Coffee Bar : Mr Espresso keeps its legacy and soul and carries it into the 3rd Wave.

Talk about your favorite cafes, local barista events, or plan your own get-together.
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TomC
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#1: Post by TomC »

I had a chance to meet up with Luigi DiRuocco, the son of the founder of Mr. Espresso who's taking the helm of their newer business expansion, Coffee Bar. Not standing by and watching the 3rd Wave coffee scene pass them by, they are navigating into newer markets while retaining their identity and heritage. They've seemed to have laid out a great foundation based on their strong historical background in the Bay Area dating back to the late 1970's, combined with real, painstakingly time earned roasting talent (his older brother John being the current Roastmaster) with more modern methods of providing what many of the newer coffee consuming generation seeks in medium light roasts that elevate the cultivar in which the coffee hails from. A new world style embracing old world tradition story that is a rare treasure to find.



We did a great tour of Mr Espresso, a long cupping of 5 or 6 carefully selected roasts, moving thru the entire range of their roasting catalogue. I was stunned by several, and overall quite impressed with every single one. We continued the tour thru the roasting area, which provided a nice opportunity to see the large wood fired roasters up closely, since it was a non-roasting day and I wasn't going to be getting in the way of their day to day operations.



A day or two later, armed with a clearer vision of their mission (both their traditional roasts and their newer approach towards slightly lighter, but extremely well balanced cultivar focused roasts) I wandered around downtown San Francisco to check out Coffee Bar.



They have two spots close together near the Financial District, and one very large, beautiful spot with patio seating and a cozy neighborhood vibe in the Mission District. These shots are of their busy downtown cafe area.



Their cafes demonstrate a clean, modern, yet simple esthetic. Top notch gear combined with well trained and passionate baristas, when interviewed, clearly having a solid grasp on most things coffee. Their cafes are surrounded by some beautiful scenery, they offer unique hand crafted condiments in the form of their own gourmet syrups for the folks still obsessed with the flavor added style of lattes and drinks. Focused on offering only finely crafted artisinal products, they take their own fresh Madagascar vanilla bean pods and craft their own fresh syrups by blending and aging them in wood barrels themselves, then bottling each in an attractive antique homestyle vessel. So, for even the folks firmly stuck in the 2nd Wave, they offer a step up in quality that you won't find in more commonly seen, but lower quality establishments.

This cafe was so busy, it was nearly impossible to get a decently clear shot that wasn't crowded with dozens of backs of heads, waiting in line, or standing around, cloistered together enjoying a quick beverage.



The espresso's I had were finely crafted, naturally sweet, focused and rich. Neither roasty, nor sour, it is a welcome change from what is so commonly thought of as fine espresso in this city. Being that I'm on a diet and avoiding all sugar and milk, my other option was sort of limited to an americano. Letting it cool till just warm, without needing any additions, it opened up into a wonderful melody of carefully crafted sweet caramels and roast focused, balanced velvety complex brown sugar and rum barrel aromatics. I would drink these on an hourly basis if I had an office space nearby. My focus was on enjoying and evaluating the beverages rather than photographing them. My girlfriend swooned over her cappuccino. Pastries and fresh gourmet small meal items are at the downtown locations, while the Mission District spot has an impressive array of very well thought out gourmet meal offerings.

They've not yet added something that the modern coffee enthusiasts demand: roast-on dates. I and many quality focused coffee consumers demand a roast-on date. Nothing else suffices. Not enjoy-by dates, or anything like that. I want to know when my coffee that I'm paying a premium for, was roasted, so I can prepare it and plan accordingly, or I'll simply find another place that does. But they are heading closer to that goal and looking for the best way to incorporate that going forward, but need to work out the logistics. Their "best by" date on the bag is not going to buy them a lot of credibility with those seeking the aforementioned points, but it's a start in the right direction.



Overall, my impression of what Coffee Bar is doing is both unique, worth exploring, and impossible to replicate for one simple reason; they have an old world roasting foundation and experience, applied with that same level of talent, newer approaches in smaller lots of specific cultivars. These aren't two forms of talent that one single company can often possess unless you've been in the game for as long as they have. Trends come and go. Quality and and a clear vision stands the test of time.



This all translates into something that is hard to find in San Francisco, outside of cafes like Highwire and a few other notable roasters, Coffee Bar displays a rare ability to coax the best out of a bean, bypassing the palate searing swill, with sour, underdeveloped coffee; acidity that's unbalanced, all in the name of lightest roasts and actually deliver sweet, balanced unique and delicious coffee. Most of what San Francisco's most notable cafes concept of brewed coffee are actually most often cupping roasts, and very poor attempts at that and often done by "roasters" who really have no clue or experience of what they're doing, they're just following a data sheet.

Some of Coffee Bar's best (and most surprising) brews I sampled were actually blends. Their Elysium Blend has sweetness, clarity, peach juice, pekoe tea flavors and crisp interwoven acidity that unites the whole cup that just improves sip by sip as it cools.

These spots are worthy of any coffee fans "must-see" list while visiting San Francisco. For something in a cafe to impress me nowadays, they need to not only offer excellence in product and service, but they must have a unique identity of their own that sets them apart from the next "new 3rd wave cafe around the corner". Coffee Bar seems set out in the right direction to give us exactly this. You cannot buy, build or design this kind of experience artificially. It only comes from a 40 year old family owned, traditional coffee business doing what they've been doing for generations, stretching back to old Italian traditions.

Check them out the next time you're in the area and enjoy traditional know-how, applied to the finest small farm, cultivar enhancing coffees. Or find them online at: http://www.coffeebarsf.com
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the_trystero
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#2: Post by the_trystero »

Very very nice write up Tom.
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earlgrey_44
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#3: Post by earlgrey_44 »

+1
Trust your taste. Don't trust your perception.

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Boldjava
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#4: Post by Boldjava »

Visited the Coffee Bar when we were in San Francisco in March.

Tom mentions the simple, clean visual appearance. +1. The shop was just getting busy when I arrived at 7:45am but the staff was still engaging, pleasant, welcoming. Missing in so, so many shops today.

Had a great cortado from one of their blends and a wonderful pourover.
which provided a nice opportunity to see the large wood fired roasters up closely
I would love to see that in operation and have about 30 minutes with a roaster over a beer or two. Love to see how the temps are controlled. The throwback approach enthrals me.
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ProletariatCoffee
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#5: Post by ProletariatCoffee »

Hi Tom,

great read! i'm in SF for a couple days, today is my last and will make sure to hit up Coffee Bar today!

I was interested to hear more about the below from you:

"This all translates into something that is hard to find in San Francisco, outside of cafes like Highwire and a few other notable roasters, Coffee Bar displays a rare ability to coax the best out of a bean, bypassing the palate searing swill, with sour, underdeveloped coffee; acidity that's unbalanced, all in the name of lightest roasts and actually deliver sweet, balanced unique and delicious coffee. Most of what San Francisco's most notable cafes concept of brewed coffee are actually most often cupping roasts, and very poor attempts at that and often done by "roasters" who really have no clue or experience of what they're doing, they're just following a data sheet. "

so far, i've been to Linea, Wrecking Ball and St. Franks. They all seemed to be doing a great job in my still very young palette! I'd love to make it out to Highwire and Scarlet City, but won't have time to get out to the East Bay on this trip. Which roasters would you consider in the group of 'notable' ones in SF?
follow my coffee adventures on instagram @proletariatcoffee

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yakster
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#6: Post by yakster »

Linea, Wrecking Ball, and Saint Frank are all good places to go for well developed roasts in SF. You might want to try Jane which carries Stumptown or MA-Velous which carries a good variety of different roasters.
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TomC (original poster)
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#7: Post by TomC (original poster) »

I would second Ma'velous and maybe Stanza, since they too get coffee from multiple sources. I haven't checked out Paramo Coffee, but they're down on the Embarcadero as well.
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ProletariatCoffee
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#8: Post by ProletariatCoffee »

Paramo was great, i would definitely recommend checking it out.

I also went to Coffee Bar and it was exactly as you had described. I really enjoyed the espresso and the cafe as a whole was well done. On instagram, I asked them why they don't put the roast date on the back and he replied saying that its usually one month from the 'best by' date. I would have picked up a bag otherwise.

I just got back home and I have to say that I'm really enjoying Wrecking Ball's espresso blend so far.
follow my coffee adventures on instagram @proletariatcoffee