We began life in 2000 as a pocket espresso bar in Ithaca, New York, and opened a small-batch roastery the following year. Our tongue-in-cheek advertisements in the local papers touted world-class neighborhood coffee to go, and the tasty brew gained an instant following. As of 2008, we're still utterly captivated by coffee craft while working in three business areas:
- Retail espresso bars around New York
- Wholesale partnerships with cafes, grocers, and restaurants
- Web orders from coffee enthusiasts in North America
We've been fortunate to draw high-profile praise for our obsessive approach to sourcing, roasting, and preparing artisan coffee. A New York Times article, “Espresso's New Wave Hits Town,” featured Gimme! as a leader in the artisanal coffee movement. The New York Daily News labeled us “the ultimate no-nonsense espresso bar,” while the New York Press wrote, “hands, shoulders, ears, and skull above any cup of coffee we've tasted, anywhere.”
Locally, Gimme! has earned a reputation for community-building, historic preservation, small business health, and philanthropy. Our cafes are dynamic meeting spots that have revitalized commercial and neighborhood spaces. We're continually motivated by our fanatical customers and friends who make a make a place for us in their daily lives. Viva la neighborhood.
About Espresso
Gimme! Coffee is espresso-driven and quality-obsessed. That's our mantra, and it really is the core of our business and our relationship to coffee.
For most of American history, “coffee” has been synonymous with brewed coffee — a thin solution boiled over a fire or simmered away all day in a glass carafe. Beginning in the 1950's, food scientists standardized the experience, creating freeze-dried, instant, and chemically-flavored coffees. In recent years, brewed coffee's European cousin — espresso — has become more popular, but many people know it only as the bitter, caffeinated component in milky sweet lattes.
At Gimme! Coffee, we've been learning what Italians have known for years: a shot of espresso, perfectly prepared, is the fullest expression of the enigmatically powerful coffee bean. Espresso is to coffee as wine is to grapes: a pure, concentrated experience of the journey from seed to cup.
Connecting Grower to Consumer
When coffee drinks are prepared with attention to detail, customers acknowledge the difference, and the quality reflects back on the people who are working hard at the coffee's origin. Growers of specialty coffee are increasingly focused on quality harvests, which fetch higher prices and can result in close relationships with artisan roasters like Gimme! Coffee. We're in constant communication with farmers and brokers, learning how we can collaborate to deliver sustainably produced coffees that perform in the cup.
Learning and educating are central to our daily work and our mission. Is there something that you want to know about coffee? About our business? You can task us by sending feedback and we'll get right on it.