I make a yearly visit to San Fran­cisco and the Bay area. Before our daugh­ter was born I would would fly out there 3–4 times per year. The area is so spe­cial to me that I chose to pro­pose to my  wife at one my favourite parks in Moun­tain View. On a recent visit we decided to stay in San Fran­cisco proper and re-explore the city with our 3 year old. We never travel any­where with­out plan­ning out vis­its to cof­fee houses — as we try to avoid Cor­po­rate cof­fee houses. On a recent visit we heard from our hotel’s concierge about a cof­fee house close to the old Mint buid­ing that spe­cial­izes in small batch brews. This is where we found Blue Bot­tle Cof­fee Com­pany. The store is located in the SOMA neigh­bour­hood, in a ren­o­vated office build­ing just behind the Mint and a court­yard on Beach street. If it’s cold out­side, this is a per­fect time to sip your favourite brew and warm up while brav­ing the typ­i­cal San Fran­cisco cold.

Arti­san pre­pared cof­fee in cool urban sur­round­ings. The Blue Bot­tle Cof­fee Com­pany, named after the first cof­fee house in Vienna, offers small batch brews of organ­i­cally grown cof­fee with the fresh­est of beans — in fact all beans are freshly ground and roasted in the last 48 hours. Their cof­fee is made via drip, french press (my per­sonal favourite), or via siphon­ing. The espresso is expertly pulled.

Sin­gle Brew Cof­fee Siphons Await­ing Action

Siphoned Cof­fee

Siphoned cof­fee has been pop­u­lar in Japan for some years now. The UCC cof­fee stores found in Japan and in part of Metro Manila are prob­a­bly the most well known stores for siphoned brews. Freshly ground cof­fee is added to a glass flask then waster below the cof­fee is heated by halo­gen lights until it begins to per­co­late upwards into the ground cof­fee. The ris­ing water is stirred into the cof­fee, then the heat is turned off caus­ing the the brew to trickle back down into a wait­ing cof­fee pot or cup. Yes, it’s enter­tain­ing to watch. But does it taster bet­ter? I have to say that is tastes bet­ter than drip cof­fee, but the french press still imparts the best flavour and cream of the many brew­ing meth­ods. Also expect to pay a lit­tle more for the plea­sure of tast­ing (and watch­ing) the siphoned brew.

Sin­gle Brew Cof­fee Siphons in Action

Blue bot­tle begins serv­ing break­fast around 10am. They have sev­eral types of stuffed brioches — the goat cheese and herbs hazel­nuts and cin­na­mon are stand­outs. We also tried there Pro­sciutto Quiche. They use a less saltier pork so that you are able to enjoy your cap­puc­cino with­out hav­ing to drink a cup a water to cope. Their quiche is backed in a phyllo dough rather than pie shell so you get a light crispy crackle with each bite. Bring a friend and split one of their brioches and a quiche.

Prioscotto Quiche

My cap­puc­cino was medium bod­ied,  fruity and choco­laty but not with a winy taste . If you’ve ever had one of the Hershey’s dark choco­late can­dies with cher­ries or blue­ber­ries, this will remind you of it. I thought it was a lit­tle acidic but smooth enough to drink quickly if you were so unfor­tu­nate to be in a hurry. And of course it had a lit­tle love on top. Plan on mak­ing a few vis­its for drip cof­fee, cap­puc­cino, and a siphoned coffee.

Note to Vis­i­tors: At the time I wrote this arti­cle, there were a few free park­ing spot just to the right of the cof­fee house. Be care­ful when park­ing on the street even for a “quick run in” to grab a cof­fee. No need to make your visit extra expen­sive with a park­ing ticket.

Capuc­cino with Love

Blue Bot­tle Cof­fee Company

1552 Beach St. #R
Oak­land, CA 94608
510–653-3394

Web­site: http://www.bluebottlecoffee.net/