Gimme! Coffee

When I come to NYC, I like to go waaaay out of my way before work and head down to Gimme! Coffee on Mott St. in NoLita. Since my last trip a year ago, several other Third Wave cafes have opened in NYC, but I like Gimme's little shop. It's very narrow, with no room for seats, an L-shaped counter. They roast light and have at least two different coffees on tap. Plus they know their stuff.

When I came in last year, and starting talking shop, I got skeptical looks from the barista. "Who are you again?" he asked, after a brief discussion about natural vs. washed coffees, CoE and vacuum sealing at origin. Perhaps it was because I wasn't spotting hipster clothes and tats (I was wearing a tie and a jacket).

This time I talked to Jenni, and had a great conversation about some of the different beans they were selling. She was raving about their Panama Hartmann Honey, a small lot of mixed varietals that I'll call a field blend. It includes Caturra, Catuai, Tipica, Geisha, San Ramon, Pacamara and Bourbon varietals, and is semi-washed, where the fruit of the coffee cherry is stripped off but the mucus is allowed to remain on the bean while it dries. This imparts more fruit flavors on the bean than if it were totally wet processed.

Unfortunately she didn't have any for me to buy then, but will be receiving some tomorrow and I'll try to make it down to get a bag to bring back to SF.

I did have a nice Rwandan Bourbon Bufcafe that showed light tropical fruit flavors that Jenni pegged as cantaloupe. These were more present as the coffee cooled, then receded somewhat as it grew cold in temp.