by JmanEspresso on Mon Oct 12, 2009 2:16 am
Gimme! Coffee is Upstate NY, Ithaca to be exact. When I first got Anita, I adored their blends, awesome stuff. The leftist and platinum blonde don't do it for me anymore... Ordering them consistently for weeks on end will do that to you*. I do however still pick up the Occasional pound of the Piccolo Mondo... I still like that one somewhat. I wish they would note on their single origin offerings if they would "work" for espresso or not, but if you Email them, they'll be able to suggest some SO's for espresso.. If thats what you want.
CoffeeLabs, in Tarrytown NY.. Right on Main Street. On their offering list, they've only got one espresso blend, which Ive only had at the shop. They about 45 minutes from me, although the ride seems quick because Im always in that area..but I digress... IVe bought a couple SOs from them, they were good. CoffeeLabs isn't in my "rotation" for weekly orders, because, I use them when I need a pound right away, for whatever reason... Good coffee for sure.
Ohh.. And Barrington Coffee Roasters. They have a bit of variety espresso wise, and their Gold Espresso blend is pretty good. It starts out, to me, like a "regular" chocolate bomb.. But then you start to play around with it, and you can get some nice fruit as the main flavor. For me, its one of those blend thats really makes you want to change every variable to see what will come out of the spout.
Atomic Cafe is next on my list of Must Try. I keep hearing great things.
*This is why I advocate ordering from a particular roaster no more then 3 orders in a row, then going somewhere else... Coming back to favorites now and then. The blends from Gimme! I used to really enjoy a lot, and got really good at pulling them "perfectly", so to speak. Now... I dont even consider them when im decided where to order from... I just got sick of them because I ordered from them so many times in a row. Now.. Its 2-3 orders, and I try to get different stuff each order if they have enough selection... then on to a new roaster. Ill come back to my favorites from Time to Time.. but when you're always trying new things, favorites dont "hold their spot" very long. Point Im trying to make is, even if you really like a certain blend or bean... Continue to switch it up... You'll RARELY get bored this way, and you'll discover so much more great coffees.