I find Red Rock's straight espresso too sour for my tastes, at least the last time I went which has been a while.

I'm excited that Chromatic Coffee will be opening a public cafe/roastery in San Jose closer to home. Lately the Whole Foods near me has not had fresh coffee where they used to be a good place to go when I ran low. Also this should be a big step up in roasters with an Opus 4.

Honestly the only espresso that's worthwhile in SJ area is the Blue Bottle in Palo Alto.

I've found Chromatic and Barefoot to be the next best thing, but they both under extract or have uneven extractions. I guess I normally check them out around lunch time or after work, but every time I've gone it's always been a low body, sour extraction or just a bad extraction. Not as bad as Red Rock but there's really nothing special and I can do much better at home.

B2 and Roy's are okay but I'd rather go for Barefoot. At least Barefoot doesn't make my face pucker. It seems like a lot of places have a trend for more sour extractions because it works with the milk better and most people don't really order espresso from their shops.

There's also Social Policy downtown, but I don't think there's anything special about them other than a nice atmosphere.

Zombie Runner on California Ave in Palo Alto is at least as good of espresso as BB. I actually like it better - more personal,less corporate/cool/hip. Owner is an ultra marathon runner (shop is part running shop, part coffee shop). He has an obvious passion for great coffee and it shows.