Caffé del Mundo: New coffee shop in the Cove features brews from around the world, Sangrias
PANAMA CITY — The newest addition to one of Panama City’s historic neighborhoods is now open for the community to try coffee from around the world.
Caffé del Mundo, located in the Cove at 101 S. Bonita Ave., opened in mid-November after a six-month journey to become an establishment. After attending the Atlanta Coffee Fest, coffee aficionados Marta and Jimy Thorpe opened the business together with plans to build and grow in the future. This restaurant’s first location includes a coffee and Sangria bar.
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The building that used to be The Cove Coin Laundromat before Hurricane Michael, now houses the new restaurant, as well as A Superior Air Conditioning, which Jimy owns. The Thorpes realized the Cove area lacked commercial businesses and wanted to become that community hub for locals to visit throughout the day.
“We hope that Caffé del Mundo can be that local hangout spot and involve the local community as much as possible. So any groups that like to gather on a regular basis, we’d love for them to come here,” Marta Thorpe said.
The business operates Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. It sells a variety of items, including espressos, teas, nitro-infused cold brews, gourmet smoothies and snacks, with sangrias, wine and beer served in the afternoon. The Sangria flavors include Ethiopian Coffee, Processco Peach and Classic Spanish. All of their foods are freshly made and the imported coffee beans are freshly roasted each day with the Mill City Roaster.
Caffé del Mundo translates to “coffee of the world,” and the business sells coffee based on six locations in the world’s coffee belt: Colombia, Panama, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Bolivia, and Kona, Hawaii.
“We wanted to be able to have something different that you can’t get anywhere else. So that’s when we decided we wanted to be able to serve coffee from around the world to the local community,” Jimy Thorpe said.
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Caffé del Mundo supports local businesses by sourcing foods and merchandise products from other businesses and local creators. Down the road, the owners plan to host events to give back to the community. Eventually, they want to invite local artists to host art exhibitions and local musicians to perform. As the business grows, more items will be added to the menu, such as soup, sandwiches and baked goods, the Thorpes said.
Marta Thorpe said she’s excited about the new chapter and already has plans to open a second location in Freeport. The Freeport location will feature a tapas bar, a more extensive menu, and dinner hours. She is working toward opening it within the next couple of years.
“This journey has been thrilling and exciting, and I love gathering people and seeing their happiness when they’re having a good time,” Thorpe said. “Just knowing that I’m part of bringing that all together is fulfilling.”
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City's newest coffee shop: Caffé del Mundo in the Cove
