Your New Coffee House
Couldn't you just move right into those bubbles? 3 bedrooms, lots of light, water view, free coffee.
Jeff Katris
Jeff wrote as Vice President for Design & Communications through 2009.
Couldn't you just move right into those bubbles? 3 bedrooms, lots of light, water view, free coffee.
Video: Compost THIS!
Kevin shows a compostable corn cup who the boss is.
Music: "Hybrid 1" - guitar (Jeff Katris), remix (Doron ben Avraham)
Music: "Hybrid 1" - guitar (Jeff Katris), remix (Doron ben Avraham)
Video: Latte Art Throwdown
Baristas from every Gimme espresso bar gathered at our State
Street location for a design duel. I snapped
250 pics and slapped them onto an old scrap from my music hobby. It's hyper-kinetic and herky-jerky, so find a friend with a peppy computer and look away if you get dizzy.
Hooray for talented baristas -- such technicians! Stay tuned for official reportage from event impresario Erin.
Hooray for talented baristas -- such technicians! Stay tuned for official reportage from event impresario Erin.
The Moral, and Marital, Dimensions of Coffee
I recently read this characterization of the global coffee trade:"The gigantic extent to which the production and consumption of coffee has been carried of late years, the vast number of hands employed in its cultivation and preparation for market, including the great quantity of shipping necessary for its transportation, and the enormous amount of capital invested in its production and trade, naturally invest the commodity, not only from a commercial but also from a moral and social standpoint, with great importance, creating as it does an industry of almost fabulous proportions and capital, rendering it second to no other article of food or drink in the world."
As true today as the day it was published... in 1894.
Gimme Fish!
When the original "Gimme! Coffee" banner was raised above our Cayuga Street cafe in 2000, thirsty neighbors started flocking. But does the brand a-lure work at sea? Will the 40-pound striped bass who lurk around the Norwalk Islands be drawn inexorably to one vessel above all others? Edward B, a loyal customer from the shores of Long Island Sound, intends to find out this season.
Fueled by Gimme, Rome Was Built in One Day
Last week, The New Museum in Manhattan kicked off it's signature triennial, "The Generational," with a performance work by Los Angeles-based artist Liz Glynn and her army of volunteers. Objective: Build Rome (then destroy it) in one day. Materials: Performance-enhancing espresso beverages and salvaged construction stuff. Volunteers drank free at our Mott Street cafe just 2 blocks away.
Vintage Photos from Panama
Escape your cubicle! Run away from your boss! Wheeee! Don't these 1970s pictures from the Hartmann family make you want to seek challenge and adventure? Okay, so creating a coffee finca isn't merely a jaunt in a jeep, but some days the thought of living closer to the land and being self-sufficient has its appeal. We received the snapshots with our shipment of the delicious Panama Hartmann Honey. I think that might be Ratibor Jr. in the back with a snack.
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Coffee Beans to Cherry Trees
Panama Hartmann Honey beans ship in space-age mylar. The opaque, air-tight, puncture-resistant bags lock in freshness and repel the stray odors of neighboring freight.
Founders of an Innovative Trading Program Visit Gimme from Colombia
Gimme customers and staff were treated recently to a meet-and-greet with Alejandro Cadena and Giancarlo Ghiretti, founders of the Las Mingas Relationship Coffee Project, who work directly with the farmers that produce our beautiful Las Mingas beans. Our special guests from Bogotá lectured one night in Ithaca, and the very next night in New York City. That NYC lecture hadn't been scheduled until Jenni, our Manhattan manager, asked Giancarlo and Alejandro if they could do a repeat talk the next night before leaving the States. Very gracious of them to oblige.
Tonight! More Free Coffee! Special Guests from Colombia!
Last night before a crowd of 50 people at our State Street cafe, Gimme Roasting Manager Colleen Anunu gave an introduction to our work with the Las Mingas Relationship Coffee Project. In the audience were Las Mingas founders, Alejandro Cadena and Giancarlo Ghiretti, as well as staff and customers. Gimme Manhattan manager Jenni Bryant and colleagues came all the way from New York City. It was great to rally so many people around a common interest.
Latte Art Champ Sports Gimme Gear in Japan
In an intercontinental expression of solidarity, Hiroshi Sawada, winner of the 2008 Millrock Latte Art Championship at Coffee Fest Seattle, sent these Gimme Gear pics from Tokyo to Ithaca. Photos
Gimme Art: Joshua Sperling's Graphic Art
Joshua Sperling is a barista at our East Shore and State Street locations. He is also a talented visual artist. A few of his works are on display at State Street this month.
Espresso. Beer. Nuts. Bolts.
Nothing too fancy today. Just a pile of espresso machine parts that I found rather... attractive. Tomas assured me that every little piece is exactly where it belongs.
Have You Ever Seen a Green Bean?
It dawned on me the other day. Unless you work in the coffee world, you've probably never seen green coffee -- that is, beans before they get roasted. These rather homely jade drops, randomly selected specimens of our Colombia Las Mingas Relationship Coffee, are pebble-hard and seemingly inert. Yet lurking inside are all the brain-stoking bouquets and body-embosoming brios of the Beautiful Beverage, as they call it in the Olde Country. Apply a dose of hot air and let the alchemy begin.
See the World in Your Cup... Next Week!
Just got our invitation to Coffee: The World in Your Cup at the University of Washington's Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. We can't make it out to Seattle next weekend, but the exhibit will be on display January 24 - June 7, 2009. If you want to deepen your understanding of coffee, and you're in town, don't miss it.
Four Oh Four, Pirates in the Coffee!
If something lame happens while you are using our web site, like you click a broken link or the server poops out, you'll probably see the Jolly Roger flying high. It seems to say, Something died here. Was it your patience? Your faith in us?
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Gimme Art: Andrew Lunn's Hippie Bling
When our old delivery guy went West to pursue his comic art, Andrew Lunn took the wheel as our new coffee driver... and resident funky ass jewelry artist.
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Take a Thermos of Coffee into the Forest and Cook Something Up
Stephen is driving. He's a farmer. Heather and Brad are up front, too. They raise pigs. Throw the Gimme guy in back. He'll be okay.
A Shot of Coffee You Really Don't Want
A finance guy from the Cheese Belt read our bit about coffee coolers. He was inspired to conduct a few hours of followup research -- on the clock, I presume, since finance guys have time to burn these days. This thoughtful reader then submitted intriguing images from an 1896 regimental history.
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A Study in Steel and Hair: Tomas Reyer in His Machine Shop
Drive your Toyota like a jackrabbit. Gun it at the greenlight, catch air off a speedbump, carve donuts in your neighbor's lawn. Do it 15 hours a day, 365 days a year. How's that little Corolla feeling now?
One of These Coffee Gift Boxes Might be Yours
Bum-Pa-Dum! Sound of trumpets. The first wave of Coffee Gift Boxes is on the move. If someone ordered a box for you this past weekend, one of these puppies is yours. And it's already on the way. If you're certain that nobody ordered a box for you... get one yourself!
What Does 'Coffee Coolers' Bring to Mind?
Maybe you think of foofy drinks. Or you geek out like some latter day microscopist. Ooh, I know: you think of plug-n-play gadgets. But me, I think of Bartles & Jaymes. I was programmed in the '80s. My automatic response to the word "coolers" has everything to do with those old guys catching a fruity buzz, and nothing to do with... war.
Skaters, Bikers Set Up Camp O'Ramp Next to Gimme
What's the proper verbiage? Diamondz! Dag! East Shore Skate Park is now open, right out behind our Lansing espresso bar in a reinvented factory space. I'm definitely a poser with a camera so I had a hamster of a time shooting x-games in the dimly lit warehouse. The young gent pictured above and his bros kept flying by my face in the dark. I promised Ben that I would come back in a couple weeks to capture some serious shreddage for a photo gallery. Meanwhile I'll try to learn the camera. They'll add heat and continue the buildout.
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Gimme Art: Comic Illustrations by Aaron Kuder
Aaron is our trusty delivery driver by day... and comic artist extraordinaire by night.
If It's Not Spanglish, What Is It?
I recently A New Traveling Exhibit on Coffee
If you haven't browsed Mimi Wysong's splendid photos from Mesa de los Santos, Colombia, here are the photo gallery and travel report. Mimi has a naturalist's eye to match her knack with a camera. She also manages our Cayuga Street espresso bar — the original Gimme location and a perennial favorite of Ithacans.
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Neighborhood Store Good for Families, Planet Earth
What's good for the goose is good for the goslings. Gently used duds get the kids looking sharp, are easy on the wallet, and make minimal impact on the environment.
'The New York Times' Touts Our Favorite Russian Import
How often is it that a barista gets a full-page interview in "The New York Times"? Aleks Shineleva got hers in the cool new column Entry Level that profiles people in early stages of their work lives. Aleks is the manager-in-training at our Brooklyn espresso bar.
New York Boss Moonlights as 'Barista Magazine' Cover Guy
Mike White, our NYC Regional Manager and a true Gimme veteran, appears in the current issue of "Barista Magazine." Mike's story with Gimme began at our first location and spans 8 years, 5 cafes, and 3 cities.
Just Me and The Beans: Flamekeeper Featured in 'Roast Magazine'
Colleen Anunu of Gimme! Coffee explained her love of roasting in a recent tell-all exposé: "It's a pretty positive head space to be in, just me and the beans. Beans don't write comment cards, I like to hang with them." 'Saveur' Magazine: Gimme Sumatra is Deeply Flavorful, Best in Class
We got a call from "Saveur" this summer. They said, send us some beans. What kind, I asked. Something good for breakfast, they said. With nothing else to go on, I queried our coffee strategists. They debated quickly and chose a half-dozen bags to send. Weeks later, we got word that the editors loved our Sumatra Iskandar. Today in History: Espresso's New Wave Hits 'The New York Times,' 2006
Two intense years have passed since Peter Meehan reported on the arrival of specialty coffee in New York City -- a few decades after the niche industry got its start on the West Coast. Gimme and our peers have been hammering away at "new wave" practices, with special attention to barista craft, artisan roasting, sustainability, and working closer with farmers.
Searching for Rainbows, Master Roaster Cups Rwanda Bourbon Bufcafe
Here's a rare look into the coffee mind of John Gant, Master Roaster at Gimme! Coffee. John's signature style of working with coffee -- roasting, tasting, tweaking, and communicating the nuances -- goes on full display in this cupping report that he penned about our Rwanda Bourbon Bufcafe. It's a joy to read John's expressive, exuberant prose. Photos
'Barista Manual 1.0'
There's precious content inside, but can “Barista Manual 1.0” take the punishment of fieldwork? Before getting our stamp of approval, the “Manual” got a whoopin' in our espresso lab. Here, a 30-second blast from the steamwand.
Latest Photos
About the Blog
The Gimme blog is a collaboration that gives voice to people across our company. Opinions expressed by our authors are uncensored, and are not necessarily the opinions of Gimme! Coffee. If you need a company statement, or any other type of response, please contact us.
