Temescal's Telegraph Avenue in Oakland is becoming quite the coffee-lovers' hot spot. There's a Peet's Coffee, Remedy, Good Bellies, Aunt Mary's Cafe and The Mixing Bowl. And now there's a new cafe on the block, Arbor, which has taken over the former kid-friendly spot SadieDey's as of October.

Arbor is owned by DNA Lounge manager Christopher Marquez. When my husband and I stopped in for brunch on a chilly Sunday morning, we were looking forward to a good hot cup of coffee and a warm breakfast.

The decor reflects the retro-vintage chic that's all the rage right now, with wood floors and mismatched tables and chairs filling up the space. But there's very little artwork up on the walls, so the space doesn't quite have the same warm, lived-in look as its furniture. It would be a great venue for a rotating gallery featuring local artists, so hopefully they'll utilize Arbor's spacious room for small art openings.

The indoor bicycle rack was filled to capacity -- a nice touch to help attract cycling-friendly clientele -- and Arbor brews java from the local Bay Area company Bicycle Coffee as well.

Their daily menu is written up on a chalkboard perched on an easel: granola with yogurt and fruit ($5); egg and cheddar sandwich with salad ($6); poached eggs with toast and salad ($7); prosciutto, poached eggs and toast ($7) and strawberry and Nutella (we're presuming on toast) ($6). There were also an assortment of pastries for sale. They were out of the egg and cheddar sandwich when we arrived just before noon, so my husband ordered coffee while I decided to try their prosciutto special. There were only two friendly staffers behind the counter, so service was a little slow as they prepared the drip coffee and meal. But they were cheerful and attentive, and we didn't mind the wait as they apologized for the fact they're still smoothing out the kinks.

The prosciutto plate was rather plain; two slim slices of buttered baguette were topped with poached eggs and meat, and the accompanying mixed green salad was simply dressed. While the breakfast was a bit on the underwhelming side, I'm hoping Arbor will continue to evolve and expand their offerings. Judging from the number of tables occupied that morning, it's building a loyal community following and is another welcome addition to the neighborhood.

Arbor Cafe
Yelp: Arbor Cafe
4210 Telegraph Ave
(between 42nd St & 43rd St)
Hours:
Tue-Fri 9-5PM
Sat-Sun 10-7PM

I've been walking by for months trying to peek through the papered windows. Hoping and hoping that one day on my stroll, the doors would just magically swing wide open. Sometimes I'd actually force myself to go a few weeks without checking, convinced that the next time I did, a new bustling cafe would be livening up the sleepy morning stretch of Grand Avenue that I call home. You see, for all of the cafes and amenities we have, we don't have an independent morning spot with great espresso, coffee and interesting morning pastries. Until now.

Now let's get one thing straight: Charlie Hallowell, chef/owner of both Pizzaiolo and Boot and Shoe Service, doesn't do things half-way (and thus, I think, the wait for the perfect time to take that kraft paper down from the windows). From wonderful fresh salads and delightful wood-fired pizzas at Pizzaiolo to those fantastic salty olives and strong cocktails (and pizza, of course) at Boot and Shoe Service -- there are innumerable reasons to visit both. And since moving to Oakland I find myself frequenting one of the sturdy wooden tables at Pizzaiolo drinking a macchiato, nibbling on a cinnamoney donut hole and stealing internet from the tenants upstairs. The morning service there is lovely and the locals have caught on: it's packed.

And finally: the new cafe adjoining Boot and Shoe Service, formally DiBartolo Cafe, opened last week and looks pretty promising. In short time, I predict, it too will be packed. Like Pizzaiolo's morning service, there are a variety of simple pastries and morning cakes and lots of seating (they are keeping it wi-fi free for now) at counters along the whole periphery of the space. The inside is spare and clean with high ceilings, brick walls, and fantastic light. Hallowell has opted to serve Sightglass coffee, and the staff and other customers I chatted with seem thrilled with the decision for a few reasons. It's local, it's excellent, and it's not Blue Bottle (which, while fantastic, is ubiquitous these days).

You can find a short list of coffee drinks including lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos and the like along with a special mocha made with a housemade chocolate consisting largely of dark Valrhona chocolate. If you're into drip coffee they brew one cup at a time, taking just as much time and care with a simple cup of coffee as they do a more involved espresso drink.

They also offer housemade granola in a bowl with fruit and milk/yogurt or in a big ball jar for $10 ($1 of which is a deposit for the jar). I haven't had a chance to try the granola yet, but the staff insists it's the best you'll ever have. It's on my to-do list this week.

What I have tried are their perfect cappuccinos, crumbly currants scones and buttery almond cake. The pastries are all done in-house by the pastry chef at Pizzaiolo, so if you're familiar with the carefully curated sweets there, you'll feel right at home. I've always been a big fan of their scones because they're not huge and hefty, but rather: light, simple, and seasonal. And the almond cake is the perfect morning compliment to a cup of strong coffee: not too sweet, buttery, with a nice sweet layer of almonds on top.

While they're not currently rolling out any special savory items midday, there are plans to do a variety of breads and spreads and more fixed-menu sandwiches in the future. So stay tuned. And another exciting aspect of the space to come: there are plans to open in the evenings for espresso beverages, plated desserts, and cocktails. The idea is that it can serve as a spillover for folks waiting for a table at Boot and Shoe Service but can also be a new spot to come and snag a cocktail or have an evening espresso before a stroll around the lake.

So they're off to a great start. And like all great starts, there's a definitive reason to go and check it out now, but there's also promise in what's to come down the line. A most welcome addition to the neighborhood.

Boot and Shoe Service
3308 Grand Avenue
Oakland, CA 94610
(510) 763-2668
Hours: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. everyday

On one lovely sunny afternoon in early January, my friend Pamela Palma and I decided to take a coffee break in the backyard of General Store, a quaint little shop in the Outer Richmond located next door to Trouble Coffee. We were taking a leisurely bike ride around the city and around 3 o'clock -- that magic hour that's perfect for a little caffeine boost -- we were both craving some coffee.

As we sat within the quiet walls of that peaceful sanctuary and sipped our drinks, we came upon the idea of creating an extended version of that day's journey: a bicycle tour that visited several of our favorite coffee shops throughout the city. As we're both cycling enthusiasts and devotees of good food and drink, this was the perfect blend of our passions.

We quickly came up with a list that would loop around the city, thus allowing our friends to burn off some caffeine if they chose to indulge themselves at each location: Sightglass Coffee in SOMA; just right around the corner at Mission and 7th Street is De La Paz Coffee at their new location; Blue Bottle Coffee at the Ferry Building Marketplace; Trouble Coffee on Judah and 46th Street near Ocean Beach; Ritual Roasters at Flora Grubb Gardens; and Four Barrel Coffee in the Mission.

We set the date for early April and spread the word to our friends. Folks were encouraged to bring their own mugs and a steel stomach.

On the bright spring morning of the ride, close to 50 folks showed up for our 25-mile excursion. We hadn't warned any of the shops that we'd be arriving en masse, so our arrival felt a bit like a flash mob descending on the baristas. Their lazy Sunday turned into a Monday morning-like rush, but they were happy to accomodate us one drip coffee at a time.

After lingering at Sightglass for an hour, we ended up bypassing De La Paz as they were still renovating their new space. Onwards to the Ferry Building, where people also fueled up with Blue Bottle's delicious caramelized Belgian-style waffles. The energy came in handy as we wove through Fisherman's Wharf, Ft. Mason, zoomed past Crissy Field and climbed up through the hilly Presidio. We spread out along the vast lanes of The Great Highway, which was conveniently closed off for Sunday Streets.

Giulietta Carrelli, the proprietor of Trouble Coffee, greeted us warmly at our third stop and rang up our orders. Folks filled up on their renowned fresh coconut water and thick-sliced toast slathered with cinnamon and butter, peanut butter or Nutella. And of course, we guzzled more coffee as there was still lots of riding on the agenda.

After a much-needed pit stop at a public bathroom on La Playa, we meandered up the long, slow incline of Sloat Avenue, then cut through to Monterey Boulevard. Alemany Boulevard took us down to Hunter's Point, and we soon descended upon Flora Grubb Gardens, a lovely urban oasis located in Bayview. The line for Ritual Roasters was bit shorter, as people were well-buzzed, hungry for dinner and ready to retire for the day. We made an executive decision to end the tour there and Four Barrel would have to wait another time.

Pamela and I were thrilled to discover that we were able to introduce many of our friends to new shops and bike routes within the city. You can try out our route by following the Google Map below. Approximately half of it follows bike paths and streets with bike lanes. It's an intermediate ride with several climbs throughout the city loop, so feel free to reference the San Francisco Bike Map to get approximations of elevation or to plot out an easier course. Be sure to stay well-hydrated, wear a helmet and have fun!

View San Francisco Coffee Ride! in a larger map

Check out more photos from our coffee ride from Pamela Palma's Flickr set.

Just when you think you’ve gotten through the most food-filled time of year, the Fancy Food Show descends upon the Bay Area and rears its tasty and gluttonous head.

This amazingly large annual show takes up two entire Moscone Center expo halls and contains 80,000 food and beverage products, 1,300 exhibitors and 17,000 attendees. This thing was so big that two of the three parking lots within a three block radius were completely full.

All the food companies large and small were vying for your attention and hoping you’ll either sell their products in your food stores or talk and write about their products in your publication.

How do they do that? Well, like they would in the fashion business, they try and convince you their product(s) are the next big thing in the food world. They set the tone for what you see in your local market and create the newest food trends (think spicy, organic, or antioxidant-rich food items in recent years).

So what’s up and coming in food? Here’s some of what I saw:
• Asian food is still where food purveyors turn to for new product ideas, but there’s a twist this year. The new darlings of the moment are Indian and Korean foods. Brands like Sukhi's and Tandoor Chef were making sure everyone in the area had a taste of their frozen Indian food entrees and meals. And Annie Chun's, which is a brand that traditionally focuses on Chinese meals, was branching out into Korean marinades and meal kits.
• Asian snacks also tried to make a splash at this year’s event. Items like a black sesame candy, which is a popular snack in China, took an American spin by getting a good coating of dark chocolate, courtesy of the folks at Bissinger’s. And rice crackers and candies are usually something you’ll find at a typical Asian market, but vendors were trying to get them into the American mainstream.
• Tea is still the hot commodity as far as beverages go, but gone are the white and green tea infusions. This year I saw a plethora of traditional herbal teas fused with fruit flavors to create unusual and creative tea combos like Blackcurrant and Cardamom, Milk Oolong and Apricot and Honey from the folks at Novato’s Republic of Tea, as well as more infusions like Chamomile and Citrus and Organic Café Orange from the San Rafael company, Mighty Leaf.



• Candy is a trend that will NEVER go away. This year’s sweets had herbs, energy boosting power, or even health benefits. I tried everything from pumpkin and sunflower seed candies covered in dark chocolate from Bissinger’s to "Sport Beans" from Jelly Belly which look like the Red Bull of candies, giving you an energy kick.



• Ginger is definitely the ingredient of the moment, marrying health benefits with that exotic Asian flavor. It was in candy, sauces, teas, foods, and everything else in between. My favorite, though, were the ginger, lemon and yuzu flavored gummy pandas from Bissinger’s.

Though many of the brands at the show weren’t exactly mainstream yet, some can currently be found at Whole Foods, Mollie Stone’s, or Draeger’s. And if you wanted to order a few bags of this or a couple of boxes of that for yourself, you can always order something directly from the vendors' websites.

The economy has made everyone cautious, and the food world is no exception, which is why most of the trends I saw were variations of what I’ve seen in the past. And although I didn’t see anything outrageous, it seemed perfectly appropriate not to. It was trendy this year to take what we’ve already got and make it better.

Furthur playing at the Lands End Stage Saturday evening

The Outside Lands festival that took place in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park August 14th and 15th was dedicated to integrating local food, wine, music, and art to create two days of entertainment, indulgence and education.

A Taste of the Bay Area, Wine Lands and Eco Lands provided festival goers with the opportunity to experience quality food from Bay Area restaurants, California wines from some obscure local wineries, and lessons on urban farming and sustainability...all in between music sets that took place on four separate stages.

The area now known as Golden Gate Park used to be referred to as the "Outside Lands" back in the Gold Rush era, "a great sand waste" that was not legally part of the city of San Francisco until 1866. By 1860 the park had been transformed into a recreational space for citizens to enjoy. This festival reclaims the name and celebrates the social value that the park environment contributes to life in an urban area.

This slideshow features some of the festivities from Saturday August 14th.

Food & Wine This Week
San Francisco and San Jose are two of the top 20 caffeinated cities in America, according to The Daily Beast's online survey. This week, Leslie Sbrocco and her guests discuss the regions' growing number of small specialty coffee roasters.
Program airs on KQED 9HD on July 30 at 8pm. The segment will be available online July 31.

Guests:
Denise Santoro Lincoln, Bay Area Bites blogger
James Freeman, owner of Blue Bottle Coffee

Local Bay Area Coffee Roasters: Peet's and Blue Bottle Coffee

Related Posts:
3rd Wave Coffee Roasting in the Bay Area
Touring the Peets Coffee & Tea Roastery
Five Top Coffee Roasters Delivering to Your Doorstep

Coffee roasting at Blue Bottle Coffee in Oakland

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my amazing tour of Peet's Coffee and Tea's roasting facility in Alameda. Afterward, I started wondering how many other coffee roasters there were in the Bay Area. I knew we had a few -- from Blue Bottle to Caffé Trieste -- but was surprised to find that we have a long and impressive history as a roasting capital. From James Folger selling freshly roasted beans to dusty and thirsty miners during the gold rush, to the new wave of single-origin roasters like Ritual and Four Barrel, the Bay Area has been at the epicenter of coffee roasting in the United States for over 160 years.

The story of James Folger is one of those classic gold rush tales where an entrepreneur makes his fortune selling a prized commodity instead of mining for gold. Because James was only 15 when he journeyed to the area with his brothers, he was deemed too young to mine. Lucky for him no one thought he was too young to sell coffee, which is what he did in the mining fields out near Nevada City. He then made his way further west where he worked in the first San Francisco coffee roastery on Powell Street, which he eventually bought and turned into the mega Folgers. Hills Brothers -- another local company -- was also part of that first wave of coffee purveyors in the U.S. making cups of American Joe for our grandparents and great grandparents.

It's an understatement to say that the 50s and 60s were a time of change for San Francisco, but what you may not know is that coffee was an integral part of the culture dynamic at that time. Giovanni Giotta opened Caffé Trieste, which started selling lovely dark European roasts in North Beach. In addition to becoming the local purveyor of coffee to the many Italian families in the area, his café was also the hot spot for people like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti (who, I hear, is still a regular). Where would American poetry and fiction be without Papa Giotta's coffee? It's also reported that Francis Ford Coppola wrote most of The Godfather script (pdf) there. Then, in the 60s, Alfred Peet started his now legendary store in North Berkeley, where he roasted and sold small-batch single-origin and blended coffees to all those students, flower children, and protesters.

Slideshow: Blue Bottle Coffee and Sightglass Coffee Bar and Roastery

Photos by Wendy Goodfriend

And, although you can still enjoy those rich dark roasts provided by Caffé Trieste and Peet's today, the Bay Area is once again at the forefront of coffee roasting in the U.S., this time to a new generation of roasters who are myopically focused on finding the finest single-origin coffees, paying a more than fair price for the beans, and then roasting them for their own unique qualities. These roasts are often lighter than what you'd find elsewhere, the philosophy being that roasting for each bean's unique flavors reveals the innate natural essence inside them. Much like wine, hints of spices, fruits and herbs emerge under the right conditions. When I heard this, I thought fine, but really how much of these can you taste? It wasn't until I had an amazing cup of hand-dripped Ritual coffee at Remedy-- a new café in Oakland -- that I became a true believer. That cup of coffee was actually so good I decided not to add my normal allotment of milk and just sat there, savoring the subtle hints of plum and chocolate arising from my cup.

This new wave of coffee roasters seems a direct response to the Frappuccino world of Starbucks. From baristas to roasters, people associated with these cafes and roasting facilities seem obsessed with the craft and art of making the perfect cup of coffee. Whipped cream and hazelnut flavoring have no place in these establishments -- these places are in business to sell coffee to customers who can appreciate the difference between a single-origin Guatamalan and a Sumatran blend.

Many are neighborhood cafes that roast on the premises. Companies like Blue Bottle, Ritual Roasters, Four Barrel Coffee, and Sightglass Coffee Bar and Roastery -- which are the principal third-wave roasters in San Francisco and the East Bay -- all roast on site and offer espresso drinks, hand-drip coffees (usually made in a Hario brewer or even one of those $20,000 Clover machines) and beans by the pound. Oh, and rest assured that you are drinking seriously fresh coffee. Blue Bottle, Ritual and Sightglass roast daily and sell their beans within 48 hours, while Four Barrel roasts 5 times a week and sells fresh beans within 1-4 days of roasting.

If you're interested in learning about coffee, you can take part in tastings, or cuppings as they're referred to, where you can talk to some very informed people about where the beans come from and how they're roasted, while of course getting to taste the merchandise yourself by slurping steeped coffee with a spoon (apparently this is the tried and true method of cupping coffee, but be sure not to wear your favorite outfit as there's a good chance you'll spill some on yourself). And, if you don't live near one of these coffee shops, most sell wholesale beans so the chances are pretty good that the independent cafe down the street, or a restaurant nearby, carries a local roast. You can also purchase these coffees at grocery stores -- Whole Foods seems to have the biggest local selection -- or even online directly through each company's web site.

I was amazed to learn that Blue Bottle, Ritual and Four Barrel have actually created the budget and resources to seek out relationships with farmers all over the world to grow their beans. When I called Four Barrel, the owner was in Indonesia, visiting a farmer. These companies seem incredibly dedicated to finding the highest quality beans possible. Yet what's equally important to me as a consumer is that they are also dedicated to paying at least the fair trade price, and often far above.

Following is a list of some of our local roasters. If you are a coffee lover, it's definitely worth seeking one or more out to experience the latest trend in Bay Area coffee.

San Francisco and East Bay Coffee Roasters with Cafes and Outlets

Blue Bottle
Blue Bottle obtains its beans in three ways: from farmers at origin; through auctions; and through a network of U.S. brokers who have presences in particular growing regions. James Freeman, the owner of Blue Bottle, is dedicated to finding not only the highest quality beans, but paying more than fair trade for them.

Blue Bottle has various local cafés and kiosks. You can also go to their roasting facility and café in Oakland's Jack London Square area or their new café at SFMOMA. They are also available at farmers' markets, in retail stores (such as Whole Foods), various local cafes and restaurants, and through their online store. Cuppings and tours are available at the Webster St. Oakland location.

And, if you go to the cafe, try their New Orleans Style Iced Coffee. It's amazing.
Twitter: @bluebottleroast

Ritual Roasters
Ritual purchases most of their beans directly from farmers, but they are not opposed to buying "spot" (from an importer) if the coffee is delicious enough, especially from countries like Ethiopia and Indonesia where their sourcing relationships are not as strong. The price ritual pays for green coffee is always well above fair trade.

Ritual has three cafes and also sells their beans wholesale to various local cafes and restaurants including my new favorite, Remedy, on Telegraph in Oakland. You can also buy Ritual at the Alemany Farmers' Market, The Creamery at 4th and King, Haus on 24th St., La Stazione in the dogpatch, The Coffee Caboose in Yountville, and Slow City Cafe which operates on the Civic Center green in front of City Hall. Various restaurants, such as Delfina, Firefly and Heirloom also offer Ritual coffee.

Ritual has three cafes:
• 1026 Valencia Street
• Inside Flora Grubb Gardens 1634 Jerrold Ave
• Oxbow Public Market 610 First Street, Napa

The Roastery is located at 1050 Howard Street, but is not yet open to the public.
Ritual Newsletter
Twitter: @ritualcoffee

Four Barrel Coffee
Four Barrel has one café on Valencia Street in San Francisco. They also roast their beans at this location. Roasting takes place five times a week. The café serves various espresso drinks and hand-dripped coffee, as well as beans for purchase. Cuppings are offered on site.

Four Barrel has invested time and resources to work with farmers and build relationships to put together micro lots of the highest quality coffee at origin. They also work with farmers to raise the quality of the beans.

Four Barrel Coffee
375 Valencia St., San Francisco
Twitter: @fourbarrel
Four Barrel Coffee Blog

Other cafes serving Four Barrel include: Tartine; Subrosa; Grand Coffee at 2663 Mission St at 22nd; Dynamo Donut; and Ironside
Grocery Stores selling Four Barrel include: Bi-Rite; Whole Foods; and Rainbow Grocery

Sightglass Coffee Bar and Roastery
This is the newest coffee roaster in San Francisco and everyone is talking about it. They are currently building their café, but have an espresso bar and coffee-making stand next door on 7th at Folsom. Sightglass roasts daily (they started only four weeks ago) and they offer cuppings for the public daily. Their barista, Kelly, made me a truly excellent latte.

Although Sightglass currently purchases their beans from boutique importers, who buy directly from origin at direct-trade prices, they are looking into forming their own relationships with farmers. You can buy Sightglass at Matching Half Café, Hooker's Sweet Treats, Outerlands, Comstock Saloon, Hapa Ramen, Farmer Brown, and Rainbow Grocery.

Sightglass Coffee Bar and Roastery
270 Seventh Street at Folsom in San Francisco
Twitter: @sightglass

Other Bay Area Coffee Roasters
Barefoot
Located in San Jose and Santa Clara. Beans available at local grocery stores, and various San Francisco cafes sell their coffees. See the Fully Caffeinated map for details.

Ecco Caffe
Located in Santa Rosa, Ecco Caffe is a Certified Organic coffee roaster that sources directly from growers and importers. They roast in a Northern Italian style. All coffees are shipped within 24 hours of roasting to insure optimal freshness. See the Fully Caffeinated map for cafes and restaurants carrying Ecco in San Francisco.
Twitter: @eccocaffe
Ecco on Facebook

Verve Coffee Roasters
Located in Santa Cruz. Some San Francisco cafes and restaurants also sell Verve coffee and beans. See the Fully Caffeinated map for details.
Verve on Facebook

Weaver's Coffee and Tea
John Weaver was a master roaster at Peet's Coffee and Tea for years and was trained by Alfred Peet. He started his own roasting facility in 2007 in San Rafael. Weaver's Coffee and Tea distributes widely in the Bay Area.
John Weaver's Blog
Weaver's on Facebook
Twitter: @WeaversCoffee

Mr. Espresso
The first and only roaster in the United States to roast coffee beans exclusively over a fire fueled by Oak Wood. Carlo Di Ruocco began selling espresso equipment to Italian restaurateurs across the Bay Area in 1978. In 1980 he officially began commercial roasting in tiny batches. Today Mr. Espresso is a main provider of espresso equipment, service, training and coffee to numerous Bay Area restaurants and coffeehouses.
Mr. Espresso
696 3rd Street in Oakland
Mr. Espresso blog
Mr. Espresso on Facebook
Twitter: @OakWoodRoasted

Wholesale and Online Coffee Roasters

Roast Coffee Co.
The Roast Coffee Company has a roasting plant in Emeryville, where they roast small batches of coffee daily. Their coffees are organic, shade grown, and fair trade whenever possible. Each batch is roasted to order for their wholesale customers, which include Whole Foods and Spruce. They also take online orders.

Roast Coffee Company is located at 1552 Beach Street, Emeryville
Where to find Roast Coffee Company coffees
How to order online

Scarlet City Coffee Roasting
Located in Oakland, Scarlet City Coffee Roasting focuses on roasting only single-origin beans to "their fullest flavor potential." As a woman-owned, organic and green certified company, Scarlet City tries to promote coffees grown, milled or imported by women. You can purchase Scarlet City coffees at Berkeley Bowl West, Cafe Biere, and Blackbird Cafe at the Marin Farmers' Market.

Scarlet City Coffee Roasting
Scarlet City on Facebook
How to order online

Last week I was lucky enough to go on a tour at the Peet's Coffee & Tea Roastery (their roasting and packaging facility in Alameda). As someone who drinks Peet's Italian Roast every morning, I was excited to see how this home-grown Bay Area company handled and roasted their coffee beans and so jumped at the chance to get a peek inside.

The outing was born out of a local school fundraising effort. Every year our school district has a party and auction to raise money for programs that the State of California's ever-depleted funds no longer cover. Unlike when I was a kid, our school budgets are now dependent on parent fundraising efforts to afford teacher's aide salaries, music and art supplies, library funds and so many other worthwhile programs. My neighbor and friend, Shawn Conway, who is the Chief Supply Chain Officer at Peet's Coffee & Tea, donated a private tour of the roasting plant for the silent auction. After some pretty heavy bidding for this item, my friend Betsy's brother Tom won out and I was then invited to attend. Lucky me!

Peets Coffee & Tea Roasting and Packaging Floor

So last Friday, six of us gathered at Peet's Coffee & Tea's Roastery in Alameda for our behind-the-scenes look at coffee roasting. Peet's main business offices remain in Emeryville, where they've been for years, but in 2007 they opened this new roasting and packaging plant specially designed for their small-batch, roast-to-order business model. Most of the building is taken up by enormous stacks of green coffee beans in burlap bags, packaging machinery and the roasting floor itself, although there is also a beautiful test barista kitchen and some offices. The warehouse, as you may imagine, is heavily perfumed with the glorious smell of roasting coffee beans. With a lovely view of the bay, it seemed like a pretty great place to spend your day.

Shawn and his colleague Maurice "Mo" Sardella gave us a genuinely informative and entertaining tour. I learned a great deal about coffee beans, from where they are grown and how they're bought, to what Peet's does to ready them for your morning cup of coffee.

Here are some fun facts that I discovered:

Peet's Roast-to-Order Business
I had no idea that Peet's has a roast-to-order business model. What does roast-to-order mean? Basically, the warehouse starts and ends each day with clean shelves. They never store roasted coffee in their warehouse. There are eight, highly-trained roasters who start their day at 2:30 a.m. Like bakers, they need to begin their shifts in the wee hours of the morning so they can roast enough pre-ordered beans to be trucked or shipped out later that same day. Each batch is shipped within two hours of roasting, allowing the company to provide freshly-roasted beans to customers. The decision to not store roasted beans -- and therefore not hold any actual inventory -- isn't the most efficient or cost-effective way to run a supply chain business, but Peet's feels it ensures the quality of their product.

I also learned that Peet's has a thriving Internet direct-sales business. Did you know you could order Peet's to be delivered to your house? I didn't. According to Shawn, Peet's air mails coffee and tea orders to people all over the world, including soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, on a daily basis. I wish I would have known about this when my twins were infants.

And then there's the tea. Although our tour was mostly focused on coffee, we also were able to see that the warehouse has a special section (far from the coffee roasters so the smells do not permeate the fragile tea leaves) dedicated to the handling, blending and packaging of tea. This section wasn't part of our main tour, but I did see that each tin is hand-packed and quality checked, and these are also shipped out daily.

The Roasting Process
Up close and personal, the roasting process is pretty amazing. The back of the warehouse is full of beans from all over the world -- sacks from Guatemala, Kona, Sumatra, Kenya, and every other coffee-growing location are piled high. I felt very small standing under these mountains of coffee and had the feeling it wouldn't be the best place to be standing in an earthquake.

Bags of Green Coffee Beans in the Warehouse

I asked if roasters specialize in working with a specific bean, but was told that after years of apprenticing and training, each roaster becomes an expert at handling various types of beans for all different blends and single-origin coffees. I also learned that like making chocolate or cheese, roasting coffee is an artisan craft. When we watched one roaster handling a batch of Guatemala, he continually pulled a sample from the heated drum. These guys (and yes, they are all "guys") use smell, sight and sound to discern if a batch is ready. They continually lean over their samples to smell the beans, listen for popping (apparently a certain number of pops means a great deal) and look to analyze the color and sheen of the beans. When we were watching one roaster, Shawn pointed out that the computer showed that his batches were all within 4 seconds of each other, but what was amazing was that the roaster was not actually looking at that computer at all. He was just naturally able to make consistent batches using his senses.

Here's a clip of the beans coming out of the roaster.

The Life of a Bean
Like cherries and peaches, coffee beans are a type of fruit, and so their freshness degrades over time. The deterioration process starts after roasting, which is why Peet's ships their beans the day they are roasted.

The stages of the life of a Peet's bean -- from sitting green in a burlap sack to getting poured into a coffee cup -- has some crucial steps:

• Peet's roasting facility has 1/2 million pounds of green coffee at any given time. These beans are cleaned, weighed and sent to one of 48 silos where they wait to be roasted.
• Beans are then roasted in small batches (the size of which is confidential). Each batch is attended to by a roaster before it gets sucked into a Willy Wonka-type tube (think Augustus Gloop) and is then poured into an enclosed cart.
• After roasting, each batch of beans is tasted and evaluated to ensure it meets quality standards. The roasters, who have each undergone a rigorous apprenticeship and training process that lasts years, actually do this themselves. In a special room they blind taste and critique each other's work, tossing out a batch if it doesn't taste right. The beans are then bagged and shipped out within 1-2 hours of roasting.
• For the first 2-3 days after the roasting process, the beans are volatile, expelling gasses as they settle. They must therefore be treated with care.

• Coffee beans that are shipped to Internet-order customers, offices and grocery stores are stored in bags that have little valves embedded in them. These are one-way valves that expel built-up gasses, but do not allow oxygen in (as oxygen initiates the decaying process and so is the enemy).

The valve in the bag is under the big P

• Whole beans shipped to stores are kept in air-tight bags to maintain freshness until ready for use.
• Most beans sold in Peet's stores have been roasted within 10 days of use.
• 5-10 days after roasting seems to be the sweet spot for coffee beans as the unstable gaseous stage is over and the flavors have more balance and nuance.

Worldwide Beans
Peet's purchases beans from all over the world and procures them through various means. Here are a few examples for how they do this:

Relationships with farms -- Peet's deals directly with many coffee farms and plantations. Their relationship with one farm in Guatemala was started over 40 years ago by Alfred Peet and is still going strong. In Nicaragua, they trained a group of local women to farm their own small plots of land and then helped organize them into a cooperative -- called Las Hermanas -- where they could sell their crops together for more money than they could individually.

TechnoServe -- Peet's also works directly with TechnoServe, an international non-profit development organization committed to building businesses in developing countries to benefit the rural poor. Through this organization, Peet's works to educate and train small farmers so they are able to grow high-quality coffee beans while also working together to help build stronger community infrastructures. This partnership formed the basis for initiatives in Tanzania and, more recently, Rwanda. Through TechnoServe, small farmers are able to earn more, share knowledge, and contribute a portion of profits to build schools and provide health care. Peet's seems very proud of their work with TechnoServe because it enables them to help drive rural economic development in traditionally impoverished areas.

Auctions -- Some countries have created a government-run auction system where higher quality coffee garners higher prices. Peet's Kenya Auction Lot is purchased through this type of auction system and the beans are then sold as a single-origin coffee.

Beans at Home

Learning how to keep beans fresh in the barista kitchen

How to keep your own beans fresh after purchase:

• Buy only as much as you will use in one week.
• Purchase whole beans and grind at home. Even if you have a cheap $20 grinder (like me), your coffee will taste fresher if you grind just before you use.
• Don't freeze or refrigerate your beans as they can soak up moisture and odors (and the last thing you want is coffee that smells like onions). Just set them in a cool and dry place (like your pantry).
• Keep your beans in the bag they came in and wrap the bag up tightly after each use so you expose the beans to as little air as possible.

I learned a lot about coffee last Friday and have a new respect for the coffee-growing and roasting processes. I am also less interested in sticking with my tried and true Italian roast. I will always love it, but after hearing about the world of coffee out there -- from how and where beans are grown to the care the roasters take preparing them -- I think I may just buy a new type next week.

Cibo on a rainy Sausalito day

Most people wouldn't expect that I'd end up at Cibo (pronounced "chee-bo"). First, I live in the city and there are certainly treats to be had in my own neighborhood. Second, my immediate family, after waiting a good five minutes for a drip-to-order coffee, vowed never to come again. My mom just doesn't get the concept, and while I try to explain how much better it tastes, she tells me to call someone else when I want to go to Cibo. OK, so there's that. Then there are my friends who are confused as to why I'd brave Sausalito cyclist-hell to get my hands on a pop-tart and a perfect cappuccino.

Lingering at Cibo on a quiet Friday morning

So given these few hiccups, why do I go? It's a fair question. First, between working part-time in Sausalito during the week and visiting family in San Rafael and Larkspur--I'm in Marin a lot. And many of you may be familiar with the rather grim (although getting better each day) cafe scene there. So when Cibo opened, I raced right over. And while I'm often alone (thanks, mom and co.) let's clear up the cyclist myth once and for all: yes, it can get a little hairy on a sunny Sunday, but for the most part the cafe is a great locals spot--a modern, airy space where folks meet up with friends, bring in their laptops to get a little work done, and have quick meetings over the best coffee in town. The space itself, a 120-year old brick building, has concrete floors, massive windows, and exposed brick walls. It honestly just feels good in there. It's conducive for coming in off the busy street and taking a legitimate break. I bring in a book and find that all of a sudden I've read fifty pages without the urge to check my iphone. For me, that's huge.

While not necessarily speedy, Cibo baristas make a mean latte using Blue Bottle espresso

The infamous homemade Pop-Tart

Now on to the food. I've only been to Cibo once for lunch, and tried that infamous wild mushroom panini. It's worth every penny and stands up to the hype. But for me, the real draw are the pastries and sweets that Tera bakes each day for the cafe. The pop-tart has been a standard item from almost the very beginning. It's a relatively thin, crispy treat made with polenta so it has a delightful golden color and simultaneously flirts with both sweet and savory. Tera plays around with different fillings, but lately they've been doing apricot--the perfect antidote to a strong Americano. I tell you, your day will improve the second you bite into one of these. They do sell out though. I've come in a few hours too late on numerous occasions and, with hopes dashed, have had to settle on something else. Which is always a blessing in disguise as it's led me to the cinnamon-sugar muffin (or some of the locals call it the donut muffin). It's a small, light, airy little muffin doused, dusted, and rolled in cinnamon and sugar. It tastes, quite literally, like childhood--the most comforting little breakfast morsel around.

To celebrate spring, pastry chef Tera Ancona brought back the sticky bun!

Then a few days ago, I noticed a new item: a small sticky bun studded with nuts and strewn with layers of cinnamon inside. While I had just planned on getting a cup of coffee and finishing the paper, I was sucked in. The thing I really appreciate about all of Tera's treats are their size. Nothing is huge, overly sweet, or doused with frosting. When I spoke with her last week, she mentioned that there are a million places you can go to get a one-pound pastry if that's what you're looking for. Cibo isn't that. Instead, Tera wanted to create more of an opportunity for people to try a few sweets without feeling too committal or guilty about it. The size is also conducive to try a little something in conjunction with breakfast or lunch or take a few treats home for later. It's all about ease and pleasure: Tera and her husband Alfredo (of Angelino's fame) truly want for people to slow down, taste the options at Cibo, and treat themselves without feeling like it needs to be a major decision. And for me, it never is. I order freely and happily (albeit alone), cyclists or not.

Cibo
1201 Bridgeway (corner of Pine and Bridgeway)
Sausalito, CA 94965
Map
(415) 331-2426 (CIBO)
Hours: 7 days a week, 7 am-5 pm
(415) 331-CIBO (2426)

George Howell's online hub for some of the best single-origin coffees around

Although it's not until July, the anxiety has begun. My mom has a little summer cabin in upstate New York; I’m not sure if you've been to upstate New York, but there’s not a lot of coffee going on. You can buy vacuum-sealed packs of Starbucks at the local Walmart, but it tastes like just that: vacuum-packed coffee that's been sitting on a shelf forever. My sisters and I visit over the July 4th weekend, and the caffeine situation always disappoints. Last year we made the mistake of having my Aunt Jill bring us beans in from the city. She brought Folgers. Jill will not be bringing coffee again this year. So I've decided to be proactive. I'll obviously bring some beans when I come up--probably Blue Bottle or Four Barrel (who both do shipping, by the way) but I've been doing a little research for my mom who will be there all summer and who has resorted to those little instant sleeves of coffee. So Mom, this post's for you or for anyone who could use some good beans arriving on their doorstep.

Let's face it: coffee's come a long way from the days when the gals from Friends had their foamy latte or when picking up a bag of Sumatra on the way home from work felt pretty exotic and edgy. In his recent piece for Time Magazine, Josh Ozersky details where we find ourselves today, the "Third wave" of coffee: buying prized lots of single-origin beans and roasting them less frequently, treating coffee as seasonal, and paying attention to slight nuances in bean selection and roasting technique. Essentially, the artisan roasters I'm about to discuss have left Starbucks in the dust.

And a quick side note: While I've tried some of the coffees below, I haven't sampled all of them. I've done some research and talked to coffee folks about the most highly respected roasters and what they're up to. So this post is really more about options and starting to think about coffee in a new way more than it is a "Best of" piece.

Intelligentsia

Chicago's favorite artisan roaster

This was my go-to spot when I was in Chicago for a wedding a few summers back. The space itself is stark and modern yet simultaneously warm and inviting. And the espresso is almost sweet on its own. I was hooked. They work closely with the actual coffee producers, not just the importers or exporters, so they control quality from the beginning. While many roasters claim to do this, Intelligentsia is there each month of the year--aiming to forge a true collaboration. Intelligentsia is also known for their adamancy that coffee is seasonal, and they try and educate their consumers daily. As a mass product, so many of us are in the mind-set that good coffee is a year-round crop, and it's just not. Depending on the origin, the coffee bean is just like any piece of produce at the store: it has its high season. Intelligentsia only wants you to try it then, so you choose your coffee depending on when it was harvested. For this reason, you won't see twenty different types of coffee on their website: you'll find a few blends, a few single-origin coffees and two or three reserve coffees.

Terroir

Terroir's impressive education page

George Howell's been on the fine coffee hunt since 1975--some people see him as the trailblazer for sourcing fine boutique lots around the world. The thing that makes Terroir stand out is their firm commitment not to use blends, and their belief that in the same way you wouldn't mix fine wines, you shouldn't mix fine quality coffee. Like some of the other roasters listed here, educating the consumer is part of their mission, so they've actually created an excellent link page with information on everything from How to Keep Roasted Coffee Fresh to Principles of Brewing Coffee. In their shop, you can search by Region, Top Selling Coffees, Category (Organic, Decaf), or even pick up brewing equipment. When you click on a specific region, Terroir provides an overview of the area, and in-depth information on the coffee beans for purchase. They go farther than typical information about taste and origin, listing considerations like the type of soil, altitude, and farm size. They want the consumer to feel a similar connection with the bean that they initially felt when purchasing it.

Counter Culture

Searching by region at Counter Culture

Out of Durham, North Carolina, Counter Culture is known for their "micro-lots" and fabulous single-estate coffees. They don't keep much roasted coffee on hand because they're adamant about roasting to order and bagging and shipping on the same day. If you happen to live in North Carolina, they extend their mission to create cutting-edge coffee people by offering a variety of coffee courses, from Beginning Espresso Lab to Milk Chemistry Lab. They also offer free weekly cuppings or tastings. For those of us who aren't so lucky to live close by, they make purchasing online a cinch with brief notes on each coffee, allowing you to search by region (Africa, The Americas...), microlot, or their custom blends (I've heard from an old college friend that the Crook's Corner blend is like nothing else--a little bit sweet and nutty at the same time). For the online or mail-order shopper, they also do Coffee subscriptions.

Ecco Caffè

Sonoma's favorite boutique roastery

Sonoma's artisan coffee roasting company has a thriving online and wholesale business and a cache of major industry awards. Andrew Barnett's signature organic coffee roaster, custom roasts each batch in the Northern Italian style--with enough time for the flavor profiles to surface but not long enough for bitterness to ensue. All coffees are shipped within 24 hours of roasting--not something that many roasters claim or guarantee these days. On his website, Barnett says, "I like to introduce to people flavors that open them to the world of exemplary coffee...premium coffees that are roasted properly taste great and leave a pleasant sweet aftertaste, similar to great wines and chocolates." And good news for us: Eater SF reported last month that Ecco is moving to an undisclosed location in Potrero Hill. It's slated to be a café and roastery, allowing Bay Area folks to taste the sweet, single-origin espresso whenever the urge should strike.

Barefoot Coffee

Checking out the Barefoot Coffee homepage

Barefoot is another artisan roaster that's adamant about seasonality and freshness of the bean. On the landing page of their website, they have a big space advertising a few coffees that are "Fresh Arrivals" and discuss treating coffee like any other high-quality, sought-after kitchen ingredient. Online, they explain the importance of "Realizing that each bean is affected by soil, varietal, processing, farm, elevation, micro-climate and every hand that crafts it, we are determined to let the coffee speak for itself." They don't describe their coffees as "dark" or "bold," but work to actually describe the flavor and essence of each roast. What I really love about Barefoot is their humble, straight-up way of explaining what they do and why they do it. They genuinely believe that good people who love what they do produce good coffee, so they travel to seek those folks out and work to maintain relationships with them. Their motto, "If you love the coffee, it will love you back" just makes sense and translates to whatever business or endeavor you find yourself in. They're also a recognized leader in sustainable and environmental stewardship, making great strides with green energy, composting, and using a small, local dairy source for their café.

Bringing Them Together

GoCoffeeGo

The relatively new online source gathering the best artisan roasters in one place

On some days, I find myself bombarded with irrelevant information and promotions from food PR people. But a few weeks ago, I got a note from GoCoffeeGo just to introduce themselves and tell me what they're up to. Since then, I've basically fallen in love with the site. If you're not familiar with them, they were founded by local coffee junkies, Scott Pritikin and Elise Papazian, with the goal of bringing together the country's top award-winning artisan roasters on one site with one stream-lined checkout. The coffee is roasted to order and shipped directly from the roaster to the customer (that being said, the shipping time can vary so if you need it pronto, do a little research on the ETA). It's kind of like the Amazon of artisan coffees: organized, streamlined, great customer service, and a really good product. The coffee selection is stellar. They carry most of the roasters I mentioned above, but they also carry one of my favorite local roasters, Equator Coffee and Tea out of San Rafael. Other great choices include Ritual, Verve, and Higher Ground.