Mission Mission

While great spots like Machine Coffee, Sightglass, De la Paz, and Ma’velous ensure that the west side of SOMA is happily caffeinated at work, it is difficult to find a decent cup if you work further east toward the bay.  This week the meet-up gallery 111 Minna has improved the situation with the launch of “Red Door Coffee.”  The shop is offering espresso drinks of a mission favorite, Fourbarrel.  Hours: 7:30am–3pm.  Lots of seating.

It’s Friday and one coffee is not enough to keep you going until Tripps.  We suggest you also stop by Special Xtra for a second cup on the way back to work.

-Jason Laska

The newly formed Bay Area Coffee Community (BACC) is hosting its first conference, Barista Nation, in the Women’s Building on Saturday January 19.  The event is aimed largely at specialty coffee baristas looking to learn more about the cafe side of the business and sustaining a career in this area.  Talks by roasters Equator, Counter Culture, and Verve as well as several SCAA representatives and other coffee professionals are included in the agenda.

Don’t work in the industry but still want to nerd out with baristas? You’re in luck! The organization is launching a monthly series of Thursday night throwdowns (i.e., latte art competitions) from January 19* through June 13.  The final throwdown will be held right here in the neighborhood at Coffee Bar. Entry is free to the public and there will be food, drinks, and of course some very creatively manipulated steamed milk. See the attached flyer for details.

*The first competition is not on a Thursday.

[via Sprudge]

-Jason Laska

In this new series about coffee in San Francisco we will highlight worthy new shop openings, lesser known spots, restaurants that make an effort to brew a decent cup, and maintain a curated map of the best places to get the black stuff.

Stanza Coffee recently opened its doors on 16th Street in the mission, across from the Roxie. This is the second Stanza in the city and appears to emphasize coffee more than its sibling in the Haight.

The Mission shop will host a rotating selection of various small roasters from around the country.  They haven’t completely settled on which brands you are most likely to see, but Counter Culture (Durham, NC),  Herkimer (Seattle, WA), and Augies (Redlands, CA) were mentioned as potential regulars. We’ve also seen PT’s (Topeka, KS), Madcap (Grand Rapids, MI), Olympia (Olympia, WA), and Doma (Post Falls, ID) coffees on visits here. What great roasters! Beans are available for retail and you can order v60 pours or espresso drinks at the bar.

The diverse rotating selection of non-local roasts makes Stanza unique among the coffee places in the city. Indeed, there are only a handful of similar such shops in the area, such as Ma’velous (SF), Bica (Oakland), and Modern (Oakland).

We recommend that you check this place out next time you need to pick up a cup before hopping on BART.

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