Hidden among the vacant lots and crumbling warehouses on the eastern edge of the Junction Triangle, there exists a very unusual coffee shop.
The cavernous industrial space at 87 Wade Avenue has a single bar with just eight seats. It only opens on certain weekends. And you have to make reservations — which sell out in hours.
For Suneal Pabari, co-founder of the space and the coffee delivery service Roasters Pack, it’s the “cafe I wished existed.”
In truth, the Roasters Pack Lab is more omakase bar than cafe. Open since February, within weeks of another premium coffee hub called Denovia Cafe, it could be seen as the culmination of the “third wave” of coffee connoisseurship in Toronto.
In pursuit of jittery perfection, everything from the composition of the water to the texture of the cups is optimized and accounted for. Perfection can come with a steep price tag. But even amid a cost-of-living crisis, the demand for luxury coffee in the city is stronger than ever.
The science and art of coffee
Frustrated with how impersonal coffee shops can feel, Pabari’s goal was to create a more intimate experience. “Other coffee shops might have really good coffee, but they’ll maybe talk about it for 10 seconds,” he said. “Here, we want to really share what makes these coffees so interesting and exciting to us.”
I arrived to a bar full of lively conversation as soft electronic music pulsed in the background. You’d think such a place would attract only the most devoted coffee aficionados, but Pabari said people of all levels of coffee-drinking experience have visited.
Even so, I found myself seated next to Tiff Bhagwandin, the coffee and roasting manager at fellow cafe chain Pilot Coffee Roasters. It was her second time there. “I think (this place) is so specifically unique to Toronto,” she said. “Even when travelling, I’ve not really found anything as special and curated.”
Pabari and his team serve as both baristas and tour guides, explaining the history and science behind each brew. The menu features a rotating selection of coffee and matcha flights, as well as espresso-based drinks — but the real crown jewels are the rare and competition coffees.
At the top of the menu is a limited batch of Panamanian Gesha, widely considered the most prestigious coffee in the world. These beans originate from the Gesha region of Ethiopia and must be grown at high altitudes, in specific soil and microclimate conditions. Their price has shattered records; in 2025, a batch of Gesha coffee was auctioned for a whopping $30,204 USD per kilogram. Here, a cup will set you back $58.
Roasters Pack Lab also sells enzymatic Kopi Luwak — a controversial coffee originally made using half-digested cherries eaten and then defecated by the Asian palm civet. Fortunately, scientists have been able to replicate the enzymatic breakdown that happens in the civet’s gut, animal-free. It’s the cheapest of the specialty coffees, coming in at $22 a serving.
I started with the “Processing Flight” — a $36 series of three coffees, all sourced from the same farm in Costa Rica but processed in different ways. The brews were shockingly different; the coffee that underwent washed processing had a cleaner taste with notes of chocolate, while its sibling fermented without oxygen was far more tangy and fruity, with hints of mango and blueberry.
It’s a lot of money for coffee, but most people come as a group and split the drinks (and bill) among themselves. I know my bladder and digestive tract wouldn’t survive drinking the full flight by myself.
Most of the coffees are made via pour-over to maintain total control over the brewing process — including temperature, extraction time, water pouring speed and more. Even the water is custom-made; the team purchases distilled water before manually mixing in minerals and salts to ensure the taste comes out just right.
This attention to detail was evident when I ordered the $58 Gesha, and it was delivered in a textured cup with one rough side, the other smooth. It’s supposed to taste different depending on which part of the cup you hold — research suggests the colour, shape, texture and weight of a coffee cup can have “profound” effects on its flavour — but I personally couldn’t tell the difference.
How $60 coffee tastes
The coffee itself was fascinating. The amber elixir tasted more like tea than any coffee I’ve had, suffused with delicate floral notes and leaving a complex, herbal aftertaste. The flavours only intensified as it cooled, becoming more fruity with hints of nectarines.
Bhagwandin’s eyes lit up when I offered her a taste. “Whoa. That’s crazy,” she said after a sip. “It’s very, very floral and clean, it’s very delicate. This is the classic Panama Gesha profile,” she said, explaining that means its aroma is reminiscent of Fuzzy Peach candy.
But is it worth the price tag? “It’s like a treat,” Bhagwandin said, calling it the “wagyu steak” of coffee. “You wouldn’t just drink this as your Monday morning coffee.”
Pabari compared it to paying extra for a fine wine. “People who order it are the ones looking for interesting experiences, looking to try something they normally can’t get their hands on,” he said.
Coffee as wellness
You might be surprised to learn the Roasters Pack Lab is far from the most expensive coffee in Toronto. When Denovia Cafe in midtown opened at the start of this year, it offered a rare Panama Gesha from the Elida Estate, priced at a whopping $99 per serving.
Denovia is half cafe, half wellness studio, and owner Nick Wang said caffeine is part of the wellness experience.
On the first floor, Wang and his team of baristas sling rare and exclusive pour-overs, coffee cocktails, ceremony-grade matcha and more. Up a flight of stairs, they offer sound baths, aromatherapy and esoteric treatments like radiofrequency therapy and supplements delivered via IV drip (presided over by a registered nurse and medical doctor, according to Wang).
They may be onto something with this combination. Research has linked coffee consumption to health benefits including a reduced risk of death from all causes; it’s been shown to help prevent cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, dementia, certain cancers and more, noted Doug Cook, a registered dietitian at JM Nutrition in Toronto.
Coffee’s components include caffeine, chlorogenic acids and diterpenoid alcohols; the former can help prevent neurodegenerative disease and the latter two have antioxidant and chemo-preventative properties.
But you don’t need to empty your pockets to get these benefits. “Focus less on coffee quality and more on consuming coffee as simply as possible — think drip, pour-over, cappuccino or Americano, not coffee-based drinks loaded with sugar and calories,” Cook said.
Still, demand has been strong for Denovia’s luxury beans. The cafe opened with 100 servings of the $99 Elida Gesha; they sold out in three months, Wang said.
I settled for the $30 Luna Geisha, another variety of Panama Gesha. It had a tea-like clarity and floral aroma similar to the Gesha I tried at Roasters Pack Lab, but the fruit notes were far more pronounced. The tangy, citrus aftertaste continued developing even after I left, keeping me company on the commute home.
It’s an experience, one that Wang realizes is not for everyone. “There will be people very sensitive on price point. I get it, and we respect them,” he said. But even so, he sees the demand for specialty coffee growing. “People have more interest in discovering the possibilities behind the beans now.”
