Man Seeking Coffee » East Bay

coffee@home: Scarlet City Coffees

ManSeekingCoffee — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:06:20 +0000

Beans: Scarlet City Coffees Roaster: Scarlet City Coffee Roasters Rating: see below

I first encountered Scarlet City Coffee Roasters in what amounted to something of a pop-up appearance for Blackbird Cafe when they set up shop for all of two weekends at the Grand Lake Farmer’s Market. After I tasted their espresso there I found myself in touch with [...]

I’d Rather Have Blue Bottle In Front of Me…

ManSeekingCoffee — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:10:07 +0000

Name: Blue Bottle Coffee Company Location: 300 Webster Street, Oakland, CA Roasters: Blue Bottle Coffee Company Rating: 3+

Call me paranoid, but at times I think Blue Bottle has master minded a conspiracy. Just when I finally managed to visit the Oakland roasting facility coffee bar, James Freeman went and opened a new roasting facility and coffee bar in New [...]

Modern Coffee Looks to the Future

ManSeekingCoffee — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:23:57 +0000

Name: Modern Coffee Location: 411 13th Street, Oakland, CA Roasters: Multiple roasters, including Ecco Caffe, Four Barrel, and Verve Rating: 4

This post is sorely overdue. I say this because I frequent Modern Coffee and have frequently recommended it to friends. I say this because the coffee is good. I say this because Modern’s rotating, truly multi-roaster menu is rare [...]

A Clover on a Coffee Cart to Cure Your Ills

ManSeekingCoffee — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:57:29 +0000

Name: Remedy Coffee Location: 4316 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA Roasters: Ritual Coffee Roasters Rating: 3+

As you may have been following on this blog and elsewhere, quality coffee is finally beginning to roll into the East Bay. Funny enough, it seems to be arriving with baggage included. I’m not making some subtle dig at the airlines here, but instead referring [...]

The Subrosa is out of the Bag

ManSeekingCoffee — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:22:53 +0000

Name: Subrosa Coffee Location: 419 40th Street (at Webster), Oakland, CA Roaster: Four Barrel Coffee Rating: 4-

Subrosa literally means under the rose. However, the term also denotes secrecy, as the the owners of Subrosa Coffee have indicated in a footnote on their web page and by their understated presence on this strip of 40th Street in Oakland, about half [...]

Man Seeking Coffee 2.0

ManSeekingCoffee — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:35:30 +0000

Trick or…Coffee?

Halloween activities most typically involve costumes, collecting candy or cavorting in the Castro (or the location du jour), but I, unintentionally, managed to associate Halloween with the anniversary of this blog. That’s right. I started writing Man Seeking Coffee two years ago on October 31, 2007. So I’ll start this post by patting myself on [...]

coffee@home: Four Barrel Mordecofe

ManSeekingCoffee — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:24:27 +0000

Beans: Ethiopia Mordecofe Roaster: Four Barrel Coffee Rating: 4-

My plate is more than full at the moment; hopefully, I’ll get around to writing about my visit to Subrosa soon. In the mean time, though, I will say that although it has taken the East Bay far too long to catch up to all the good things happening [...]

Off to the Races

ManSeekingCoffee — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:00:24 +0000

Name: Camino Location: 3917 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA Roasters: Four Barrel Coffee and Blue Bottle Coffee Company Rating: 4-

It’s a common refrain amongst those who obsess over good coffee that well-respected restaurants rarely get the stuff right. At least with espresso, you can understand why the results are often poor. Producing good espresso takes tremendous care which busy [...]

Here Comes Local 123

ManSeekingCoffee — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:20:58 +0000

Name: Local 123 Location: 2049 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA Roaster: Flying Goat Coffee Rating: 4

I have to admit that the arrival of Local 123 took me something by surprise. It’s not that I hadn’t been eagerly waiting for a cafe of this caliber to open in the East Bay. It’s just that I assumed such an opening might [...]

The 411 on 504

ManSeekingCoffee — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:00:24 +0000

Name: Cafe 504 Location: 504 Wesley Avenue, Oakland, CA Roaster: Blue Bottle Coffee Company and Ritual Coffee Roasters Rating: 3+

It’s easy to miss Cafe 504. It’s located one block east of Oakland’s Lake Merritt on quiet little Wesley Avenue in a kind of quasi-business district consisting of not much more than a laundromat and pizza place. In fact, I [...]