Posted by TheShot on 02 Jan 2012 | Tagged as: Fair Trade, Foreign Brew
A New Year’s Non-Resolution? First, a Happy New Year to everyone. I may be in the camp that believes celebrating January 1 is about as arbitrary as celebrating March 6 as “New Year’s Day,” but I can still appreciate much of the sentiment behind it. Namely: leaving the past behind and trying to set a [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 15 Oct 2011 | Tagged as: Add Milk, Barista, Beans, Café Society, Consumer Trends, Local Brew, Machine, Roasting
As we last left our story, SOMA‘s ever-morphing Sightglass Coffee was glacially executing on its grand designs to become a major SF roastery and a spacious coffee destination. It had been over a year since we last walked among the spent heroin needles of nearby 6th Street, so much of our new Sightglass experience had [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 10 Oct 2011 | Tagged as: Café Society, Consumer Trends, Local Brew, Quality Issues
Ever eat a hamburger at a 1950s-themed American diner? In Hong Kong? Maybe their waffles didn’t taste like fish sauce, but it’s not uncommon to discover something lost in translation. (E.g., “Why does my hamburger bun taste like rice vinegar?”) On the spectrum of authenticity, this is the culinary equivalent to finding luxury handbags in [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 03 Aug 2011 | Tagged as: Beans, Local Brew
Opening in July 2011, this new coffeehouse expands Glen Park‘s neighborhood coffee offerings. It’s located a little off the beaten path, nearest a freeway exit from the Glen Park BART station. Outside they have a couple of sidewalk tables. Inside is a modern, semi-sterile interior of orange and gray walls and exposed chrome and stainless [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 29 Jul 2011 | Tagged as: Café Society, Foreign Brew, Machine, Roasting
Shockingly, it’s taken us this long to make it to Portland, Oregon — considered by many to be ground zero (no café name pun intended) of American coffee culture. And if you’re going to start sampling the offerings in Portland, it only makes sense that you start with the legendary Stumptown Coffee Roasters. This despite [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 24 Jul 2011 | Tagged as: Café Society, Foreign Brew, Quality Issues
California’s Santa Barbara County is a lot like the rest of America when it comes to coffee: it should face a tribunal for atrocities committed against the human taste bud. What makes these many crimes particularly heinous are the various local media outlets in these communities that celebrate certain local coffeehouses as some of the [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 21 Jul 2011 | Tagged as: Beans, Local Brew, Quality Issues
The story of coffee at Specialty’s Café & Bakery reflects the story of San Francisco’s consumer tastes for retail coffee. In the beginning, there was Faema + Prebica — and it was weak A decade ago, Specialty’s ran a small chain of bakery/cafés with coffee service areas. Some locations, like this one on Pine St., [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 29 Jun 2011 | Tagged as: Local Brew
With a name that sounds a lot naughtier for the neighborhood standard, Hooker’s Sweet Treats has probably disappointed more than a few thrill-seeking passersby in the Upper Tenderloin/Lower Nob Hill area. (What some realtor wannabes call the “Tendernob”.) But for those who venture here for coffee and confections, it’s something of a destination. Opening almost [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 10 Jun 2011 | Tagged as: Beans, Café Society, Local Brew, Roasting
икониSince we’ve long tired of reading about Stumpgate, it’s time to change the coffee conversation. So instead of the global growth and ubiquity of Stumptown Coffee Roasters, we turn our attention to something closer to home: the growth and ubiquity of Blue Bottle coffee. This relatively new neighborhood café caters to local UCSF medical students [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 20 May 2011 | Tagged as: Beans, Café Society, Local Brew
Some Mission residents are enthralled that they finally host a decent coffee shop that doesn’t require disinfectant. Opening just this month, this corner café has bright, large windows and decorative touches: wooden counter seating in front, a converted salon room in back with a marble fireplace, a decorative sofa, and ornamental flowers. Also towards the [...]
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