I first heard of Blue Bottle when they opened a roaster in Williamsburg, back in 2010. West Coast-transpants were doing somersaults over the fact that their beloved (formerly) local coffee had come back their way. Somehow, even after they opened a cafe in Manhattan in 2012, we never tried it. Living in the East Village (and practically–equidistantly–around the corner from places like Ninth Street Espresso, Everyman, and Oste cafe), I never lacked for good lattes.
Now that we’re out West, I find myself needing to acquaint myself with some new roasters. (I’ve also heard raves for Ritual, Four Barrel, and–in Sacramento, woohoo!–Temple).
Blue Bottle has a relatively new kiosk at the Heath Ceramics factory, and so I first had a chance to try them when we made our way over to the Remodelista market, in November. No surprise here, but they easily rank in that top-cup-of-coffee category. I decided to make a return trip to take a few photos. (And chat-up the baristas–who were so friendly by the way. Don’t you find that too many baristas are overly intimidating in that too-hip-for-you sort of way? Ugh.)
Everything is served, of course, in Heath ceramics. They have treats and granola from the Blue Bottle Kitchen in Oakland–it all sounded delicious and one of the baristas told me his favorite was the Olive Oil shortbread. They tout that they use single-origin milk (“100 percent Jersey, vat pasteurized, certified organic milk from St. Benoit’s herd in Sonoma county”) which made me chuckle a little (so Portlandia, right?), but this is certainly the sort of crazy thing that makes one feel attention is being paid. I believe there’s a restaurant in the works for Fall.
The company just released a book with Ten Speed Press, The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee
P.S. Dear Blue Bottle: Ever consider a shop in Davis?
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