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| - Stop # 2 on the Gory n' Pantz Espresso Run - West End.
Cherry Bomb was in that first wave of cafes that hit the city in the early portion of this decade. At the time, they were a welcome addition to the quickly changing Roncesvalles street scape. One size upgrade later, they are now a burgeoning institution. As a side note, their set up is not geared to idling countless hours with your laptop. Besides some rail seating at the window, the shop is a customer corralling area and a counter. Some may be irritated, but I see it as a smart acknowledgment that most or your business is getting coffee to go.
We enter into what appears to be a slam of customers (not surprising for a late Saturday morning) and the counter staff seems a little flustered. No chance for idle discussion of technique here. We order two short shots, which she makes sure to write down and then join the milling throng. When we get our shots, they seem like a regular volume, so either the written order is missed or ignored?
Look - lots of light tan crema, volume suggests a normal sized shot
Smell - pleasant neutral, almost like brewed coffee with milk
Taste - mild, creamy cashew, pleasant body, almost no bitter notes. Gory's fave cinnamon notes start to build nicely several minutes after we leave the shop and walk up the street.
Rating - Bon Iver, with special guest's Norah Jones and T-Pain, covers Sade's 'Smooth Operator'.
On the one hand, it's pretty clear they were just concentrating on knocking out drinks as fast as possible during a rush. On the other, this is a pleasantly surprising shot. Not a complex work of art, but solid and enjoyable. Since Lit hit the area, I generally go to them, but Cherry Bomb deserves more frequent visits. Special note - they stock Hawaiian Kona to sell as beans, but will also use for espresso or americanos. It's definitely something worth treating yourself to occasionally, if you can handle the $35 a pound.
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