Toronto’s first disloyalty card launches next week, promising to send people on a liquid tour of seven independent coffee shops. The counterculture scheme, to promote quality coffee and community, is the brainchild of the newly formed Toronto Coffee Conspiracy.

Made up of Mercury Espresso Bar, Dark Horse Espresso Bar, Sam James Coffee Bar, Crema Coffee Co., Manic Coffee, Lit Espresso Bar and Blondie’s Coffee Bar, the group embraces neighbourhoods from the Junction and Roncesvalles Village to Chinatown and Leslieville.

“We all have something great to offer and we all do it a little different,” promises Matthew Taylor, co-owner of Mercury Espresso Bar in Leslieville.

Taylor has long mused about collective action. Then he heard that 2009 World Barista champion Gwilym Davies had launched a “disloyalty” card late last year, promising to make people a free drink at his Prufrock Coffee once they visited eight independent coffee shops in East London.

Inspired, Taylor emailed Davies — as a gesture of respect — to say he’d love to replicate the card in Toronto. He got the okay, and on March 5 called six of his closest coffee friends to Dora Keogh pub on the Danforth to pitch the idea for the conspiracy and the card.

Toronto’s disloyalty card, set to launch April 20, works a little differently than London’s version.

Once the business card-sized wallet cards are printed, you pick one up at your regular coffee shop (there will be about 500 per store) and that will be marked as your starting point. Then you visit the other six spots, buy any coffee that’s on the menu (brewed or espresso based), and get the card punched. When you’re done, you return to your starting point for a free coffee. Finished cards can be turned in for monthly draws. They’ll also help people score invitations to attend or judge things the coffee shops do privately, like latte art competitions.

Geoff Polci, who owns Crema Coffee Co. in the Junction (plus a new kiosk within a Freshii at Yonge and Bloor Sts.), is pumped by the card’s potential.

“We’re hoping people treat it like a passport,” he says. “We’re in the Junction and it’s still so undiscovered. This is great exposure for the independent coffee scene in Toronto. Collectively, as a group, we’re a lot stronger and able to reach a lot more people.”

The Toronto Coffee Conspiracy hasn’t quite figured out how to promote their neighbourhoods, except to give customers advice on where to shop, eat or visit nearby.

Since news of the initiative broke, there has been unexpected backlash at the whiff of exclusivity.

“You don’t want to exclude people,” concedes Polci, “but you want to maintain some integrity.”

The aim is to start small, see if the disloyalty card works, and then expand.

“We hope to get more places in the west end, and more in the east end,” says Taylor. “Maybe an east card that you take to the west, and a west card that you take to the east.”

The name Toronto Coffee Conspiracy has also sparked troubled rumblings. It’s actually a harmless homage to a 1970s Stratford band called The Perth County Conspiracy.

“It’s not a conspiracy by any means,” stresses Taylor.

The seven shops, with a combined 10 locations, have different owners. And no, the disloyalty card isn’t secretly backed by any of their suppliers. The shops use various espresso machines (like Synesso, Clover and La Marzocco) and a spectrum of roasters — including Intelligentsia, 49th Parallel, Dark City, Origins, Detour, Stumptown and Terroir.

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“We just want to show people it’s a tight-knit, and not negative or competitive, industry,” says Taylor. “We want to get together and show people there is fun in our community.”

The disloyal coffee route

These coffee shops are part of the Toronto Coffee Conspiracy, and will be offering a disloyalty card program starting April 20.

Blondie’s Coffee Bar & Restaurant, www.blondiesbar.ca, 1378 Queen St. W.

Crema Coffee Co., www.cremacoffee.ca, 3079 Dundas St. W., 53 Bloor St. E. (inside Freshii)

Dark Horse Espresso Bar, www.darkhorseespresso.com, 682 Queen St. E., 215 Spadina Ave.

Lit Espresso Bar, www.litespressobar.com, 221 Roncesvalles Ave., 810 College St.

Manic Coffee, www.maniccoffee.com, 426 College St.

Mercury Espresso Bar, www.mercuryespresso.com, 915 Queen St. E.

Sam James Coffee Bar, http://samjamescoffeebar.com, 297 Harbord St.

jbain@thestar.ca