Monday, March 10, 2008

Blue Bottle Cafe


So after reading the New York Times article about the new $20,000 dollar coffee brewing apparatus that Blue Bottle Coffee had bought for their new location in SF, I just had to go and see what it was all about. I ended up getting directions off of Yelp since the Blue Bottle website didn't have directions or even an address. Well, I was a little apprehensive about my experience after reading some of the posted reviews.

I ended up arriving at 8:45 AM on a Saturday morning, and there were only a few people in the whole place. Upon getting to the counter, we were informed that the siphon brewed coffee didn't start until 10AM. I was a bit miffed considering that was something that should have been posted somewhere. I ended up ordering a cappuccinos, which ended up being a really good move. I had read on Yelp that they had really good caps but hadn't given it much thought since all I wanted was a $20,000 cup of coffee. My dad ended up getting a bottle of their organic apple juice which was surprisingly sweet but not too sweet. We ended up sitting down in front of the siphon coffee maker, and decided to wait, like at a rock concert, to see the process up close.

To pass the time, we decided to have breakfast. They only offered 4 things which insisted of toast, poach eggs on toast, and two other simple breakfast fare. The bread was from the ACME bread company which has a shop in the Ferry building. We ordered 2 of the poached eggs on toast, and I got a cup of drip coffee which is brewed Kono style.

Upon finishing, we ordered one of the first pots of siphon brewed coffee made that day. It was really a site to see, albeit somewhat amusing. They start off by filling a rounded beaker looking container with hot water and placing it over a halogen lamp. While the water is coming to a boil, another contained which looks like a beaker fitted with a glass tube to its bottom is filled with coffee grounds. When the water boils, the beaker is fitted over it and the two are sealed together by a rubber stopper on the glass tube. The water vapor pressurizes forcing the boiling water into the beaker above to mix with the coffee grounds. While this is occurring, the barista is slowly stirring the grounds with apparently a difficult type of stirring. I didn't ask too many questions because I didn't want to ruin the taste of my pot. Once all the water had been pushed to the top, they let it sit there a few minutes before slowly separate the bottom bulb from the beaker which lower the pressure in the bulb allowing the now brewed coffee to flow through a metal filter at the bottom of the beaker and into the bulb below. The bulb was then brought to us on a special carrier. The cups that they brought included a piece toffee for each of us, which was nice considering we had just spent $10 on a pot of coffee. Well, the coffee was really good. Considering that they couldn't have gone that wrong since the were using Blue Bottle beans, it was a really good cup of coffee. With that in mind, I want to say their drip coffee was far better than that from the siphon coffee maker. They were brewing a blend that day that was only sold there and at a certain restaurant (Fifth something) which was a bummer since I really wanted some. In general, you can't go wrong with going to Blue Bottle Cafe. Even though the siphon coffee maker costs $10, I think it's worth the show. At the very least, treat yourself to some of the best coffee in possibly this country at Blue Bottle Cafe. It is so good, my dad even enjoyed it, and he has always hated coffee! It also is an excuse to go to the Ferry Build Farmers Market. :-)