COPS

OUR ARTICLE

Toronto’s COPS Coffee and Doughnuts is in itself a contradiction: generally speaking, a brightly painted Blush Pink space is a beacon for hipsterdom and elaborate latte art, but inside COPS, the minimalist bunker-like café, you’ll only find two things: coffee and doughnuts.

Nestled on a side street hidden from the chaos of King Street West, COPS staffers behind man the counter to pour what seems to be a continuous stream of drip coffee while simultaneously slinging mini doughnuts from the in-house fryer. COPS rotates their brew regularly, sourcing its beans from the award-winning Calgary-based Monogram Coffee. The doughnuts are made to order, available in a half or full dozen. The bite-size treats are available with a classic sugar cinnamon dusting or a revolving house-made glaze; currently coconut matcha.

their menu board says it best: ‘Too many options is a prison’.

What appears from the outside to be a friendly hangout for locals seeking a photogenic outing with their ‘besties’, guests enter to find an understated interior. Once you place an order for either drip coffee or doughnuts (but likely both), claim a seat on one of the two benches accompanied only by a single plant adjacent to the front counter. The interior is sparse but compelling, as you sip your coffee you start to admire how much thought and detail has gone into the design of COPS; you notice the lettering scribed across the wall: THE GOLDEN DAYS ARE NOW. When it boils down to it, coffee and doughnuts complement each other perfectly as the cohesive combination to shake your hangover and kick-start the day – whether golden or not.

It seems like COPS should be a haven for budding insta-famous bloggers on the hunt for the city’s newest iteration of latte art, but their menu board says it best: ‘Too many options is a prison’. You won’t find lattes, flat whites or macchiatos at COPS. Fuck latte art and your Instagram stories. Just sip on a coffee, enjoy a fresh doughnut and watch the city go by.