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. :-)

Berkeley Foodie Trip!

So, I'm now house-sitting for one of my mom's best-friends. This last sunday, I decided that I really wanted to go on a trip to Berkeley to go visit Ici. More on Ici later... Anywho, I figured that getting there around 10am would probably be about right to hit up the shops around opening time. Ici is located near the intersection of Ashby and College Ave. or just south of the UC Berkeley campus. Well, I was way off the mark with 10am opening guess. Everything seemed to open at noon. Well, I ended up getting coffee and a lemon-blueberry scone at Beanery Coffee, which is across the street from my ultimate destination. I have to say that the taste of the scone was really good but the texture was different. I have heard of people using corn meal in scones but have never eaten one. Well, I think it is a good thought but in this case was poorly executed. The scone ended up being grainy. On the up side, I enjoyed their coffee, which I think was French Roast. Well after that, I headed down to A.G. Ferrari Foods. It's a pretty cool Italian food store that has mainly imports straight from Italy. Well, I got a bottle of Presecco, a loaf of sourdough bread, and bottled tomatoes. The tomatoesdecision was based solely on the recommendation of the cute girl who worked there. After leaving there, I realized it was only 10:45 (Ici doesn't open until noon on Sundays), and I decided to walk around the corner to Nabolom Bakery. After some research, I found out that it is a worker-owned collective. I'm not sure if it was because I was there too early or too late but their selection was lacking. The only things on most of the shelves was the labels indicating the past or future existence of baked goodness. Being a lover of Challah, I was delighted to see that they had two loaves left. I had it this morning as toast and made some of it into a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich for lunch. It was one of the best loaves, I have ever had. The only one that compares is the plain Challah available from ACME Bread in San Francisco. I decided that I couldn't wait around for another hour, so I decided to take a drive over to the Scharffen-Berger chocolate factory on 6th St. I was able to fenagle my way into the 11:30 tour. It was a pretty boring tour with the highlight being you got three pieces of chocolate. If anyone hasn't heard of them, make sure you get your hands on some of their chocolatey delights. Make sure to try the 62% and 70% bars. Being so close to Pyramid Brewery, I decided to go grab lunch before returning to Ici. After reading all about Ici on other foodie blogs, I definitely believe that all the hype was warranted. This place was amazing. The interior was really plain and stark, but the flavors available seemed to make up for that small fact.

Well, I decided on the Stout and Creme-fraiche Hazelnut Praline ice creams. I can't tell you how awesome each flavor was. The Stout has hints of a malty chocolateyness. I didn't exact feel like I was drinking a double-chocolate stout but it was a really nice a mellow flavor that did indeed remind of a stout. The Creme-fraiche hazelnut praline was even more amazing, if that was possible. The creme-fraiche base was definitely tangy which contrasted the sweet praline and strong hazelnut flavor. The consistency of both ice creams was smooth and creamy. It was pleasant end to a great day!