primaqualita Senior Member Joined: 8 Jun 2005 Posts: 32 Location: Paradise Valley AZ Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Butterfly Grinder: Innova i2 Drip: Mellita Roaster: Local - these guys rock!
Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006, 1:32pm Subject: Coffee in Upstate New York
Heading East to visit family in the Syracuse area this Saturday - I know I'm a bit late in asking, but if anyone can recommend good coffee spot - it would be especially nice if they roast their own - even better if you can recommend a roaster in the area that sells retail - anything within a 20-30 mile radius of Syracuse - I'm bringing locally roasted with to get me through the first few days.....
Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006, 6:30pm Subject: Re: Coffee in Upstate New York
Prima, Hello. Are you able to make it to Ithaca? You should really check out gimme! coffee visit their website for more location info. They roast their own and are excellent in their approach and execution of quality coffee roasting and extraction. www.gimmecoffee.com also you can feel free to visit my shop (who also uses gimme coffee) called Carriage House Cafe www.carriagehousecafe.com We like to think we do very well with all we offer including the espresso bar which I manage.
If you want roasted coffee in Syracuse go to Freedom Of Espresso. A long time geek here is their roaster and does a great job. I do not however reccomend any drinks...as of late they have been a bit lacking. Also check out Kind Coffee I forget the address off hand but Doug does a good job as well. Hope this helps. Feel free to P.M. me or shoot me an e-mail if you head to Ithaca. Shots on me. -Chris Deferio Carriage House Cafe
BrownWater Senior Member Joined: 1 Mar 2006 Posts: 212 Location: Ithaca, NY Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Salvatore, Expobar Grinder: Super Jolly Roaster: fluid air
Posted Sat May 6, 2006, 5:25pm Subject: Re: Coffee in Upstate New York
Some friends and I are planning to move to the Ithaca area about a year from now...wondering if there's anything besides Gimme! Coffee. We've ordered whole bean and tried it, more than once, and we do not like it at all. Tastes very burnt, like starbux. Horrible aftertaste. Tried 3 different beans on two different espresso machines and we got the same bad taste each time.
I know they also supply roasted beans to other cafe's and I'm hoping the other coffeehouses in Ithaca don't all use Gimme's coffee. I was really hoping it would be good, I've heard a lot about them. Really disappointed.
Anyone know of another coffee place in Ithaca that roasts and sells their own beans?
Beto Senior Member Joined: 18 Nov 2002 Posts: 101 Location: Maryland Expertise: Pro Roaster
Espresso: Cimbali M30 Grinder: Major Drip: Chemex Roaster: Ambex YM15
Posted Mon May 8, 2006, 7:02pm Subject: Re: Coffee in Upstate New York
No sense in arguing taste and all, but one of the best espressos I've ever had was from Gimme in Brooklyn.
Don't count them out until you've had one that they've prepared, you might be surprised! At any rate, I hope you find something in the area that you like.
MarshallF Senior Member Joined: 1 Jun 2003 Posts: 476 Location: Los Angeles Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Dalla Corte Mini Grinder: Cimbali Max, Solis Maestro Vac Pot: Hario Nouveau, Bodum ESantos Drip: Bodum French Presses, Chemex Roaster: None
Posted Thu May 11, 2006, 12:15pm Subject: Re: Coffee in Upstate New York
BrownWater Said:
Some friends and I are planning to move to the Ithaca area about a year from now...wondering if there's anything besides Gimme! Coffee. We've ordered whole bean and tried it, more than once, and we do not like it at all. Tastes very burnt, like starbux. Horrible aftertaste. Tried 3 different beans on two different espresso machines and we got the same bad taste each time.
I know they also supply roasted beans to other cafe's and I'm hoping the other coffeehouses in Ithaca don't all use Gimme's coffee. I was really hoping it would be good, I've heard a lot about them. Really disappointed.
Anyone know of another coffee place in Ithaca that roasts and sells their own beans?
Sounds like you need to adjust the temperature of your machine. Or your grind or tamp may be off. There's no accounting for individual taste, but more than one educated palate has described Gimme's coffees among the best in the country. It may be eye-opening to have some of their coffee drawn by their own baristas.
Hope you know what you're getting into with the move. Central NY can be a challenge for Californians if you're much past student age. A month without sun is not at all unusual.
Posted Fri May 12, 2006, 1:35pm Subject: Re: Coffee in Upstate New York
Brownwater. Like Beto said. You need a shot from them ....not from you. It's different. If It were indeed burnt I would not use it on my bar. I also do not use a gaggia and a rocky on my bar...because espresso blends are meant to shine through commercial equipment. At leas tmor so than through a smaller home machine (there are some acceptions...but your gaggia ain't one of em) It seems like you are giving yourself no room for error...not the right attitude. You got alot of people who know good coffee telling you that it's a decent if not great coffee because they tried it from the shop...to assume that once you get here it will taste the same is to assume that there is no diffence between you, your set up, and your techniques, and the people, epquipment, and techniques of Gimme! Coffee.. Which is wrong. Since you have not been to a gimme! location your picture of the coffee as it could be is not a complete one. I think you will be pleasantly suprised. If not well then I would be truely suprised.
Posted Sun May 14, 2006, 9:01am Subject: Re: Coffee in Upstate New York
Sorry to have spotted this thread so late. I'm the roaster Chris was talking about and yes... you can get some good coffee at Freedom of Espresso but the drinks produced there are wildly inconsistent and I can't in good conscience recommend them for that purpose. I'm also not a fan of their Babebu espresso blend - it's optimized for big milk drinks (e.g. a double ristretto shot in a 12 or 16 oz drink). But I'm a part timer, have no control over process, training, consistency etc. It's a prime example of the fact that every single stage of the process from growing technique and soil all the way to every aspect of drink production is crucial.
And by the ay - the espresso blend is their formulation not mine. I can and do make an excellent light roast profile espresso blend that's fruity with a hint of chocolate. If you should happen to be in Syracuse and want a pound of the alternate espresso blend just have one of the girls call me on my cell and I'll tell the beans and proprotions to use for you. But in a few short months that will be a moot point and you can call me directly - see the end of this post for details.
Doug at Kind Coffee on West Fayette Street has good beans and does a nice job of roasting but he told me poitn blank that all beans are equally good for espresso, that you don't need a blend and should just use whatever varietal you have available and also insisted that even a few days of resting time are not good when roasted beans are used for espresso. He insists that all beans are at their best immediately after roasting or within the first 24 hours. I will politely disagree and recommeng him for bean purchases or drip coffee only.
Smith Restaurant Supply at Erie Blvd East and East Townsend Street does roastign but IMHO they burn the heck out of the beans. Syracuse also has a small independent roaster who does Internet sales - Caffe Cubal (spelling?) but I don't remember his URL or the correct spelling (DeFerio will know if you want to PM him).
As for Gimme Coffee - I have always found their espresso blend to produce better shots on a commercial machin than a home machine but that testing was done about three years ago. As recently as two years ago I found their espresso blend to still have too many bitter notes for my palate but I revisited two of their shops a bit over a year ago and was pleasantly surprised. I've now gotten, on multiple occasions at two of their locations and many times at Carriage House Cafe, straight espresso, machiatto's and traditional 6 oz cappuccino that totally rocks. I'm talking about drinks that are in the same class as places like Caffe Vivace, Victrola et al - absolutely top tier espresso.
By the way... the Ithaca Coffee Company in the Triphammer Mall does their own roasting and uses good beans (and they're very nice people). They previously used what I considered to be an excessively dark roasting style but have been movign towards a lighter style over the past year or so.
Also worth noting: sometime in late June Phaelon Coffee of Syracuse will begin sending assessment samples to a variety of people for feedback and commentary. The online sales operation should be fully functional by mid July and you should expect some excellent coffees and espresso blends to be offered. There are no plans for a retail location. I'll post more information in this forum as it becomes available. Focus will be on seasonal varietals, Cup of Excellence, quality organics, "fairly traded" and "relationship" coffees and support of sustainability. That's where we're starting out....
This is a photo of our roastery before build-out began - updates will follow in a few weeks
Blackstripsmile Senior Member Joined: 5 Sep 2003 Posts: 27 Location: Syracuse Expertise: Professional
Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: Hario Drip: Manual drip Roaster: Modded air roaster
Posted Thu Jul 6, 2006, 9:34am Subject: Re: Coffee in Upstate New York
Oh wow. I certainly feel like a dufus responding to this thread having no activity for about two months.
Coffee in central NY, especially Syracuse area, is dismal.
Freedom of Espresso(Syracuse and Fayetteville) Kind Coffee (Syracuse) Recess (Syracuse) Metro (Syracuse)
None of these places have great espresso. Freedom's quality seriously went downhill over the last year. Lack of training of the baristi I think is the biggest issue.
For drip brew both Kind Coffee and Recess are good. That's what most Syracuseans drink, I guess.
I think the reason why the coffee scene in Syracuse is so stagnant is that none of these places put emphasis on training their baristi. The coffees are not half bad; it's the method of preparation that totally kills the coffee.
I'm sorry to say this but because of lack of training Starbucks will eventually be dominant for coffee in Syracuse.
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