Blue Bottle Coffee Co

There's such a strong coffee culture in San Francisco that it makes us a little jealous now that we are back home in Chicago. Blue Bottle Coffee Co does it right in every way with its excellent concept and execution at its espresso spots and arguably offers the best coffee in San Francisco.

One of the standouts of Blue Bottle Coffee Co is the siphon coffee which is only available in the Mint Plaza cafe location at SOMA. The coffee list here includes any espresso drink such as latte or cafe au lait, but orders for siphon coffee are prepared by one employee whose sole duty is to siphon the coffee. Blue Bottle really does take their coffee seriously. The siphon coffee menu comes with three different grinds that change weekly and depending on the selected grind for one's order, the coffee is then prepared with the funky-looking apparatus that makes coffee seem like an exciting scientific process in itself.

 




We were recommended to enjoy the siphon coffee black with no sugar or milk. The siphonist also pointed out that the flavor of the coffee changes as the temperature cools.





The cafe at the Mint Plaza location features an industrial space with high ceilings and a communal table which we really liked. We were there early on a weekday morning and a long line gradually formed with people stopping by to grab coffee on the way to work.





Their other location at the Ferry Building marketplace had an even longer line on a Saturday when we were there since the farmers market was taking place that day. Everyone was looking forward to some Blue Bottle coffee. However, when we were at the Ferry Building on a weekday afternoon, this location was a lot calmer with no lines.





Besides the indoor location at the Ferry Building, on Saturdays when the farmers market is taking place Blue Bottle Coffee Co also has an outdoor stand just outside the building and nestled among the fresh produce vendors. As expected there was also a line at the outdoor stand although we found this line to be shorter. The lines in general move pretty quickly so we never had to wait long to enjoy our coffee.





We ordered drip coffee at the outdoor stand where we saw one of the employees preparing our orders. The drip coffees were individually prepared per cup as hot water is carefully poured over the ground coffee beans that are placed in a filter. The coffee drips collected at the bottom went straight into our coffee cups resulting in a delicious and fresh flavored coffee.

Blue Bottle Coffee Co made quite the impression for us on how serious it treats its excellent coffee. We are instant huge fans.

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66 Mint Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
*this location has siphon coffee at selected hours