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1. Amara, Amaro Gayo
Vanilla and cherry pie. Aromatic, lush in the mouth. This Ethiopian coffee is protected by two mountain ranges and a river with a mind of its own.

2. Bali, Kintamani, Indonesia
Resinous with licorice toffee and cherry-vanilla lingering finish. This is grown amongst active volcanoes and produced under the socially and environmentally watchful eye of local religious tradition.

3. Brasil, Daterra Sweet Blue
Famous and delicious. Good, good, good coffee.

4. Nicaragua, Los Milagros
Tamarind and banana witha pleasantly relentless strawberry cranberry spice finish.

5. Rwanda, Gisenyi
Hazelnut-raspberry-lime butter. Yes.

6. Costa Rica, Tarrazu
Finca El Llano, a micro-lot of the Bonilla family of Don Mayo fame. Savory and succulent with a soy sauce and meat flaver, it feels like it could be eaten with noodles.

Prepared by the cup. $3
Read about our Farmer Dividend(tm) program here.

Join us tomorrow for the first of many weekly coffee cuppings! Our Cupping Room is located downstairs at Mercer Street. Together we’ll taste, discuss, and explore single origin beans from around the globe. One hundred percent free and open to all. An amazing opportunity!

In addition to our regular drip blend, we also offer these exceptional boutique coffees. Each cup is brewed especially for you.

1. Amaro, Amaro Gayo
Notes: Vanilla and cherry pie. Aromatic and lush. One of our baristas visited this region of Ethiopia, protected by two mountain ranges and a river with a mind of its own. He came back with stories. We call it “Amaro” instead of “Ethiopia” for secret and mysterious reasons.

2. Costa Rica, Don Mayo
Notes: This one is syrupy and smoky with some gardenia, or another tropical flower. From Tarrazu, Hector Bonilla at Don Mayo has seven coffee farms. He and his family decide how to mix and label their beans, all of which are rich and velvety when brewed. This is great dessert coffee.

3. Brasil, Daterra Sweet Blue
Notes: Famous and delicious. This is goodgoodgood coffee.

For more information, read About Our Coffee.

Come in for a fantastic cup of specially selected coffee.  Each cup is brewed especially for you.

1. Guatemala, La Tacita
Notes: From Antigua with exotic and complex layers of vegetables, nuts, and pomegranate. 

2. El Salvador, Las Delicias
Notes: White peach, star anise, baker’s cocoa, and flowers.

3. Honduras, Liquidambar
Notes:From the Intibuca region, this coffee is super refreshing. Honeydew, green beans, smells a lot like organically washed laundry.

4. Brasil, Daterra Blue
Notes: Famous and delicious. Good, good, good coffee.

For more information, read About Our Coffee.

For our Single Origins Coffee Bar, we feature some of the best coffees around. The menu is rotated weekly and each cup is brewed individually, just for you. As a reminder, we’re now selling our very own single origins selections by the half-pound! Our employees love talking coffee, so stop by any of our locations today to give one a try.

Think Coffee Single Origins Bar:
1. COSTA RICA, Tarrazu
Tastes of fleshy fruit like lychee, meringue, and some butter pecan ice cream. Hector Bonilla and family picked this in June.

2. GUATEMALA, Los Volcanes
Chocolaty, lush, and creamy. Perfect with pastries.

3. NICARAGUA, La Gloria
Tastes like salted radishes roasted in butter, with chocolate pudding and preserves. Smells like a tropical fruit basket. Feels slippery. This is really, really amazing coffee.

Wondering more about our exclusive Farmer Dividend coffee purchasing prog

For our Single Origins Coffee Bar, we feature some of the best coffees around. The menu is rotated weekly and each cup is brewed individually, just for you. As a reminder, we’re now selling our very own single origins selections by the half-pound! Our employees love talking coffee, so stop by any of our locations today to give one a try.

Think Coffee Single Origins Bar: August 9-16
1. NICARAGUA, La Gloria
Roasted by De La Paz, Mission, San Francisco
This is our newest bean. Tastes like pureed roasted radishes with chocolate pudding and dried fruit and smells like a tropical fruit basket, this is really, really amazing coffee.

2. ETHIOPIA, Amaro Mountains
This farmer, Askanesh Thomas, farms 250 acres and processes her own coffee. She also buys from small farms around her, always for some of the highest prices in the country. This coffee is a little spicy, with a kick of raspberry. We sell out of it every week.

3. BRASIL, Daterra Sweet Blue
Tastes like chocolate covered summer cherries and vanilla bean. This coffee is lush and oh-so-creamy. Often brewed as espresso, we like it as is.

4. EL SALVADOR, Las Delicias
White peaches, star anise, Baker’s Cocoa and sweet, sweet flowers. Warm and fuzzy, a cup of this is like Sunday afternoon at the park with your dog.

Wondering more about our exclusive Farmer Dividend coffee purchasing program? Click here.

(Read more about our Single Origins Bar here.)

And in case you needed even more exciting news–it is Monday, after all–Think Coffee is now selling our very own single origins selections by the half-pound! That way, if we brew something in-store that you think is especially great, you can take a bag home with you! Why caffeinate with something sub-par?

1. ETHIOPIA, Amaro Mountains
This coffee producer farms and processes her own coffee, and buys from smaller farms around her region. This coffee is a little spicy with a raspberry kick. Every week it’s offered, this bean practically flies off our shelves.

2. INDONESIA, Aceh
Sweeter and fruitier than a typical Indonesian coffee, this Sumatran bean is overflowing with chocolate, easy fruit, and a little bit of chai latte-type spices. Heavy bodied, it is phenomenal with a sweet dessert.

3. EL SALVADOR, Las Delicios
White peaches, star anise, Baker’s Cocoa and sweet, sweet flowers. Warm and fuzzy, a cup of this is like Sunday afternoon at the park with your Cocker Spaniel.

(Read more about our Single Origins Bar here.)

And in case you needed even more exciting news–it is Monday, after all–Think Coffee is now selling our very own single origins selections by the half-pound! That way, if we brew something in-store that you think is especially great, you can take a bag home with you! Why caffeinate with something sub-par?

1. Amaro Gayo, Ethiopia
A holdover from last week, we can’t get enough of this new crop. Roasted by Equator Coffees in San Rafael, this palatable coffee is a favorite among coffee-minded and laypeople alike. Producer Asnakech Thomas is Ethiopia’s only female miller-exporter, and she processes some truly special coffee. Cinnamon toast with a side of blueberries, the aroma is fantastic. A must-try.

2. Tarrazu, Costa Rica
These beans from the Don Mayo Estate Microlot are family-farmed and, frankly, pretty outstanding. This coffee is pizzazzy like pineapple with a generous splash of soy sauce.

3. Daterra Sweet Blue, Brasil
Tastes like chocolate covered summer cherries and vanilla bean. This coffee is lush and oh-so-creamy. Often brewed as espresso, we like it as is.

4. Las Delicios, El Salvador
White peaches, star anise, Baker’s Cocoa and sweet, sweet flowers. Warm and fuzzy, a cup of this is like Sunday afternoon at the park with your dog.

Available at any of our locations. Come try a cup, and ask your barista about Farmer Dividend!

For our Single Origins Bar, Think Coffee partners with roasters who purchase beans from small-scale farmers, often too small to be Fair Trade certified. In order to ensure that all of the farmers who produce our coffee receive above-market prices, we’ve come up with our own coffee purchasing program called Farmer Dividend.

Here’s how it works: We determine the amount of coffee sold through our Single Origins Barand calculate the farmer’s “dividend,” a minimum of $1 for every pound of roasted coffee. We then put this amount back into the hands of the farmer – no strings attached. The entire dividend goes to the farmer whose hard work went into these great coffees.

Stop by one of our Single Origins Bars for more information. For a list of what’s available today, check out this week’s Single Origins selections.

Did you know we change our beer & wine menu seasonally? Well, we do. We actually get some really great stuff, and we focus on stocking as many local, organic, biodynamic and sustainable varieties as possible. (The cheese plate’s not bad either.) Happy hour is from 7-8, daily.

Coffee gets us through our day, but wine through the night!

Our coffee guy has chosen some fantastic new beans this week. Can’t decide which you’d enjoy the most? Ask your baristas about their favorites–we love to help you choose. (Read more about our Single Origins Bar here.)

1. Amaro Gayo, Ethiopia
Roasted by Equator Coffees in San Rafael, this palatable coffee is a favorite among coffee-minded and laypeople alike. Producer Asnakech Thomas is Ethiopia’s only female miller-exporter, and she processes some truly special coffee. We stock this one often because everyone likes it. (Berries, you know.)

2. Tarrazu, Costa Rica
Beans from the Don Mayo Estate Microlot are farmed by Hector Bonilla and his family. Roasted by the masters at New York-based Plowshares, this coffee is pizzazzy like pineapple with a generous splash of soy sauce.

3. Huila, Colombia
From a tiny farm run by Henry Serrato Artunduaga, this 49th Parallel-roasted bean is clean, clean, clean. Refreshing like cucumbers and slippery-sweet like syrup, you’ll find it goes down easy, with no aftertaste. Caramel, mixed fruit, and fudge. Yum!

4. Roblar, El Salvador
These beans are grown by Vickie Dalton and her husband Francisco using cutting edge techniques (it has to do with how the cherries are pulped!) and then processed in a plant that reduces its energy input by powering off parchment skins and tree prunings. Tart green apples and jasmine or hibiscus. Balanced, fruity, and thick, it is expertly roasted by San Fran’s Ritual Roasters.

They sell out, so don’t wait!

For our Single Origins Coffee Bar, we feature some of the best coffees around. To do so, we partner with roasters who purchase beans from small-scale farmers all over the globe. The menu is rotated weekly and each cup is brewed individually, just for you.

As a reminder, we’ll try to post our new choices each week. In case we don’t, though, you’re always sure to find something tasty and tempting. Our employees love talking coffee, so stop by any of our locations today to give one a try. Don’t miss out!

You can watch Sarah Leslie and other competitors in the NE Regional Barista Competition streaming live at www.usbaristachampionship.org. Ms. Leslie, of Think Coffee, competes Saturday, March 20th at 1:26pm. Neil from TampTamp is performing at 2:30pm on Friday, March 19th.

“New York Is Finally Taking Its Coffee Seriously,” The New York Times March 10, 2010
Here’s our review!
All three Think Coffee locations are large and well run. The espresso is a custom Italian-style dark blend from Porto Rico Importing. More interesting are the brewed-to-order coffees made with beans from different artisanal roasters.

248 Mercer Street (West Fourth Street), Greenwich Village, (212) 533-3366; 1 Bleecker Street (the Bowery), NoHo, (212) 228-6226; 123 Fourth Avenue (East 12th Street), Greenwich Village, (212) -614-6644, thinkcoffeenyc.com.

Best wishes to Sarah Leslie from Think, and Neil Oney from Tamp Tamp at this weekend’sNortheast Regional Barista Competition!

Ms. Leslie’s signature drink features lemon pepper ice cream and Epic Espresso from Vancouver B.C.’s 49th Parallel in an affogato sure to impress even the most discerning judge!

This year the event is hosted by Barismo Coffee, George Howell Coffee Company, and New Harvest Coffee Roasters in Boston, MA March 18-21.

The competition will be held at The Somerville Center for the Arts at the Armory 191 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02143.

Becca Fisher 
Claire Miller 
and Sarah Leslie (Think Baristas) competed in the NYC Throwdown “Rosettas for Relief” on February 25, 2010.

The competition raised over $2,000 in donations for Rebati, a program developed to provide mental health care to survivors of the earthquake in Haiti.

Sarah Riley filmed competitor’s latte art live
and streamed the event online. 50 people logged in to check out the event, and there were 100 coffee community folks in attendance.

A great time was had by all 
while outside the snow was falling! There were endless buckets of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. At the night’s end, we left a steamy storefront and found streets covered in snow. Thanks to Joe for hosting the event, and Sam Penix for putting it together.

Thanks to Neil Oney for capturing the night in photographs!

Think Coffee Barista’s Sarah Leslie and Claire Miller will be competing Thursday night in Round 1 of Rosettas for Relief!
Round 1 is a latte art competition between NYC Baristas.
The winner will proceed to a national level competition.
All proceeds from this event are going toward Rebati, a program to help earthquake survivors from Haiti.

New Addition to our French Press Menu!

Costa Rica La Legua de Aserri
Roaster: 49th Parellel
Varietals: 100% Bourbon
Altitude: 1650m
Process: Aquapulped and Sun Dried
Roaster’s Description: Ripe red fruits, lemon and chocolate. Very clean cup, complex acidity and syrupy sweetness.
Our Cupping Notes: Well balanced citrus, chocolate and sweet berry flavour. Incredibly smooth with a nice body.

Cupping Report 11/24/09

Today we tried 3 coffees with Anne Nylander of Tamp Tamp. Every Tuesday these folks host a free cupping at Think Coffee (Mercer) where you are sure to try something good. For more information, visit their website here www.tamptamp.com. Here are our shared cupping notes:

George Howell – Terrior Coffee Guatemala La Soledad (our favorite)

Fragrance: toasty almond, slight chocolate, nutty, peanuts, cabbage, cranberry?
Aroma: chocolate raspberry, toasty dark chocolate, buttery
Break: molasses, apricot,
Brightness: nice high notes, tangy, low end winey scale
Flavor: toasty, nutty (pleasant), very sweet dissolving brown sugar, soured on cool, earl-grey tea-like, pleasant
Body: medium-low
Aftertaste: clean, lingering

Flat Black Coffee – Bali

Fragrance: tannins, walnuts, grape juice, hard, fruity, edge-of fermented, wet-earthy, volatile
Aroma: milk chocolate
Break: sharp, toasty, burnt, musty, banana
Brightness: strong
Flavor: charred flavor, raspberry, lemon, vegetal, stewy
Body: medium body, medium low
Aftertaste: lingering fruits, clean ish with sour notes

New Harvest Coffee Roasters – Barista Jam Custom Blend

Fragrance: weak, light, aged, pork fat, peppercorns, hint of sweet plum, banana
Aroma: ammonia, alcohol
Break: sharp, tannins
Brightness: medium-low, bitter
Flavor: roasty, smokey, bitters, dark toast, dark chocolate/cocoa, plumy
Body: between coffee one & two
Aftertaste: thin, sap, sticky finish, plunk

New Store!

Visit our new store at 123 4th Avenue (12th & 13th Sts.)
Mon. – Fri.: 7am – Midnight
Sat. & Sun.: 8am – Midnight

Hair Bender

This week our baristas cupped Hair Bender espresso by Stumptown Coffee Roasters, now roasting in Brooklyn.

Hair Bender Espresso
Roaster: Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Varietals: Latin America, East Africa and Indonesia
Roaster’s Description: Caramel, milk chocolate, sweet citrus and soft floral notes.
Our Cupping Notes: Semi-sweet chocolate, brown sugar, earthy notes, some citrus and fruit flavor.

The Throwdown

Barista’s from all over the city came to Think Coffee to participate in the 2nd NYC Thursday Night Throwdown. Check it out!

Think Coffee Hosts Barista Workshop September 25 – 27, 2009

Next week our training center will be used to host the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Northeast Regional Skill Building Workshop from September 25th-27th. You can register for classes on the SCAA website.

The Bella

Today some of our baristas cupped a coffee by Blue Bottle Coffee Co. out of San Francisco, CA. Blue Bottle is a microroaster that specializes in single origin, shade grown and organic coffees.

Bella Donovan
Roaster: Blue Bottle Coffee Co.
Varietals: Organic Ethiopian and Sumatra
Roaster’s Description: Wild and citrusy, warm, comforting and familiar, nice and thick, stands up to milk or cream well, and is easily enjoyed black.
Our Cupping Notes: Smooth aroma, graham crackers (sweet grain), caramel and citrus fruit. This coffee is soft, round and makes wonderful milk drinks. A good solid blend.

We invited the best roasters in the country to send us samples of their coffees, and put them to the test. After a rigorous “cupping” by our staff of all the samples (see picture below), we’ve selected just three to serve on our French press menu.

The staff is loving brewing with French Press and deciding which of the three they like best. We hope you’ll stop in and do the same!

Our new French Press Menu

1. Amaro Gayo, Ethiopia
Roaster: Novo
Varietals: 10-15 local varieties, all cousins
Altitude: 1600-1900 meters
Process: Natural
Roaster’s Description: Strawberry and apple with light spice. Chocolate
and unripe bananas
Our Cupping Notes: Blueberry pie with cardamom and rhubarb. Green
Grass. Tastes like a picnic on a spring day.

2. La Minita Estate, Tarrazu, Cosa Rica
Roaster: George Howell Terroir
Varietals: Caturra and Hibrido
Altitude: 1400-1700 meters
Process: Washed
Roaster’s Description: Maple syrup and nuts with a hint of peaches.

3. Colombia Timana Micro-lot
Roaster: 49th Parallel
Varietals: Caturra
Altitude: 1500-1800 meters
Process: Washed (then sun-dried)
Roaster’s Description: Syrupy flavors of grape, cherries and mango
along with a consistent streak of milk chocolate through the cup.
Our Cupping Notes: Almond, beef stew and chocolate covered cherries.
A meal unto itself.

Yesterday, 20 talented baristas from the North East gathered at the Counter Culture Coffee Training Center in Manhattan to participate in the 1st ever Thursday Night Throwdown in New York City.

Anne Nylander of Tamp Tamp, Inc. hosted the event with the intention of bringing together the best baristas in the region to see who could pour the best latte art. Each barista had only one pour to show their stuff and was judged by the symmetry, definition and creativity of the milk design.

Think Coffee’s very own, Ben Liebmann took 2nd place. Congrats Ben!

Think Coffee is hosting the next Thursday Night Throwdown at 9pm on Thursday September 24th (signups at 8pm), $5 for participants and free for spectators/fans/bloggers.