Centurion Coffee, Guelph, ON

Drink Selection – 5/5 – They had some interesting offerings! And 2 Seasonal drinks! The two seasonal options were not over interesting (very standard winter drinks) but at least they had a seasonal menu. They also had some other interesting drink available (mostly cold options) but I would go back again to try something else and that’s all that really matters!

Drink Quality – 5/5 – I got a peppermint white hot chocolate, so this rating may lower after I go back to try an espresso drink. It was creamy and sweet and flavourful. Perfect amount of richness and sweetness for a hot chocolate. And it came with whipped cream!! I’m not sure any of the lattes I have gotten previously had whipped cream on them (including the pumpkin spice lattes!). I was happy to finish my entire drink and even would have liked more! The bar is pretty low but they met my expectations of a decent drink!

Snack Selection – 4/5 – The snack options were decent. Both savoury meal-type options as well as your standard bakery fare. They looked tasty, but didn’t leave me with too difficult of a decision in terms of what to try.

Snack Quality – 5/5 – I got a sea salt chocolate chip cookie and it was delightful! The cookie was the perfect balance of firmness and chewiness. The salt really helped balance the sweet and chocolate flavours. They warmed it up perfectly and it tasted like it was fresh out of the oven.

Overall Vibes – 4/5 – It was fairly crowded, with nearly all the tables filled up with lots of pleasant background chatter. The vibes are decent, makes me think it’s a chain (though a small chain). The décor is somewhat bland (think Second Cup or Starbucks) but at least it’s not grey floors and white walls. I think it would make a decent place to work from.

Further notes – The barista was super nice in helping me pick a drink and advising me that it would be pretty sweet so I could do 50% sweet if I wanted to, I always appreciate baristas who are knowledgeable about the drinks and think ahead to help advise customers. One downside to this cafe is that it's about a 15 min drive from home, which makes it a bit far to make it a regular coffee spot. Although this café got some 5/5 ratings, I’m not awarding it an overall 5/5 as I know there are better cafes out there. The rating may also lower when I go back to try an espresso drink.

Overall rating – 4/5