Having to go to San Francisco WAY more than I would like lately has given me a chance to try Ritual Coffee. Great logo... if you happen to love the former Soviet Union. I wonder if any of the folks at Ritual have ever even been in Russia. I have, and I cannot off the top of my head think of a SINGLE thing about it that is desirable. Or maybe they (Ritual) just think it's funny. My sister-in-law doesn't. Her great-grandfather was murdered by Stalin. And her grandfather, a man I once met, was beaten so often in the "Artic Labor Camps" where he "resided", that he lost one of his eyes.

But, undeterred by any of that, I was hoping for a good caffe. I really wanted to talk to the barista-ette. I was pretty excited about being in a real coffee shop. Where I live, you simply cannot get good espresso. What you get is a sort of black laxative, certainly nothing anybody could ever hope to drink straight. Anyway, I was anxious to talk to her about coffee, but she obviously had NO interest in talking to me. When I asked her what coffee they were using, she replied "Folgers". I started laughing because I thought she was making a joke. She wasn't, just being rude. She looks at me with a straight face - end of conversation. O-K, well...My daughter and I had each ordered a double espresso. When we received it from comrade-barista, it sure looked good: ¾ oz of syrupy resin, and it was OK, I suppose, IF you like fruit-juice. VERY strong lemon flavor. My college-kid daughter, an espresso connoisseur Par Exsalonce, remarked: not very 'manly', is it? Which reminded me of Nick's line from "It's a Wonderful Life":

Hey look, mister - we serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast,
and we don't need any characters around to give the joint "atmosphere".

In other words, if I go to a bar and order a shot of whiskey, I do not want to get served a pina colada. This is not the attitude at Ritual. But aside from the fruit-juice-in-a-coffee-cup, the really remarkable thing is the way a business can be rude to its customers and still enjoy a long line out the door of people waiting patiently to part with their money, all the while thumbing their nose at capitalism by paying homage to an evil empire that once vowed: "we will bury you"!

Such is life on the Left coast.

Let's see. The espresso wasn't manly enough, the signage wasn't patriotic enough, and the barista (ette) didn't want to to talk shop with you.

Is this a critique or a confession?

TonyJ wrote: I wonder if any of the folks at Ritual have ever even been in Russia. I have, and I cannot off the top of my head think of a SINGLE thing about it that is desirable.

My wife and I spent about a month in Russia a couple of years ago during two trips to the Far East of Russia (8 hours by "jet" from Moscow) to adopt my son. I understand what you're saying. Russia is not a friendly place and it's hard to imagine anything that would attract a Westerner to live there. The people range from uniformly unresponsive to hostile when you meet them for the first time.

However, we soon learned that this is the Russian way. Their philosophy is, "I don't know you. Why should I trust you? Why should I give you the benefit of the doubt?" They think that Americans who are friendly and smile when meeting strangers, slap-on-the-back-hale-fellow and all that, are just phonies. How could anyone possibly like someone they do not know and show such affection? It must be an act designed to deceive. But generally once we got to know a Russian beyond the initial introduction (in some cases staying in their homes), the attitude changed completely. Once they figure out that you're OK, they're very friendly, very curious and some would give you the shirt off their back. The bar is high for friendship, that's all.

It helps to speak the language. Even after 6 years of study (over 35 years ago), I'm not fluent. But my attempts to converse in Russian earned me a lot of respect.

As for the standard of living, yeah, it's the pits, especially in the boonies of Siberia in December.

Harsh experience, but I too am a little off-put by the logo. I guess I don't "get it" but it's their right to use it and I don't begrudge them for it. I suppose a swastika would be a graphically interesting logo, but it has too much baggage. Freedom of expression and all. Peronally, I won't be buying their coffee.

Regarding the treatment from the shop staff.....it's one thing I'm not surprised about. I don't think it's much to do with Ritual as a company though. I've experienced three types of cafe attitudes. My favorite places (Albina Press, Crema and Barista) all have one thing in common: friendly staff that are eager to "talk shop" and are helpful. I was at Barista yesterday and chatted with Billy Wilson about espresso blend: Ritual or Intelly (got the Black Cat)..... and also about getting some E61 parts. He pointed me in the right direction and I got the parts I needed at a great price.

The second type is the high quality shop with snobby or mean baristas. I've seen these people, who just may be unhappy and/or anti-social. I avoid these shops, but occasionally go back to see if it's changed. There was a real hag at Crema for a bit, but she isn't there now thank goodness.

The third type is the lower tier shop where the baristas either don't know any better or just don't care. These are most independent shops. They may be friendly, but they aren't skilled and don't have much to offer.

Vote with your wallet.

another_jim wrote:Let's see. The espresso wasn't manly enough, the signage wasn't patriotic enough, and the barista (ette) didn't want to to talk shop with you.

Is this a critique or a confession?

Neither. Just an observation from a fellow businessman who bends over backwards for my customers in order to get paid with their hard-earned money. I find it necessary to remain in business. I marvel at those who don't.

Thank you for the "fair and balanced" espresso review from the Fox News coffee department.

Seriously, though, it is unfortunate that you were unable to better engage the Barista with respect to the coffee you clearly did not enjoy. You might then have developed a useful understanding of the nature of the espresso, which was likely more lightly-roasted and brighter than what you usually drink. You could then be better-equipped to avoid such coffee in the future, and steer your choices toward more "manly" fare.

I would hope that you did not preface your unsuccessful attempt to "talk shop" with irrelevant right-wing rhetoric and slurs about the decor. Perhaps she had a "knee-jerk" reaction to your politics, and judgement, which you share so freely here.

She was probably offended by the NRA baseball-cap Just kidding. Although I am quite liberal, I share your distaste for communism, the Soviet Union and its emblems, as a grandchild of Russian emigres who left at the time of the revolution.

Next time try 4 Barrel or Blue Bottle. Closer to your neck of the woods, Mother Lode Coffee Roasting Company in Sonora does a good job (if such a thing can be said) on darker roasts.

Best regards from the left coast of Oregon,

Mike

FYI, from the NYT 4/4/08:

Yet Ms. Hassi, 30, demurs at the suggestion that her cafe espouses Marxist principles. Ms. Hassi said her choice of logos was purely aesthetic.

And the fact that some of the coffee mugs are red, as well as some of the walls? Again, strictly a design decision, she said. In fact, Ms. Hassi, 30, who majored in religious studies at Brown, has not read a single word of Marx or Lenin.

"I'm a capitalist, I'll admit that," said Ms. Hassi, who has a second, smaller outlet in San Francisco and soon plans to open a third cafe in Napa, in the heart of the wine country. In fact, Ritual is a place where many people go not to proclaim for the workers, but to procure them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/business/smallbusiness/04venture.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

I think most of Eileen's customers are too young to make the USSR connection. It probably looks like a smiley face to them. The most frequent comment about the logo is "totally awesome."

Hi guys,

well being from Poland which was screwed up by the Russians many times I should hate or at least not like them much. And I do, still I like the Ritual logo.

Regarding your so called conversation I'd be pissed off as well. I mean she could've at least make some effort, answer your questions normally. I'm not saying she has to sign it out with a freakish smile on her face, but be polite, or not rude. I'm curious if here behaviour was triggered by something specific or is this a typical snob-barista-I-know-more-about coffee-than-you attitude.

Regards,
dsc.

Maybe something like "Yo, commie barista-ette, over here"

Bad customer service sucks. There is no excuse for it. Ever.

As for the Ritual logo... honestly I don't see your point and I don't see how it is relevant to the discussion or productive to discuss.

More interesting to me is the comment about the espresso.
One of the big complaints I used to hear about Stumptown coffees were that they were not "strong" enough (your "manly" comment). In some ways, at its core, the idea was the coffee shouldn't taste "good" and shouldn't be easy to drink (it should "put hair on your chest"). The problem is that coffee actually DOES taste good when you're working with good beans, roasting them well, and then preparing them well.
I think this is something that a lot of folks really struggle with. We (in the US) have grown up drinking coffee that is "manly" and the fact that we can drink it is a proof that we are tough. Over time, we've been not only accustomed to the taste - but see it as being a positive value ("strong" equals "good"). When we taste a coffee like the Esmerelda (for example) we think "this tastes like tea" (or in your case "like fruit juice") and think this is a bad thing.
It's very hard to move past this. It's especially hard to do this in one fell swoop (which sounds like it is what you tried to do). If you're interested in exposing yourself to different flavours in coffee and espresso - but what to enjoy yourself along the way - I'd suggest next time you're in SF try a macchiatto at Blue Bottle. Then perhaps an espresso at Blue Bottle. Then maybe a macchiatto at Four Barrel. You get the idea.
Of course... you might simply like the taste of "strong" or "manly" espresso - in which case there are actually a number of places in SF (Sightglass is an example, or you could go old school and go to Trieste) that you might like.