Holy $%&*^#@! I just had an espresso from these guys on Mint St. in San Francisco. The Barista pulled no less than eight shots before he was happy. And I was happy to watch.

And I experienced an amazing espresso with the most complex flavors and richness I've ever experienced. New flavors I don't think I can describe in words.

oh my. I'm a changed man. And I thought I was pulling decent shots. Yep they are better than most crummy cafe shots I've had, but this is in a completely different league.

Blue Bottle Heaven. And it's only a block and half from work.

GulDam

We went twice two weeks ago, and I also appreciated that it didn't look like a laptop showroom. We had interesting conversations with people from around the world.

Blue Bottle on Mint is an amazing place with very helpful and friendly staff and as Marshall stated a very interesting clientele.

I have posted this before but the espresso at Blue Bottle this past summer during a business trip meeting in San Francisco (two visits per day for four straight days) is the reason I went home and got into home espresso by purchasing my first machine and dedicated espresso grinder. The espresso at Blue Bottle reminded me of times when opening a good burgundy and having it fulfill the true potential of the grape (for a change). I wanted to fulfill the potential of the coffee at home the way Blue Bottle did on Mint!

guldam,

Yup, it was about a year ago that I had a similar bar-raising experience at Mint St. And went back home to have a conversation with Silvia about what she should be delivering.

On the whole, I have had consistently better shots at Mint St compared to the Ferry Building and Hayes locations. But I've had much better luck finding a good selection of beans at Ferry and Hayes. I wonder what the new permanent location inside the Ferry Building will be like. Doesn't look like construction is underway yet.

Anyone manage to find a time when the Mint St. store wasn't seriously overcrowded? I've been a few times but there's always been a line such that I can't imagine them tossing shots, and would certainly not have been able to stand there and watch them make my coffee - I've only been in there a few times, but I've waited quite a while for my drinks each time. (On the flip side, they've had a few interesting varieties of freshly roasted and delicious beans on hand each time I went, which was always on a weekend afternoon except once on a midweek afternoon.)

Does Lightening strike twice?

In some cases, yes. Went to Blue Bottle again today, and ordered my Espresso. Boooooom!!! It went down just as the first one. Enormous amount of flavor and a nice clean lingering aftertaste.

I'm going to try and describe this flavor.

2 parts liquid dark chocolate
1 part caramel
1 part Port
and other mysterious complexities.

Intensity: 9 out of a scale of 10
Satisfaction: 9/10

And my own Espresso shot this morning had the flavor, though it faded a bit quicker and a very slight lingering burnt flavor. This was with Moschetti Mistral Espresso Roast. I'm going by Moschetti's tomorrow and share my experience and taste some of his latest roasts.

GulDam

guldam,

It's been too long since I've been to Mint and you are tempting me to cancel all my plans for a trip. Maybe I just won't show up to work tomorrow.

I have never heard of Moschetti, but I looked them up a second ago. Any good? Uber fresh roasted beans?

Blue Bottle just brought Chapada Diamantina back! Last year this was the best coffee I could get my hands on. My first bag last week seemed mis-roasted along with two other beans I got that day. What's up with their Friday roasters lately? But, the second bag I got later in the week has been pretty good. Not the glory I remember from last year's crop, but this is good. So far, shots of Chapada have demanded being on the shorter side (~29-31 seconds.....short for me) It seems bitters are strong in the beginning of the pull with this bean. You can see it in the crema if pulled longer....dark brown-black splotches that don't taste good. It stays sweet when pulled on the shorter side.

Mmmm! Blue Bottle!

Beezer,

I'll finish that shot for you! Looks so good. Which bean was that?

It's been a couple of months since I was there, so I can't remember what they were serving at the time. It was very tasty, though.

Moschetti has been in the SF Bay for around 20 years. He is a wholesale roaster who supplies many cafes in Northern California. He custom roasts for cafes for signature flavors. His batches are pretty small compared to big roasters, and he is super picky. He roasts six or seven days a week.

I'm going by this morning and share some Blue Bottle 17 foot Ceiling with Fabrice.

Uber fresh beans? Like out of the hopper? yep. Perhaps too fresh. The last batch I got seemed best at 3 - 4 days. First two days the beans were out gassing so much that there was little coffee aroma. Third day, it was a wave of amazing aroma when I opened the bag.

Had some 17 foot Ceiling this morning and I'm very close to getting a perfect pull with Miss Silvia. Having a bench mark like the espressos I've gotten from Blue Bottle really helps a lot. I found that my shots were twice the size of the shots at Blue Bottle. And now that I've adjusted for that my shots have way more depth and intensity. Don't let a bureaucrat sample this stuff or they'll make espresso possession and consumption a misdemeanor.

Life is Good!

GulDam

Tag Team Jesus wrote:guldam,

It's been too long since I've been to Mint and you are tempting me to cancel all my plans for a trip. Maybe I just won't show up to work tomorrow.

I have never heard of Moschetti, but I looked them up a second ago. Any good? Uber fresh roasted beans?

Blue Bottle just brought Chapada Diamantina back! Last year this was the best coffee I could get my hands on. My first bag last week seemed mis-roasted along with two other beans I got that day. What's up with their Friday roasters lately? But, the second bag I got later in the week has been pretty good. Not the glory I remember from last year's crop, but this is good. So far, shots of Chapada have demanded being on the shorter side (~29-31 seconds.....short for me) It seems bitters are strong in the beginning of the pull with this bean. You can see it in the crema if pulled longer....dark brown-black splotches that don't taste good. It stays sweet when pulled on the shorter side.