phone – Barit has sent out coffee by mail to various places including Vancouver and the UK.

With coffee shops springing up every couple of blocks around Toronto, there’s no denying the ongoing popularity of coffee culture. But Barit isn’t fazed by the competition. “The quality [of tea and coffee that] we carry is different from the others,” she said. “We try not to carry tea that’s available in groceries, just tea and coffee that’s hard to find and of good quality.”

And she’s right. Last summer, I had spent weeks scouring tea and coffee aisles of several chain supermarkets after trying a delicious chai at a small Italian restaurant. On a whim, I ducked into Luba’s and discovered that they not only sold the very tea I had been searching for, but they also carried about 85 other flavors from the same brand.

Barit estimates that they carry about 1,000 kinds of tea and over 100 types of coffee. There are wooden boxes of tea that are popular gifts and, if you’re in the mood to splurge, there’s a variety of high-end coffee and tea to choose from. At $55 a pound, their most expensive blend is the Jamaican Blue Mountain, a mild yet highly coveted coffee that’s grown at high altitudes. Tea lovers who want nothing but the best can expect to shell out $51 per 100 grams for the white tea, which Barit describes as a very mild version of green tea.

As for individual cups of coffee served at the store, she’s meticulous about timing: pots of coffee are changed every half hour. “If I keep brewing and brewing, I have to dump the coffee,” she explained. “While the coffee is good for about two hours, after 30 minutes, it starts to get bitter.” In the beginning, Barit admits that she was never a coffee drinker. But since she started working at Luba’s, she kicks off the day with coffee, followed by tea throughout the day. “I’m trying everything,” she said. “So that I know [what it’s like] when a customer asks [about it].”

A blast of Arctic air from the nearby entrance announces the arrival of customers. And behind the counter is Barit, ready to greet them with hot beverages for every preference.

Luba’s Coffee and Tea Boutique, St. Lawrence Market, 91 Front Street East, (416) 865-1793