ven here at martiniboys.com we're not quite so full of ourselves as to believe the best things in life have two shots of vodka. Sometimes the best things in life come in little Styrofoam cups. With cardboard sleeves. This week we turn to the art of coffee making. Not the mass-produced Who-Gives-a-Shit skim milk latte nonsense, marketing campaign vs. marketing campaign. We’re talking about primal, unadulterated, charismatic cafés pumping out hot flavourful brew - with no use for any code-word ordership whatsoever.

This isn’t a menu intensive round-up. Rather, we focused on the whole café package – food, atmosphere, hip quotient and, of course, coffee. The menu vastness was largely immaterial, but how it's served and the surroundings were both prime concerns. The best cafés have a feeling of melancholy. We will crush the forces of mediocrity – all for your coffee-drinking pleasure.


Aux Deux Marie
Here at MBO, coffee is a life-sustaining sacrament all year ‘round, so imagine how blessed we felt to discover Aux Deux Marie, where the brown elixir of life is lovingly brewed in a process that yields a full-bodied way for us to start (or continue) our day. What makes Aux Deux Marie stand out in a city stuffed with cafés is attention to detail; a freshly renovated ambiance with light streaming through the windows, art all around, and a pleasant upper level to hide out in while we knock down some spiked coffee drinks and wish our office was closer. 4329 Rue Saint-Denis


Café Italia
Café Italia is a pure, traditional Italian coffeehouse: an unpretentious, unadorned, and casual space wherein students, progressive professionals, and all those musicians, artists, and social activists can meet and hang out - for hours if they want to. Such a joint wouldn’t need to offer much in the way of food, so long as the coffee and espresso were strong and good. Most important, the spot is proof that a truly great cappuccino need not necessarily come from a sullen barista in an aquarium of attitude. Café Italia holds its own, simply serving Italian coffees, espressos, cappuccinos and prosciutto sandwiches. 6840 St-Laurent


Caffé Art Java
You've had coffee all over town, in our finest eateries. And when you trod through the door of Art Java, you might have to fight your way past big box-wielding lackeys of coffee connoisseurs. We go, when we can, at a quiet time of day, when the crowd is down to a minimum and we can sit down with a cup of caffeine-pumped latte art and admire a work of art before committing the act of desecration. Stars, rosettas, towers, hearts. We love the shapes, the texture, the fantasies spun with froth. We do not just sip, but savour. 8347 avenue Mont-Royal East.


Café Olympico
Café Olympico has everything we demand in a coffeehouse; the hole-in-the-wall spot is the social hang while out in the Mile End, where locals can sit at the tables all day sipping a strong brew with their peeps. The staff may not be as polished as the Starbucks machine but the laid back atmosphere makes up the service. Reading material is a requirement: light reading for long waits on weekends and the heavy stuff for slow weekdays when you can sip your coffee and take in the delicious aroma of coffee beans and the comforting sound of coffee percolating. 124, rue St-Viateur West


Java U
Bohemian and cosmopolitan in the truest senses, this slick café lives by its skill and design. When the beats are thumping, latte drinking predominates. It’s a terribly ambitious spot that works well on a number of levels, depending on what you’re coming here for: daytime café, evening cocktail bar or low-key restaurant, all wrapped up in a tender love story. Java U has atmosphere on its side – with original brick and stone walls, pillared high ceilings, matched with an art deco interior of sleek white leather and marble - a beautiful space with high ceilings creating a virtuous vibe. 191 Rue Saint-Paul Ouest


Kilo
Kilo is one of those places that oozes shiny, happy feelings. There's none of the anticeptic, holier-than-thou artifice that plagues too many coffee shops in this caffeine-fueled metropolis. It's nice, too, to see the pride the staff takes in the café. As for the coffee, it's solid, man. Doled out to the jonesing clientele all day long. We actually do like the fare - cookies as big as your fist, insulin-shock treatment inducing chocolate mousses, sandwiches cakes, and there are muffins from the dessert array - but really, it’s all about the coffee here. OK, maybe a few cookies. 5206, blvd de St-Laurent


La Brioche Lyonnaise
There are many things to recommend about this era-shifting, Quartier Latin café, beginning with the silky-smooth lattes, green-pepper-flecked salads, quiches and sandwiches. But, as for the coffee, you can get it Americano style or whipped up in a latté frenzy. Maybe the secret lies in the beans. Or maybe it’s something beyond the coffee itself. Maybe it’s the atmosphere: Lovingly assembled in a basement with stone walls and lace curtains. Right across the street from the Théatre St-Denis, La Brioche Lyonnaise entices us with pastries and serious coffee, all in a “glad-to-be-in-Montreal” niche that makes us loco en la cabeza. 1593 rue St-Denis


Les Gâteries
Les Gâteries captures the essence of the Quebec coffeehouse shop, where you’re just as likely to sit next to someone studying as someone socializing, while overhead something classic to the ears comes purring out of the stereo. Or maybe it’s all the stuff you can get to go with your coffee: rolls, breakfast munchies muffins, bagels, muffins, maple-syrup pie, baguettes and croissants. Maybe it’s the view of Square St-Louis, where you can celebrate the fresh morning air by sucking on a cigarette. After all, even a great cup of coffee is just another cup of coffee without all of these things. 3443 rue St-Denis


St-Viateur Bagel & Café
Sure this hotspot is buzzing with as many hipsters as fruit flies, but there are still plenty of reasons to head down. The outdoor patio is usually lined with canine partners and their respective owners, be they artists, salesmen or regular joes sipping coffee and taking in some of Montreal’s heaviest foot-traffic. Carb seekers should note that St-Viateur is known for some of the best bagels in town. The dough is boiled in honey-sweetened water and baked in big wood-fired ovens, churning out bagels that are light, crispy, and slightly sweet. No like? No worries. There's a laundry list of other treats, including breakfast sandwiches.


Vieille Europe
If your parental units are like the norm, what they want most in a café is food. And cost. Forget atmosphere. Take them to a clean, inspiring European supermarket that looks like they hired your mom as the interior designer. At Vieille Europe, the parents will love the food and the reasonable prices. The menu emphasizes "Old Europe," as becomes our glorious city. While, Vieille Europe doesn’t appear on too many “Best Coffee” lists, it’s best to save room for the brew. For the record, the coffee blends served here are delicious, and the baked goods are more than serviceable. 3855 St Laurent Boulevard