Made a pilgrimage today. Had two dandies while there, and snagged an 8oz bag of Hayes valley blend. Not sure if images have been published much, so for anyone curious, I snapped a few. While I enjoyed the Dandy, the visit was underwhelming, as i'd hoped for one straight and one almond milk macchiato and they were out of almond. Then I asked about the difference between Hayes & roman, and the barista had to admit he didn't know, because they only pull dandy there. The cashier was familiar with the notes but had no hands-on experience. At least they were honest! And hey,Handsome would never have deigned to offer almond at all.

Appearancewise, i'd say BB certainly got their money's worth, as they left virtually everything unchanged. Handsome was already good to go, even by BB standards. Sorry I didn't get any structural shots. All shelving, tiling, and roastery area was unchanged.

^^^ 8-oz. bags! They don't sell those online.

I wonder what the Handsome guys got in the deal. With 2 years of hard work, I'm sure it paid off though. Kudos to them.

While Handsome was a huge success, I'm really digging Blue Bottle.. More variety, better coffee and service is nice step up.. The barista actually remembered me and cared to offer what I had before, on my second second visit (over a week later). This never happened with Handsome in dozens of visits (I live just across street), probably due to either a larger staff rotation (or more frequent turnaround)? Either way it was nice to see a concerted effort on the part of Blue Bottle to improve upon what Handsome has built.

I will be trying out all of there roasts soon.

jbviau wrote:^^^ 8-oz. bags! They don't sell those online.

Every Blue Bottle cafe I've visited sells there coffee in 8 oz. bags that are never more than two days post roast. Something I've always appreciated.