Micro Espresso Café

Sam

2.0

Was incredibly disappointed with both the quality of coffee & service my friend & I received here on Sunday, July 12th.

I was visiting Montreal & being a huge coffee lover, was excited to try Micro Espresso given their inclusion in the Top 100 Coffee Shops in the World list this year.

From the get go, we arrived to a barista who punched in our order, barely acknowledging us, & answering questions with one word answers (yes, no, etc.).

Fine, it's Sunday, we came late & you want to focus on the coffee itself, not a problem.

But the coffee itself, hugely disappointing. We ordered two flat whites which were prepared in less than two minutes. This sounds great but as all coffee lovers know, it takes time to pull a high quality shot & steam milk properly.

What we ended up getting was an awful ratio of mostly over steamed milk with a splash of barely noticeable coffee. The last picture I posted shows two important things:

1) the overly steamed milk (looks more like a cappuccino than a flat white)

2) a lack of latte art. it's become an unfortunate trend in coffee shops in North America that they tend to not care to add any art for to-go lattes. It's less about the art & more about the respect for the customer & the attention to detail in taking an extra 5-10 seconds to show the level of care the barista has. I have lots of respect for baristas as they not only have a hard job dealing with rushes of impatient customers but also having to lead a lot of difficult skills to serve a great cup of coffee. Lots of which goes, generally, under appreciated by the average customer.

All that's to say, for a coffee shop to have been featured in a global list, this was a massive disappointed in both coffee & service.

Rafayet

3.0

As a former barista & coffee enthusiast, I was expecting more after seeing the glowing reviews. Had a flat white. The medium roast was very bitter, & the milk was steamed so hot, it lost its sweetness. My friend's cappuccino was the same. Raw material appears to be good, but the execution left much to be desired.

Scoots

5.0

It is very small but big in flavor. The staff was friendly.

This might not have been the best cappuccino I had but easily number 3. Highly recommended if you are in the old Montreal area

David

5.0

Nice chill little coffee shop with some excellent cappuccinos

Ksenia

5.0

AMAZING coffee 🤤 so balanced. We are cappuccino drinkers, so it was well-made. Loved the aesthetics too - minimal, comfortable, & thoughtfully designed.

Mark

5.0

Exceptional, friendly service. Expertly made cappuccino…oh, & the sign!

C

4.0

Café vraiment excellent, c'est toujours un plaisir d'y passer ! J'adore le concept estival de service à la fenêtre, c'est super convivial & parfait pour les beaux jours. Le café est délicieux, l'endroit a beaucoup de charme, bref un vrai coup de coeur.
Petit bémol cependant : faire payer un supplément pour un lait alternatif en 2025, c'est un peu aberrant… Dommage de ne pas inclure ça dans le prix ou au moins d'offrir une option sans frais.

~~ Merci pour votre réponse, mais je me pose la question est-ce que les laits alternatifs coûtent plus cher aux cafés ?

Oui… mais pas tant que ça.
•    Coût à l'achat : Les laits végétaux (avoine, amande, soya, etc.) sont légèrement plus chers à l'achat en gros que le lait de vache, surtout les versions barista.
•    Exemple approximatif en gros :
•    Lait de vache : ~1,20 $ le litre
•    Lait d'avoine barista : ~2,00 $ le litre
•    Mais un cappuccino utilise environ 200 ml de lait, donc la différence de coût est de 15-20 cents max par boisson.

Alors pourquoi faire payer 75 cents ou 1 $ ?

Là, ça devient plus commercial qu'autre chose :
•    Certains cafés disent que c'est pour compenser la demande spécifique & éviter le gaspillage (ex. : un lait d'amande que peu de clients choisissent risque d'être jeté).
•    D'autres en profitent parce que c'est devenu la norme dans l'industrie, donc ils surfent sur cette habitude pour augmenter leurs marges.

C'est abusé ?

Objectivement, oui : faire payer presque 1 $ pour un supplément qui vous coûte à peine 20 cents, c'est un bon coup marketing… mais un peu mesquin. D'autant plus que pour certaines personnes, ce n'est pas un choix mais une intolérance ou un mode de vie éthique (végans, intolérants au lactose, etc.).

Carol

5.0

Excellent croissant with an even better cappuccino. Super friendly staff.

Tiphaine

5.0

Le cappuccino & le laté érable sont très bon !

Mina

5.0

Excellent espressos & cappuccinos. The (temporary?) cardamom cortado is out of this world.