Brodie Vissers, our coffee fan of the month
Brodie described his love for Barcelona and how it has had such an impact on him from the very first day he traveled here. He happened to have fallen in love with the city from a school trip of two weeks and he knew from that moment on that he would live there one day. Brodie explains how he liked how creative and artsy the city was while incorporating such historic architecture and urban planning, and how he could also practice his Spanish here while still being in a European atmosphere, not to mention it being situated between the sea and the mountains. He also tells us about the friends he’s made in the city:
“The friends I've made here and the energy they bring is always just so inspiring, that I always come back.”
Brodie shared with us his three favourite coffee spots in Toronto that we would recommend.
His first spot for an all-around beverage experience is the Boxcar Social, located in 4 different areas around town. They curate coffee that's been roasted (and grown) all over the world, and not only specialize on serving the best cup possible, but also in supplying a wide list of great beers, wines, and even whiskies. Another one would probably be The Library Specialty Coffee, even just based on the interior design alone (super minimal and beautiful), but it doesn't stop there. Jeffrey now roasts his own coffee in-house and serves not only espresso drinks, but pour-overs brewed by hand as well, so you know they're good! Strange Love is just another one of his many favourites, but what he love about them is how they at least have 2 or 3 different espressos and pour-overs on hand at any time, and what's cool about their Queen Street location is that it's almost like a little market place complete with a clothing shop, tattoo parlour, and soon to be their own food.
He had a hard time choosing the best cup of coffee, but he does have a fond memory of expressos he had at Prufrock in London. Another memorable cup of coffee was one he made on a mountain in Indonesia with my Aeropress and hot water from a thermos just after sunrise with locally-roasted Indonesian coffee.
Over the years, Brodie experimented with many different styles of photography, some he liked and others he quickly avoided, which is how he is finding his niche in lifestyle and product type photography and he incorporates this theme when taking photos of coffee and the culture that surrounds it. In terms of the most liked, Brodie laughs and explains that he has a habit of taking photos of himself, and his favourite picture is one with him and his brother,
“It was earlier on in my time with a camera, and we were just playing around with different scenarios in my house at the time – I put the camera on a timer and just through the Ace of Hearts at the lens a bunch of times until I got what I wanted”
Check out Brodie’s Instagram for more @thenomadbrodie.
Brodie is a huge fan of the documentary process and has been a part of several in Asia, that are still unreleased. One of the documentaries that he recently helped premiere in Toronto was made by a few friends of his from Czech about his favourite form of coffee brewing, the Aeropress. Here is a quick cameo of it: https://aeropressmovie.com/.
Coffee questions
How many cups of coffee do you drink per day? Maybe 4 or 5? Depends on how many cafés I'm visiting, and how many different coffees I want to taste.
How do you like your coffee? I always drink it 'neat', unless it's a signature drink that someone has designed for my tasting pleasure like the Cardamom Oat milk Lattes at Fika or Brodflour in Toronto!
Finish the phrase: I am a coffee lover because…coffee always loves me back ;).