Saturday, August 06, 2005


gimme that piccolo mondo!

for some reason today, blogger just isn't letting me log in (sigh) and so i'm mailing this post in, praying the not-so-reliable blogger mail feature will actually work. . .

this morning i decided to make good while the coffee was still fresh and poured the morning cappuccini with gimme coffee's piccolo mondo organic, fair-trade blend.

altho' it's more darkly roasted than the famed gimme leftist, i actually like it much better! which is saying a lot, since i'm quite fond of the leftist.

and to my surprise, mr. right rather liked it too. in fact, it may be his second favorite coffee after batdorf's dancing goat, tied with the stumptown hairbender.

the gimme description says that the piccolo has a "jungle sweet tobacco" aftertaste, but actually i think it's more a clove-y, woody spice thing. likewise the fresh grounds smell less "clover" to me and more like sweet green cardamom.

but let's agree it's all good. this may be my favorite gimme espresso for the time being.

it gives a wonderful heavy crema and gloops out of the portafilter like motor oil. just a fine coffee for a great cappuccino.

suitably prepared, i braved the various subway route changes (every line this morning seemed to be diverted to take you in the direction exactly opposite from where you'd want to go) and zig-zagged my way up to oren's 79th st. store.

there oren's kevin (not to be confused with gimme's kevin) had a rare coffee item: the little-seen chemex pot lid. it's just a small round glass stopper kinda object with a squat blunt handle on the top.

since the chemex oren so sweetly sent me is a kind with a pour spout, the lid doesn't really fit so well, but may go way to keeping the coffee warm after you make it, which is my main concern.

now that i play with it, it might actually fit a tad better upside down. . . now at least i understand why almost no one has one or feels they need it.

but i'm happy to have it, and it was great to see kevin. if the subways hadn't been such a dakar rally (can you get back to brooklyn in less than 14 days without spending 6 days lost off course??), i would have loved to hang out and chat, but the transport situation being one more suited to indiana jones than myself, i settled for taking a quick iced coffee and heading back.

unable to face yoga class after that adventure, i settled for creating my own private yoga practice at home using shiva rea's great 2-cd set, yoga sanctuary. it allows you to mix-n-match tracks to create a practice that matches your mood.

which is exactly what i did. a nice 65 minutes and 6 tracks later, i felt much better. (in case you have this cd, i did the sun salutation, dancing warrior, standing pose, balance pose, yogic bicycle, and shavasana tracks.)

whew. now i'm all better!

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