I have been a fan of Blue Bottle Coffee since I discovered them in 2004 when I was searching  online for coffee beans that were not over roasted.  Since I live in the Bay Area, we have so many choices available for getting great coffee.  One might think that finding a decent cup of coffee is an easy task.  Hardly.  McCafe, Starbuck’s, Seattle’s Best, and Peet’s dominate the landscape in the world of coffee.  The trend of the late 90′s and 2000′s was dark roast coffee.  If you did not subscribe to dark roasted coffee, you almost felt like an outcast.  I was tired of coffee that tasted like burned wood.  I was able to enjoy my firs cup of Blue Bottle Coffee from a small coffee cart while walking the streets of Berkeley, California.  My first impressions were “Wow, this tastes like coffee!”  Is this an epiphany or what?  There was not bitter after taste. I tried as to taste ash or burned coffee.  Nada.  Nor did it taste sour or like grass which is a common problem with under roasting coffee beans.

Blue Bottle has expanded it’s reach way beyond the little coffee cart that the owner and master roaster operated himself.  They now boast roasting on the right and left coast of America.  One is located on Berry Street, Queens, New York and the other on Webster Street, Oakland, California.  I was fortunate enough to visit their flagship operation on Webster in Oakland California.  It’s a simple set up with a few stools and a common counter sip your favorite coffee beverage.  They offer a few home made cookies, biscotti, brandy cake, and short breads to eat while enjoying your coffee.  Blue Bottle Coffee food menu is very simple as it should.  They are a coffee roaster with a small coffee bar to sample their micro roasted coffee.

Guess what is missing on the Blue Bottle Coffee menu?  Carmel lattes, pumpkin pie cappuccinos, and other sugary beverages.  They sell COFFEE!   Can you believe that?

Blue Bottle Coffee looks like it’s a word of mouth enterprise.  I saw a blue bottle painted on the bricks.  There was a place to park and water your dog on the side walk.  I petted several dogs.  Give me a choice of petting a dog or drinking a cup of coffee and I will always take the dog.  Parking sucks because it is located in an old warehouse district near the produce terminal market.  Most patrons walked or traveled by bicycle.   I could not locate the words “Blue Bottle Coffee”.  Of course, I did not look too hard because I was not looking for a cup of coffee.  I was looking specifically for Blue Bottle Coffee.  It’s like going to the best restaurant in town.  Before I go to any good eatery, I look for the address and drive or walk to it.   When I discovered that Blue Bottle Coffee had a small coffee bar in Oakland, I mapped it out on Google and drove to it the following day.

I ordered a basic cappuccino and I have to tell you that it was just a good cup of joe.  My lips did not pucker from burned coffee flavor.  It tasted like coffee and creamy milk.  There was nothing over powering about it.  If I was to compare this to Peet’s or Starbuck’s, I have to tell you that they are not in the same class as Blue Bottle Coffee.  This is real coffee that is roasted in a way that brings out the flavor.  You will not be disappointed.