Too Much Coffee

I'm lucky enough to have bagged a work trip to San Francisco in September, anyone know of decent places to go for coffee? It's the sort of place I would think has good shops all over the place - Ritual seems to have a good reputation, but sounds a bit trendy...

Ritualis great - though maybe not for you if you dislike loud music. Always busy, some great Clover coffee and whatever is in the airpots is good (they fill it with large french press brews).

Other than that the best shot I had was out of the Blue Bottle kiosk, though the melitta drip coffee wasn't as good - though the drips are damned pretty, so much so I had to buy one!

Ritual has a special place in my heart though as they guys there were great hosts to me, and we had a lot of fun with them and I loved hanging out there.

I love loud music, it just doesn't seem to fit in my idea of what coffee houses should be. How old do I sound?! Can't imagine what it will be like - another experience I'll have to try.

I'm glad you mentioned the Blue Bottle as it's not far from the hotel and I was planning to give it a go. Thanks Jim!

Keeping an eye on this thread ..... My Girlfriend has just been offered a 6month - 1 year placement in San Frandoodah also starting in Sept.

We were discussing last night should I go and visit her for holidays, or quit my job and be a kept man for a year.

Eitherway, I need as list of coffee shops to try

Quit and become her coffee bitch

johnny wrote:We were discussing last night should I go and visit her for holidays, or quit my job and be a kept man for a year.

No contest IMO! I'd try to make it more than a year though...

Careful what you decide though - there's a certain island in SF that she may think would be a good place to "keep" you. I know it's disused but I'm sure the locks would still work

If I remember (unlikel!y) I'll update this with where I went and what I thought of the coffee. Although of course, I'll be working so hard I won't have time to try too many

I can confirm what Jim said, Ritual and Blue Bottle is the best in that area. It's actually in my neck of the woods. The locals prefer Blue Bottle over Ritual hands down. If you're willing to take a 45 minute drive south you can also hit Barefoot Roasters in the South Bay, they're really good too.

How long have Blue Bottle been going? They felt a bit more settled in a way than Ritual who are openly quite new to the roasting thing.

Blue Bottle has been around for ages it seems but according to their wesbite, they've only been doing it since 2002.
Ritual is more open because they are rather new in the game, in fact they just started roasting their own beans only about six months ago. They used to use Stumptown's roasts (from Portland, Oregon) which happens to be one of my favorite roasters here in the States. I think they're so unerrated, you should take a trip up to the Pacific Northwest next time you visit this side of the pond and look them up for a visit if you haven't already.

I hung out with the guys at Ritual quite a lot when i was there, they are a great crew. Stumptown are also awesome and were great to hang out with too. I really can't wait to get back to Portland and SF...

Peet's coffee is worth stopping by while in SF or in Berkeley. Caffe Greco in Northbeach is also worth checking out. Busy place in the italian neighberhood part of San Francisco with great atmosphere and loyal customers.

SF is such a fantastic city, walking around the lively neighborhoods on a quest for good espresso is heaven.

The North Beach area is very Italian, old school and a bunch of lever machines. It's definitely worth a visit!

Pico wrote:Peet's coffee is worth stopping by while in SF or in Berkeley. Caffe Greco in Northbeach is also worth checking out. Busy place in the italian neighberhood part of San Francisco with great atmosphere and loyal customers.

SF is such a fantastic city, walking around the lively neighborhoods on a quest for good espresso is heaven.

I dunno, I had a good cappuccino at a Peets, so tried an espresso. It was rubbish. Maybe just bad luck.

Peet's is the same as...should I say it without getting kicked out off the forums?
OK, here goes......Peet's is the same as Starbucks (almost). They're actually related in a way that the Peet's owner was a co-founder of Starbucks (I've heard). I never researched it to confirm this, but that's the word out here on the West Coast.
This would explain the "rubbish" espresso shot you had, trust me, I feel your pain.

Kicked-out, for what? Interesting about Peet's. At least we are all forewarned if it is the same as 'buckies ............ mmmm taste the roast (not the beans)