After living in the East Bay for over a year, I thought I was familiar with and had tried most of the local roasters. A few weeks ago, however, I was on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland and I went into Timeless Coffee - a very trendy looking coffee shop that I had never heard of. I ended up buying a bag of beans from Rwanda and a cappuccino. When I brewed a cup with the beans the next morning, I was shocked by how good they were. The roast level was a touch darker than what is the norm around here (but not dark by any measure) and the coffee is wonderfully balanced and very sweet. I went back last week to pick up another bag (this time a Yirga Cheffe) and it is just as great.

I will definitely be making Timeless a regular stop for beans and I would highly recommend it to anyone in the area. Just be aware that the entire cafe is vegan, even though they don't advertise it. This means that all milk drinks are served with soy or almond milk.

This experience was a good reminder for me to branch out and try new roasters when I get the chance.

Timeless is awesome. It's owned by RJ who used to be the head roaster at Sightglass when it opened. The pastries and confections are delicious for being vegan. His roast profile really sings and is distinct from other roasters.

I remember the first time I brewed his Kochere a couple years ago and kept thinking "wow, this is pretty dark" the entire time I was brewing it. The cup was very floral, very sweet, and no roast tones on it. Very impressed.

RJ is definitely one of the better roasters in the bay area, probably in the top 4. He rarely roasts anymore now, (according to him and others at his shop), he's trained several other people how to roast. So they handle the day to day roasting. I'm sure he jumps in occasionally.

The vegan pastries can blow your mind, incredibly dense, rich and delicious. I'll never order a "milk" based drink there ever again. Each cup almost cries out in agony about how horrible it now tastes with the almond or soy taint. But for straight coffee, he is near the top of the heap.