Thursday, June 16, 2011

San Francisco Part 2 (So Much Coffee, So Little Time)

Four Barrel:Store
     My eyes have seen and my lips have tasted the glory of what lies waiting to be discovered within the belly of the great city of San Francisco.  It's hard to say what touches the human emotion enough to bring forth tears.  For some it's the delicate sunrise on a dewy morning.  For others it's the cascading sound of a small brass ensemble.  For others still it's the bubbling joy that comes from the laughter of a newborn babe. But for me it's the robust taste of a well pulled shot of espresso.  Needles to say I was running through the streets of San Francisco weeping continuously.  But seriously, there was sooooo much good coffee... and I tried all of it.
Four Barrel:Slow Bar
  
     My day started at about 11:00am as I walked two blocks down the street to a coffee shop called Four Barrel.  When I walked through the unassuming door what did my eyes behold?  A magical land of coffee was laid out in front of my eyes.  The store was much deeper than it was wide which was necessary because there needed to be space for the roasting a packaging that was going on right behind the bar.  There's not much more I can say about this place than it was amazing.  The espresso was bright and sweet and the slow brewed El Salvador was earthy.  An amazing place to start.
     The barista directed to my next stop witch was Ritual Coffee.   The place was cool and my macchiato was great but it didn't have the magical flare of Four Barrel.  The baristas were talented and the coffee amazing, but there was no roasting in the store which took away from the aura that I was looking for.
    
Blue Bottle
Sight Glass
     My next two stops were interesting.  The shops weren't more than little stands tucked inside the recess of a building.  The had to have been only 250 square feet at the most.  But what they lacked in size they made up for in amazing coffee.  Sight Glass and Blue Bottle are the tiniest most delicious coffee places I've ever been to.  You kind of just walk right up, get you're drink, espresso or cappuccino or whatever, drink it real quick and be on your way.  This is reminiscent to the Italian way of doing coffee.  The last stop was Farm Table, yet another tiny coffee stand but it had some dining in space and there was a delicious garlic aroma lingering around the store.  So by the end of the day I had consumed more caffeine than the average person drinks in a week and I was feeling it.  I was slightly dehydrated and nearly passed out but it was all worth it.  The day will live forever in my mind as a warm, chemically driven, toasty blanket wrapped around the neurons and synapses of my brain.
Farm Table
    Before I finish this blog let me talk a little about how you fit in in San Francisco.  Coffee shops usually are the litmus for finding out styles and fashions of a town because coffee, in itself, has become a hip thing to enjoy.  So as I was hanging out in all of these shops I was trying to put my finger on what I would need to look like to fit in as a San Fraciscanite... and it ended up being impossible.  Pretty much all you need to do is be as eccentric as you want and you have the green light for fashion.  There were overalls, heels, shorts, cardigans, jean, corduroy, anything.  It was fun to watch.  San Francisco seems to have so many different types of people that the only way to fit in is to be yourself.

3 comments:

  1. I love how courageous you are to take on this eventful challenge. Very cool!! And the SF fashion knowledge will, I'm sure, be useful at some point. You are in our thoughts and prayers. <3

    Jordan

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  2. You sir, have captured so much of the San Francisco spirit in your blog. Looking forward to keeping in touch and continued reading of Beau on a Bike.

    As Roy Rogers and Dale Evans had joyously sang, "Happy Trails to You."

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