Man Seeking Coffee » South Bay

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 [...]

Feeling the Coffee Tasting Love at Barefoot

ManSeekingCoffee — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:04:30 +0000

It’s been almost a year since I attended the first session of Barefoot Coffee Roaster’s “Foundations of Taste” series at their flagship store in Santa Clara. It was an enjoyable enough experience for me on a Saturday, but because Barefoot is just far enough away to not hover too high on my radar. A recent look [...]

Zombie Runner

ManSeekingCoffee — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:00:25 +0000

Name: Cafe Zombie Location: inside ZombieRunner, 429 S California Ave, Palo Alto, CA Rating: 4

I recently drove the family down to Palo Alto to visit some family friends. Of course, the trip had to include a stop-off for yogurt from Fraiche, but as happy I as I am with their Blue Bottle coffee production, I wanted to [...]

Pondering the Third Wave Expansion

ManSeekingCoffee — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 23:40:36 +0000

I find it a little surprising sometimes that prominent, high quality (OK, let’s just say it – “third wave”) cafe/roasters have opened as few shops as they have. Take the Big Bay area players, for example, which have no more than a large handful of stores combined. Blue Bottle appears to be in the lead with [...]

Tasting Caffe Trieste

ManSeekingCoffee — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:44:48 +0000

Name: Caffe Trieste Location: 2500 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA (locations in San Francisco, San Jose and Sausalito) Rating: 2+

The original North Beach location of Caffe Trieste introduced espresso to the Bay Area back in the 50′s and was the first cafe, as we know them today, to be remembered and revered by the larger public. Certainly, the [...]

Froyo Espresso

ManSeekingCoffee — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:05:55 +0000

Name: Fraiche Location: 644 Emerson, Palo Alto, CA Rating: 4-

I love coffee but have never really been bitten by the sour frozen yogurt bug. My wife, on the other hand, complained about the demise of Dannon’s sour frozen yogurt for years before Pinkberry, Red Mango and countless copycats burst on the scene. She, unfortunately, doesn’t like coffee. This [...]

coffee@home: Barefoot Espresso x2

ManSeekingCoffee — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:10:55 +0000

Beans: Element 114 espresso and Santa Clara Decaf Roaster: Barefoot Coffee Roasters Rating: 3+ and 3-

The four main variables in making good espresso include the quality of the machine, the ability to get a good and consistent grind, the quality and freshness of the beans and one’s barista skills (i.e. the ability to pull the first three items [...]

Don’t Judge a Bucks Buying Clover (Part 2)

ManSeekingCoffee — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:58:28 +0000

Name: Starbucks – Small Batch/Clover Service Location: 7 Third Street, San Francisco, CA (and other locations in Boston, Seattle, Portland and the Bay Area) Rating: 3

My previous piece was the backstory. I filled you in on the controversy surrounding Starbucks’ recent purchase of the Coffee Equipment Company and its technological wonder, the Clover 1s. Today is the action.

I [...]

Don’t Judge a Bucks Buying Clover (Part 1)

ManSeekingCoffee — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:08:07 +0000

A huge event took place in coffee back in March. Starbucks purchased the Coffee Equipment Company, gaining ownership of its sole product, the Clover 1s brewer. This news was big because the Clover 1s had been adopted and embraced by specialty coffee shops around the country in a kind of grass-roots, coffee revolution sort of way. [...]

Pay No Attention to the Sign Above the Door

ManSeekingCoffee — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 03:40:55 +0000

UPDATE: Broken Door has closed. See Comment Section below.

Name: Broken Door Espresso Location: 231 East Santa Clara Street (across from City Hall), San Jose, CA Rating: 3+

Even if it is starting to become cliche to build back alley cafes, I still enjoy the thrill of sleuthing out semi-hidden locations. I even have a soft spot for the apparently [...]