The Bay Area has been at the forefront of a coffee renaissance in recent years, and local boutique companies like Blue Bottle, Ritual and Four Barrel are now spreading their roasting philosophy -- and their coffee beans -- across the country. KQED's Forum talks to some of the entrepreneurs behind the so-called "third-wave" coffee movement.

Original Broadcast: Mon, Jan 9, 2012 -- 10:00 AM

Host: Scott Shafer

Guests:
• Eileen Hassi, owner of Ritual Coffee Roasters
• James Freeman, owner of Blue Bottle Coffee
• Jeremy Tooker, owner of Four Barrel Coffee

Related BAB posts:
3rd Wave Coffee Roasting in the Bay Area
Bay Area Coffee Roasters: Food & Wine This Week

There is yet another new cafe that recently opened in the Grand/Lakeshore neighborhood of Oakland, and this one is not only worth a visit but a return trip, too. The first thing I heard about Joseph Dunbar's Kitchen 388 was that they were doing housemade pop-tarts, and since I do them for my business Marge, I had many friends writing me to go and check it out. Scope out the competition, so to speak. Then I heard they serve Four Barrel coffee, and I'm a big fan of Four Barrel and have a hard time finding it in the East Bay. Do note that they serve drip coffee and cafe au laits, but currently aren't doing espresso drinks. So if you have your heart set on a foamy latte, you'll have to keep traveling up the street.

Upon walking into Kitchen 388, you may feel like you're in your favorite college cafe. The interior is a little-bit-sterile with bright art on the walls. They've tried improving the ambiance by adding Strauss bottles filled with flowers and a nice bar for cream and sugar, but it still feels dated. But that's about where my criticism ends. The folks are warm and gracious and seem genuinely happy to be working there. The food is affordable and truly delicious. The menu isn't necessarily revolutionary or anything that you won't find at another great local cafe, but they're doing it really well.

For breakfast, we ordered the Baked Eggs, Salmon Tartine, and the Banana Nutella Pop-Tart. I'm not quite sure where you can go in town and get a lovely breakfast for $5.95 -- a few bucks more for a coffee. This was a delightful surprise. The Baked Eggs were simple but tasty with a little basil on top and ripe summer tomatoes on the side. The Salmon Tartine was fantastic -- I'll be back for this. Really great bread, a generous portion of salmon, a dollop of cream cheese, juicy tomatoes, onions and capers: hearty and delicious. And the pop-tarts that everyone's been talking about. What's the verdict?

They were good. I must say. The pastry is more soft than flaky but the amount of filling is perfect: they don't come off as too spare or too gloppy. I chatted with the pastry chef, Alicia Toyooka, and she explained that they're having a tough time keeping up with demand. She's currently doing three varieties: a strawberry/rhubarb, a pecan, and the banana nutella. Everything is housemade and seasonal, so when strawberries and rhubarb are out of season she'll start to look towards pears and apples for inspiration. Alicia noted that they don't have much in the way of large-scale bakery equipment at Kitchen 388 so she's literally been doing every batch of dough the old-fashioned way: no mixer, cutting the butter into the flour by hand each morning. I respect this. While her decision's born from necessity and lack of space/equipment, I choose to do my pie dough this way because I really do think you can tell a difference. And this is evident in Alicia's pastry, too.

While we didn't have lunch, they offer a nice selection of salads and sandwiches and other small sweets (slices of apple cake and cookies). They also sell housemade jams and pounds of Four Barrel coffee to take home. As far as what's in the cards next, it looks like extended hours and possibly some exciting evening pop-up dinners and other events. Kitchen 388 is currently open from 8-4 but they're revisiting this and want to get a feel for the neighborhood before they decide what they best move will be here. As for pop-up dinners, it sounds like this is a preliminary idea, but Oakland could use a little after-hours food buzz; bring it on, Kitchen 388. We're waiting.

Kitchen 388
388 Grand Avenue
Oakland, CA 94610
(510) 893-3005
Hours: 8 am-4 pm Tuesdays-Sundays (closed Mondays)
Like them on Facebook
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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.

Author Daniel Handler (who often uses the pen name of Lemony Snicket) and his wife author/illustrator Lisa Brown live with their young son in the same upper Haight neighborhood as Mayor Gavin Newsom. The duo is active in the arts community, and Handler is on the Board of Advisors for LitPAC, which uses noteworthy authors and lit events to support Democratic causes and politicians. Handler is a San Francisco native who has penned the popular Lemony Snicket series of books, as well as Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth and Adverbs. Brown hails from Connecticut and is the bestselling author and/or illustrator of books including Vampire Boy's Good Night, The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming, Baby Mix Me a Drink and Picture the Dead, an illustrated Civil War ghost story for teens. She sporadically draws the (soon to be syndicated) Three Panel Book Review cartoon for the
 San Francisco Chronicle. The two met as undergrads at Wesleyan and have been married for twelve years. Here are the food favorites of the literary power couple.

FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
Life's not life without papaya salad, and the best papaya salad we've found is at Marnee Thai, at 9th and Irving. Have one with some Thai iced coffee and then go a few doors down to Le Video and, with the caffeine raging through your system, rent an old monster movie that you would never rent while in your right mind. Enjoy!

Crab season means it's time to head down to Anchor Oyster Bar and have oysters and crab and a bottle of white wine in the middle of the day. Why not? You're self-employed. (Note: only applies to self-employed people.)

Puerto Alegre on Valencia. Don't even ask.

FAVORITE FOOD MARKETS
Andronico's on Funston and Irving is the market we go to for just about everything. Bobby's behind the meat counter. Ask him about Prince, but pay attention while he's answering you or you will go home with three times as much skirt steak as you need.

The cheese section at Rainbow Grocery is an oasis of sophistication and delight. True, you have to push your way through hippies buying bulk foods to put in the Mason jars they brought from home. Life is not perfect.

LET'S DRINK
Alembic has the best cocktails, plus roasted shishito peppers and whatever form of deviled or pickled eggs they're trying out at any given time. We can be found there at a ridiculously early hour. If you see us, pick up the tab.

Tosca Café is another great bar, perfect for buying gimlets, stumbling across the street to City Lights Books to purchase poetry, and then stumbling back for another gimlet while reading poetry purchased at City Lights Books. Repeat and fade.

DATE NIGHT
Okazu Ya on Taraval has a special nigiri called Midnight Express that should not be eaten in the presence of someone with whom you are not sleeping. Halibut, black caviar and a raw quail egg is more erotic than the Castro and North Beach combined.

The Balboa Theater is the easiest movie theater to sneak food into. You should not sneak food into movie theaters. It is against the rules and rude. If you do it with hot and sour soup do not put it in a backpack.

TRAVEL NEEDS
A stovetop espresso maker is a necessary defense against the coffee of New England. We won't say whose coffee we stock it with, because we don't want Ritual, Four Barrel or Blue Bottle mad at us.

GUILTY FOOD PLEASURE?
Food guilt is for wimps and Gentiles.

I have a love/hate relationship with eating in Kauai, Maui and Hawaii (the Big Island). I'm leaving Oahu and the smaller islands out of this culinary conundrum as I hear Oahu has a pretty great food scene and I've never been to Molokai, Lanai or the other smaller isles (although I'd love to go). As a mom, I'm always disappointed with the quality of food in family restaurants on the islands. They're full of fried foods and overpriced entrées. I am always left wondering why, in a state full of farms and surrounded by fresh fish, are most of the restaurants so lacking. And then I remember, Hawaiian restaurants are for tourists.

First let's talk about the love: I ADORE all the fresh and ripe tropical fruits that are so hard to come by on the mainland. Pineapple sweetened in the field is a completely different fruit than what you find in your local grocery here. And the papayas! Sweet and fragrant, ripened on the tree as they should be, they are the ultimate tropical treat as far as I'm concerned. Oh wait! I forgot about the apple bananas, which are tied with the papayas on my love list. If you've never had one, they’re worth a trip to Hawaii all by themselves. I am also always impressed with how much better the fish tastes in Hawaii. Restaurants and fish markets on the mainland may officially tell you that their catch of the day was just flown in and is fantastically fresh, but when compared to the local fish you find in Hawaii -- fish that really was caught that day -- you can see, smell and taste the difference. The only problem is going someplace that knows how to prepare that fish. Which leads me to my hate list…

I DETEST the abundance of mediocre restaurants serving overpriced and poorly cooked food. As Hawaii's main industry is tourism, most restaurants seem to cater to a clientele that will come only once or twice, so they focus on island ambiance and big Mai Tai's instead of quality food. As a mom, these places have no appeal, even if they have great views. First of all, the prices are outrageous. $30 for an overcooked fish entrée slathered in butter is bad enough when you’re paying for just you and maybe your partner, but throw in a couple of children and you start eyeing the kids menu, which is usually just the standard fare of chicken fingers, burgers and pasta with butter. Now normally I try to avoid kid menus, but the idea of paying $60 for my kids to pick at their meal brings out the devil on my shoulder -- there he sits, smugly convincing me that French fries served with mac and cheese is a perfectly acceptable and nutritious meal for my growing girls. After all, they can get their vitamins from the pineapple slice in their POG (passion fruit, orange juice, and guava juice cocktail), right? Of course there are a few high-quality restaurants serving fresh seasonal foods, but these are far and few between and a dinner for four can often reach $300.

So last week, when my family and I were in Kauai, I tried to seek out some food love on the Garden Island, Yelping, Chowhounding and asking around to find some alternate food opportunities that would allow me to feed my kids (and myself) a variety of local and fresh food that didn't break the bank. Following is a list of my top picks. After finding an abundance of $39-an-entrée establishments that served food similar to what you'd get at Fisherman’s Wharf, I am hoping to steer you to some better locations for your own island getaway. Unfortunately, those expensive restaurants with overcooked fish covered in macadamia-nut butter often have the best views, so you may find yourself in one or two of them anyway. I admit we spent an evening in a restaurant that was overpriced and barely passable, but only because my daughters wanted to spend their birthday eating Japanese food and the only other sushi restaurant was in a strip mall 20 minutes away. Plus this place made virgin Mai Tais with umbrellas, which really made my daughters smile from ear to ear.

The following list highlights restaurants, markets and one farm that are focused on serving the best fresh local food the Island of Kauai has to offer. If you know of a place not listed, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section.

Koloa Fish Market
5482 Koloa Road, Koloa, HI

The Koloa Fish Market is everything a fresh fish place should be. With a case full of Ahi, Ono and Mahi Mahi, this is an old school market that only sells locally caught fish. I also love that you can purchase their products a few ways.

Raw: When you buy raw fish to cook at home, you will be asked how thick you want the slices, how many people are eating, and how you plan to cook your fish. The fish mongers (is that still a current-day term?) will cut your fish the way you want it. Be sure to get some sides of teriyaki and wasabi cream sauces to go with your fish as they are fantastic.

Poke: There are a variety of pokes available in the refrigerated case (poke is a Hawaiian dish of cubed raw fish, usually Ahi, that has been flavored with various herbs or spices). I tried the Ahi with Sweet Maui Onion, Korean Poke, and Tako Poke (made with octopus). All were great, but the Korean Poke was my favorite as it was slightly spicy yet still mild and perfectly suited for that fresh tuna taste.

Cooked: Each day the market features a couple of cooked fish plates that you can top with their teriyaki, wasabi cream or butter and garlic sauces. You can't go wrong with any of these. The plates are served with cooked rice, macaroni salad (which is pretty good) and a random lettuce salad. And if fish isn't your thing, you can get pork or beef dishes as well.

When you go to the Koloa Fish Market, be sure to avoid the lunch hour if possible as the store is full of hungry locals and the employees try to rush everyone through quickly. They can also get a little testy if you take too long to decide what to order. Also, be sure to grab a bag of cooked edamame and a container of seaweed salad to go with your meal. Both are fresh and cheap.

Hanalei Coffee Roasters / Java Kai
55183-c Kuhio hwy, Hanalei, HI‎

After my various coffee adventures this summer, I was excited to stumble upon a local roaster in Hanalei. The Hanalei Roasting Company does small-batch roasts of locally-grown Kauai coffee (yes, the beans are grown right on the island) and also Kona coffee. Mild and slightly sweet with a rich coffee taste, their beans were really amazing. They also make a variety of lattes and cappuccinos from their home-roasted espresso and have a wide array of teas as well.

The restaurant is also run under the name Java Kai, which is a small breakfast and coffee chain, so if you're in Hanalei, look for the Java Kai sign. This seems to be the go-to breakfast spot for the North shore of Kauai. I can vouch for their banana macadamia nut waffles, which were nutty and fluffy, while their smoothies -- made with apple bananas, fresh papayas, and a hint of ginger -- are sublime. My kids loved the freshly baked bagels and muffins, and the patio was a beautiful and relaxing spot to spend a morning before we hit the beach.

Kauai Coffee
1 Numila Rd, Kalaheo, HI

I am very sad to say I didn't actually go to the island's coffee plantation, but I did try (sort of). My kids and husband weren't all that interested in going -- "Mom, that's boooooorrrrriiiing" was the response I got when I suggested we head over to see it. I also have to admit that once I was sitting in my beach chair, it was almost impossible to get me out of it, especially as I already had locally-grown and roasted coffee sitting in my cupboard from Hanalei Coffee Roasters. That said, I am sorry I missed seeing how coffee is grown and have vowed to get my arse off the beach and to the coffee farm next time I'm there. Also, if you are interested in buying Hawaiian coffee, there's no need to make sure it's fair trade as coffee farms in Hawaii adhere to all US labor laws (it is the United States, after all) and many are unionized, so you can rest assured you're drinking coffee where everyone is getting paid at least minimum wage.

Postcards Café
5-5075 Kuhio Hwy # A, Hanalei, HI‎

Postcards is a very cute organic restaurant in Hanalei. I ate there during our last visit to Kauai, but as we were staying on the south shore this time (and they're located at the north), I wasn't in the area for dinner this visit. When I was there previously, however, their menu was full of locally-raised vegetables and fruits, locally caught fish and Kauai-raised meats. I asked a few locals about it and they all said it was still great. This is also a wonderful place to eat if you are vegetarian or vegan.

Savage Shrimp
Truck on corner of Lawai Road and Poipu Road
Koloa, HI 96756

Sitting on the side of a lonely little road in Poipu Beach is Savage Shrimp. Susan -- the owner, chef and server of this food truck -- offers shrimp three ways. You can go with the Garlic Scampi, the Bahia Scampi (which uses a Brazilian coconut and tomato sauce sauce), or the GrassHoppa Scampi (a spicy concoction). We tried he first two and devoured each and every shrimpy morsel on our very full plates within five minutes flat. Maybe I was really hungry, but at the time I was thinking this may be the best shrimp I've ever had. Served with rice and a salad, the dishes of fresh local shrimp are filling and more than worth the $12.50 price tag.

Monster Tacos
Koloa Rd
Koloa, HI 96756

This food truck is widely admired by many, so I wanted to mention it here. I need to come clean and tell you, however, that I didn't actually get to eat a taco here. When we stopped by for lunch, the very nice lady who cooks for Monster tacos informed us that she only serves her fish with Cajun blackened spices. Although I'm not a big blackened fish fan (and neither are my kids), I wanted to give the tacos a try. I figured I'd quickly order one little taco and then go someplace else to get something for my hungry kids, but after being told it would take 15 - 20 minutes for my one taco, even though only one guy was sitting on a bench ahead of us, we left. That said, people rave about this place, so if you like blackened fish tacos and are on the south shore of Kauai, this is your place.

Sunshine Farmers' Markets
Located in a different town Monday - Saturday of each week

The state of Hawaii runs a series of local farmers' markets on Kauai Monday through Saturday. These are a bit of a scene as they're run almost like tourist attractions where some guy with a bullhorn opens the market at noon to a crowd of people and then let's everyone loose. But don’t be turned off by the management as the fruit and vegetables awaiting you are worth the septuagenarians elbowing each other out at the gate. Full of fresh local fare, you can find exotic fruits that just aren’t available anywhere else at these markets. We purchased some star fruit and dragon fruit, along with fresh and ripe guavas, wing beans, the cherished apple bananas and papayas, along with regular cucumbers, lettuce, spinach and bok choy. As we were staying in a condo, it was fun to bring home our bags and explore the variety of produce available from local Hawaiian farmers.

Lappert's
Various locations throughout Hawaii

What visit to Hawaii would be complete without an enormous scoop of ice cream, and what better place to get it than Lapperts? With frozen yogurt, gelato, sorbet, and ice cream on hand, you can pretty much get whatever frozen treat you’d like -- oh, and they serve coffee too. My favorite flavor was the caramel macadamia nut, although my husband had a few servings of the triple summer berry, which was also mighty nice. Whichever flavor you choose, this is a great way to cool off in that tropical sun.

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.

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.

Lattes at Matching Half Cafe

So I moved to the city a few weeks ago. After enduring many sweaty hours of I can't imagine anything I'd rather be doing less, I've vowed never to move out of my apartment for as long as I shall live. Yes, the size of the kitchen will take a little getting used to, and I may never have a grown-up dinner party. But moving is just no fun. Getting the couch up the four flights of stairs was an unspeakable feat. That being said, I've put it all behind me and am settling in just fine: finding my favorite grocery store, getting the bus route figured out, exploring yoga studios to find one I like and--of course--drinking lots of coffee.

Now the Internet's a pretty big part of my life since I do a lot of writing from home. And since Comcast rarely works with anyone's ideal schedule, they couldn't come out for five days after I moved in, so I set out researching some free Wi-Fi which brought me to the following neighborhood gems in the NOPA/Western Addition neighborhood. While the free Wi-Fi is what initially attracted me to these coffee shops, I love each for different reasons and still go frequently despite the fact that the wireless is up and kickin' at home.

The Matching Half

Airy and industrial interior of Matching Half Cafe

The Matching Half is one of those places I'm excited to bring people to. Yes, come and check out the new digs, and I'll take you to my new favorite coffee place. Those are words I've uttered numerous times in the last few weeks. And before telling you all about how rad it is, a quick disclaimer for the laptop crowd: there are very few outlets, so if you've got a laptop battery that's hanging on for dear life, this may not be the best choice. However, it's great for so many other reasons, and I'm almost hesitant to talk about it because I like its tucked-away, not-too-crowded, neighborhood appeal. I appreciate places that pay close attention to each detail, from the lovely ceramic cups to the metal bar, to the stark but warm industrial space. I love the menu penned on craft paper. I love the vivid, industrial painting by Mike Shankman.

When not working, settling into one of the window-side tables is prime people watching territory. There are dog walkers, young families buying treats and hanging at the outdoor tables, and runners cruising towards the Panhandle. And the coffee: this is not quick in-out-and-on-with-your-life coffee. It really is slowly and carefully prepared and it shows. The lattes are beautiful and strong, and they have numerous single-origin drip coffees brewed to order. They also have a small but nice selection of breakfast pastries (the croissants are buttery, flaky goodness), sandwiches and salads.

And while I haven't had the pleasure of having a glass of beer or wine--it's sure to happen in the coming week. They do happy hour specials from 4pm-6pm daily, and have some interesting bottles of beer available. Like Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout and PBR in a bottle. Right now they actually have a breakfast panino and PBR special. I can't say that I've ever had PBR in a bottle and I definitely haven't had PBR for breakfast...but here's to a new home and new beginnings, perhaps PBR and all.

The Matching Half
1799 McAllister (@Baker), San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 674-8699
Hours: Mon.-Thurs.: 7am-7pm; Fri. 7am-10pm; Sat. 8am-10pm; Sun. 8am-6pm.
Cash only.

Café Abir

Storefront of local favorite, Café Abir

Café Abir prides itself on roasting their own coffee daily in their micro-roasting machine. They make a rock-solid Americano and a nice, strong latte. But so do many places in the city. So what sets Café Abir apart? What I like is their varied workspace: they have a giant, communal table along with raised round tables with red velour booths that feel like little work nooks. They play good 80's music: I've been sitting here writing for the past hour and there's been some classic Heart, Bruce Springsteen and Men at Work. Good stuff. And they also have tons of individually wrapped treats, from slices of cake, to apricot bars and chocolate-dipped Rice Krispie bars. I'll admit, before I'd stocked the kitchen and actually gotten a feel for the 'hood, I had my fair share of their giant Rice Krispie treats.

Café Abir serves Numi tea, and a few different selections of beer and wine. In the evening, I've seen couples having a bottle of beer, presumably before heading out to one of the bars nearby. The red velour couches are that good--and when it's warm enough, the outdoor tables are prime for Divisadero people watching. So while there are dozens of incredible coffee joints around town, I'm thankful Abir's close by, and that they're open a bit later than most.

Café Abir
300 Fulton Street (@ Divisidero)
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 567-6503
Hours: Daily, 6am-10pm
Cash only.

Apollo Coffee

A quiet Sunday afternoon at Apollo Coffee

When I first moved in, Apollo had a sign on the front door that they'd be closed for the next week. I wasn’t sure if this was because of the construction on Divisadero or because post-holiday business is just darn slow, and it's a smart business move to shutter for a few days. Regardless, I'm happy they're up and running now. This is quite literally the perfect place to get work done--oftentimes I actually feel guilty talking on the phone because the atmosphere is so conducive to quiet work and reading that it tends to have more of a library vibe than a happening coffee house vibe. So while you won’t hear the hippest live music here, there's tons of comfortable individual seating, lots of outlets, and great natural light. It's uber-clean, and the owner is incredibly friendly.

The lattes are great. Their espresso has smooth, sweet notes. And the drip coffee is strong--even though I have a coffeemaker at home, the houseguests I've had prefer to cruise over to Apollo for a cup. They have a small selection of breakfast pastries and scones, panini for lunch, and a great selection of snacks like Lara Bars, Dagoba chocolate, mini brownies, and mini truffles. In fact, I noticed a lot of options for the chocolate aficionado here, from chocolate bars to dark chocolate cupcakes. They sell beer and wine as well, although I think the hours at Apollo aren’t so conducive to this. When asked about the early hours, the owner commented that it's a much quieter part of Divisadero, and maybe in the summer they'll stay open a bit later. Until then, I'm sticking to the coffee, the quiet, and the chocolate.

Apollo Coffee
1064 Divisidero St. (between Turk and Golden Gate Blvd)
San Francisco, CA 94115
Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 8am-7pm; Fri.-Sat. 8am-6pm; Sun. 9am-6pm