That’s one of the claims made by Eileen Hassi, co-founder of Ritual, in the above video. I know that most my fellow San Franciscans take their coffee ultra-seriously, almost to the point that it can be considered something that goes as religion in this atheist town, but that’s quite a statement. Now, I don’t understand you people, as I don’t drink the stuff myself; and personally, I think you’re all a little crazy, but I’m crazy too in other ways, so I’m not here to poo-poo in your cup (although I’m certain you’d be ecstatic if a certain weasel did).
Anyway, these CAFFEINATION guys are travelling around the nation searching for the best coffee with which to burn their tongues, and naturally their first stop is to our fair city, where one of them ends of drinking seventeen (17!!!) cups of coffee in two days from a myriad of spots. What, don’t believe me? Check it out yourself.
[Link]
did anyone else catch that this pretentious clown didn’t even do enough research on sf to know that sf is only 49 sq miles not 231 sq miles
That struck me as odd too, but sure enough it’s right there on Wikipedia:
“The mainland within the city limits roughly forms a “seven-by-seven-mile square,” a common local colloquialism referring to the city’s shape, though its total area, including water, is nearly 232 square miles (600 km2).”
That said, I’m guessing most of the cafes aren’t in the water.
Right!? What an idiot, except that he is not.
…”perhaps an apricot?” Yeah, with a hint of Sanka and a Yuban finish.
and yet there still isn’t enough caffeine in the city to get anyone to properly fix muni and bart.
Or qualified people
This guy didn’t visit 1 Vietnamese coffee shop.
Is it just me or does this guy not seem to have any knowledge of coffee, or anything good to add to any of these interviews?
no love for Philz? I’m not sure that Miss Ritual-SanFrancisco-was-a-coffee-backwater-before-we-changed-it even realizes that all she & the four blue barrels of the world has brought to the table is upmarket branding. i appreciate the effort to “innovate” coffee making methods, i guess, but the end result is usually non-descript. i believe Phil Jaber has killed many men to bring us the finest beans on the planet, and to me that is more than we deserve.
Yes, caffeination is the best. I have been there last year.
Philz, unfortunately, represents everything that is wrong with the new SF. Instead of coffee, you get a coffee experience, and instead of $2, you get to pay $4.
One good thing about the proliferation of new coffee houses is that there is always room at Muddy’s.
Default Fake Blog Comments?
Yo, is there a software to fake comments on blogger.com?
An important distinction between good coffee and not so good coffee is that it’s being brewed no more than 14 days from roast. That’s key for me and very few ‘non-hip’ places do that (do any?). Makes a tremendous difference in flavor. It doesn’t have to come from carefully selected micro-batches from massive amounts of cupping and experience. On that note I’d like to see more reasonable prices so the rest of the city can enjoy good coffee so it can become the city’s culture and not just a micro culture.
Philz is cool – I like mint or cardamon occasionally with my coffee but it’s effectively bludgeoning the coffee bean into something else.
Another thing about this 3rd wave of coffee bars is that they not only upped the standard for coffee but also greatly improved/perfected espresso quality. Plus light roasted coffee is more appreciated now.
How do I try that ultra slow drip at BB?
Every drip at Blue Bottle is slow… Especially the ones making the coffee.
Heyo! Thank you, I’ll be here all night.
Intriguing. What are the three waves of coffee bars?
As for Philz, what I don’t like is that they put the cream and sugar in for you, and you have to rely on their baristas to apply the same standards for different visits and different locations. You have to assume that “light/light” is going to mean the same thing every time, and it doesn’t. Of course, you could avoid it all by simply drinking black coffee like a true purist.
And then there is the vaguely humiliating exchange where you get your coffee and the barista says, “taste it and tell me if it’s okay.” And you take a sip of still too hot coffee and nod meekly that it’s fine. What are you gonna say, “No, that’s a little too much cream. Make me another one while I sit here for another ten minutes.”
I could look it up to try to be accurate but the 3 waves worked like this:
1st – Traditional coffee house maybe 20′s (?) to now but really popular in late 80s and 90′s. Potentially, good coffee usually just ok. No poor overs, espresso brews were questionable due to technique and bean quality (I’d say to old) but could be very good. These places were for the ambience. Friendly, groups would meet here, students would study and frumpy style. The sort of place revolutions were organized not understanding great coffee. Hand made espresso susceptible to operator error – high variability. Self branding based on word of mouth, contributing to local issues. Not sure but I think Philz falls into here going on 2nd wave now – but philz has a really unique take with all the flavors. Exists almost anywhere.
2nd – This was when a few of the first wave went big or started to. Starbucks, Peets later – various franchises feeding off the 1st gens ambience (they were once 1st gen) 1st gen’s continued and many favored the 1st to the 2nd. Can also be a hangout place. What I can say about Starbucks is their espresso is consistently bad – never varies. Near fully auto espresso machines with no hand touch little expertise. Profit motive and a consistent product desired. Branding is heavy. Begins on the coasts and quickly migrates to smaller towns.
3rd – wave late nineties to now. People started to make GOOD coffee and taste the difference. My opinion a lot of the 3rd wave came out of correctly made espresso, home roasting, buying green beans and experimenting. Basically, becoming a coffee snob. Before this most espresso really sucked. People started really studying coffee and finding out how to make it better and what makes it better. I’m not sure if it was Seattle or Vancouver – places like that I think hit it first. I’m not sure too if Italy and Japan may have already had a good understanding before North America (Too be sure France has horrible espresso standards). Blue Bottle, Ritual, Four Barrel – a continued focus on perfection at a price but not profit. Branding/marketing is based on design and not much else, just word of mouth quality coffee – providing a service to educate new people to good coffee. Generally, remains on coasts and a few individuals bring it into to random towns inland on there own usually struggling to do so.
I just scribbled that out on my keyboard so sorry for my grammar. I’m sure there are exceptions to my 3 gen framework. It probably all falls into some philosophical view of capitalistic consumption. It’s happened in other areas too.
Thanks, slobdog, that’s very interesting. You probably know all about Caffe Trieste, as well as Peet’s and Caffe Mediterraneum in Berkeley, all of whom make various claims to having brought modern coffee culture to America–and surprisingly, not until the 1950s. In each case, the original proprietor in question was a European immigrant (two from Italy, and Alfred Peet from the Netherlands).
According to Mediterraneum legend, the Italian owner would make espresso drinks, but Americans preferred cappuccinos with more milk, so he would yell out “latte! latte!” for these drinks, and thus the latte was born.
One can surmise that “Americano” came about in similar circumstances.
And of course, Peet’s was the first coffeehouse to franchise and focus on having a certain modicum of quality, which is supposedly where Schultz copied the idea for Starbucks.
What’s interesting about all of the above anecdotes is that they place the birth of good American coffee in the Bay Area, and not the East Coast.
Personally, I guess I’m a first/second wave guy. As long as there’s a strong cup of coffee and the kind of atmosphere where the Unibomber would feel at home plotting his manifesto, I’m happy. Thus, when I came to SF 20+ years ago, the plethora of pint glass coffee houses serving Max’s Blend was ideal, and it still works for me (though I concur the coffee itself can be a bit intense at times).
As far as the individual drip cup philosophy, my favorite is a place called Cole Coffee in Oakland (and perhaps elsewhere). Each cup is made to order, and there are no gimmicky names for each blend, and they trust you to add your own milk/sugar.
What I believe is important is that we learn from each other and not be competitive.
Cole Coffee is the greatest!
I drink iced or hot tea that I make myself, life is much more simple.
I drink beer that comes in a sealed can.