One block away from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, New York, we stumbled upon Third Rail Coffee and gave it a try.

Google maps:

The place is really small, and popular, which leads to a bit of a squeeze; theres is also an odd pride about not having a bathroom – very odd.

Besides the espresso based staples, they have a nice selection of beans that can be bought or used for pour-over, for which the team uses a Chemex.

Probably I came a little too deep into Saturday afternoon rush hour, but preparation was a mixed bag.

Paper filter was not rinsed, and the barista left the Chemex drip alone (and even left the store for minutes during the brew) for close to 5 minutes. There was no scale or timer either, so the results may be a bit mixed from one pour to the next.

The Idido that I had chosen, was surprisingly light in flavor (maybe ground too coarse or temperature too low?), but definitely had a good bit of lemon notes.

Overall, we would probably need to come back during a less busy time, and hope that things are a bit more steady then. Also, let’s see what things are like at their second location in the East village.