Something special at Menagerie Coffee in Old City

Old City had missed out on Philly's pour-over coffee revolution until last month, when two coffee-scene vets, April Nett (Elixr) and Elysa DiMauro (Bodhi), opened airy Menagerie Coffee in a former Third Street gallery.

They've sourced excellent beans not yet commonly brewed locally, including a peppery, lemony Neon espresso from Minnesota's Dogwood.

But the real object of coffee-head desire is an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe that's "conditioned" in empty bourbon barrels by Baltimore's Ceremony Coffee.

It's a pricey $6 cup. But it's also complex, the African bean's naturally bright fruit tempered by sweet barrel vanilla, then intensified by the wood's tannin and hint of char. It's only brewed by the cup, but Old City-zens can rejoice that they now have such a lovely new cafe to hang out and sip it in.

- Craig LaBan
 
Ceremony Coffee's bourbon barrel-aged Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, $6 a 12 oz. cup, Menagerie Coffee, 18. S. Third St.