The perfect Italian summer treat
709B Jarry Street East | Website
Italian Café Baristello’s signature summer drink is a perfectly balanced frozen treat. The Scirocco chilled coffee concoction is crafted first by filling an “old school” glass with lightly sweetened espresso slush, and then topping it with warm, flawlessly frothed micro milk foam which creates a “delicious storm” inside the glass. Perfetto!
© Café Dispatch
Perfect combo of ice cream and coffee
Several locations | Website
Dispatch Coffee’s icy treat is their very own version of an affogato. The popular summer treat is traditionally made by pouring a hot espresso shot over ice cream. The ice cream in this case is made by Dalla Rose, a beloved ice cream shop located in Saint-Henri. The affogato options always include a vegan one.
Classic iced latte
2713 Notre-Dame West & 4554 Wellington | Website
Little Burgundy café Lili & Oli’s iced latte is probably the best in Montreal. A great take on a classic is always welcome and comforting on a smoldering summer day. Lili & Oli has been open since 2005 and is always a great stop for regulars and visitors alike who come here for the excellent coffee, whether hot or chilled.
© Café Myriade
Classic cold brew perfection
Several locations | Website
The Café Myriade cold brew coffee is steeped for 12 hours then poured over ice. The brew is acidic and complex and carries fruity undertones with a slight earthy finale. It tastes more like a complex tea than coffee. You can also order their oat milk coffee slushy made with their Retro espresso blend, oat milk (to keep it vegan) and slightly sweetened with dark brown sugar.
© Ali Inay @inayali
The perfect summer blend
430 Laurier Avenue East & 7066 Alexandra | Website
Noble Café offers the perfect match: ice cream and cold brewed coffee. This decadent combination beloved by neighbourhood locals is called “le Flotteur” (the Float). Grab your little cup of coffee heaven and wander over to nearby Laurier Park to savour it in a shady spot.
© Two Food Photographers
Nitro cold brew for the win
Several locations | Website
Café Paquebot was the first café in Montréal to serve iced coffee in the form of a nitro cold brew on tap. The coffee is treated with nitrogen, pressurized, then served on draft just like beer. Another great Paquebot drink, the Cafélimo (a mix of cold brew from Zab, homemade lemonade, organic sugar, and CO2, in short, a fizzy cold brew-limeade mix), has been on tap since 2016 and sold in cans since the summer of 2021.
© Alison Slattery
Italian style caffè freddo
432 De Castelnau East | Website
Café Ferlucci in Villeray makes the same Italian-style cold coffee you’ll find in Italy in the form of granita. The base brew is made by filling up a large jar with dozens of espresso shots, sweetening the brew with sugar then turning it into an icy slush-type of drink. You can order yours black or with a shot of milk to be enjoyed on the quaint terrasse. If this slushy drink is not your thing, order one of their famous nutellate (a latte with a spoonful of Nutella stirred in) on ice.
Sweet and refreshing
65 Beaubien Street East | Website
Café Odessa’s Mateo caffeinated drink combines mineral water, espresso, and a shot of their homemade apricot & rosemary syrup. The Gracioso their other summer drink, is a mix of cold brew and horchata. Both these sweet and refreshing drinks taste like summer.
© Gabrielle St Onge
Soothing latte
1104 Saint-Zotique East | Website
Petite Patrie’s Café des Habitudes is a lovely and soothing place that has definitely carved a spot in its client’s daily habits. Among many other great iced coffees, try their iced lavender latté is made with a homemade lavender syrup made from organic maple syrup from Marston in the Eastern Townships and organic lavender from Oka.
A very nutty combo
2055 Stanley | Website
What do you get when you combine an iced espresso with pistachio granita? Caffettiera’s vegan iced pistachio latte, of course. Head to the boldly coloured, 90s inspired, downtown Caffettiera to grab one of these delicious drinks.
© Café Léo
S’more please
1215 Berri | Website
Café Léo is a downtown spot that integrates a great coffee shop with a hair salon. They create a new latte every month inspired by what’s in season. This month’s is a strawberry iced latte with a slightly sweet homemade syrup infused with seasonal Quebec berries.
Caramel makes it better
2069 Wellington | Website
Located in the heart of Pointe Saint Charles, Mollo is a true neighbourhood gem. Their iced latte is a riff on the classic espresso and milk drink with the addition of a spoonful of delicious caramel from La Lichée. Their iced gelato latte is also worth a try. It’s basically an iced latte with a scoop of your choice of one of their homemade gelato.
Middle-Eastern specialty drinks
227 Rachel Street East | Website
Lebanese Café Chez Téta has quickly become a favourite destination for their manouché (flat bread topped with zaatar) and other specialties. They also make some delicious iced coffee drinks, including an iced halva latte made by mixing halva, a sweet sesame pastry, with pistachios directly in the milk before topping with a shot of espresso. Their unique cold brew is made by infusing cardamom-infused Lebanese coffee beans for 12 hours for a subtly distinctive aroma.
© Thomas Tessier
Cocktails or coffee?
Several locations | Website
Café Saint-Henri is offering two summer drinks this year. The Spritz Coffee, designed like an Aperol spritz, it’s made up of a dose of flashbrew (one of their filter coffees infused over ice), sparkling water and a spritz syrup made with the Montreal company 3/4 oz. The Café Colada is inspired by the piña colada and is made with iced filter, pineapple juice and coconut milk, all blended together for a rich and creamy texture.
© Simon-Pierre Caron
Orange Spritz
26 Bélanger Street | Website
Little Italy’s Café Caron & Frères has carved a spot on Montréal’s best café list pretty quickly, thanks in part to the Caron brothers friendly demeanors. This summer, they’ve created their own riff on the espresso tonic. The C&F Spritz is made with espresso, tonic, and orange blossom water and garnished with an orange edge. Fresh!
© Two Food Photographers
Fresh and jolting!
4255 Ontario Street East | Website
Hochelaga-Maisonneuve’s Hélico has quickly become the neighbourhood’s favourite place to grab a coffee, great food and one of their excellent pastries or breads. Their refreshing coffee spritz is made by combining lemon juice, 1642 tonic, a little simple syrup and a shot of double espresso.
Café Redwood
Salty and nice
2604 Saint Patrick | Website
Café Redwood’s iced salted caramel latte is a hit on hot summer days. It’s rich and smooth and the perfect mix of sweetness from the caramel and a little kick from the salt. Try it with regular milk or any of their plant-based alternatives.
Mayssam Samaha
Mayssam Samaha is a food and travel writer and blogger and the founder behind the blog Will Travel for Food. She travels the world in search of the next culinary discovery. From Iceland to South Africa, she’s already visited over 30 countries and there’s nothing she enjoys more than wandering around a farmers’ market in a foreign city. She is also the founder of the SAISONS intimate dinner series highlighting Québec products and chefs.
