Have any of you in CA/Bay Area tried any of the Philz blends as espresso? I like a number of the blends as pour-over, but have never tried them for espresso. Be interested in your experiences if you have.

I tried a few over the years. Never was really impressed. The manufacturing cream and brown sugar they dump into the pour-overs in their cafes really hide the low grade coffee they're roasting. I couldn't get anything but bitter and harshness when pulled as shots. Bury it in steamed milk, it's just average.

They were quite the rage when I moved here in 2007, it was them, Blue Bottle and Ritual as far as trendiness. I was told by someone at the time who'd been an employee of Philz that the green coffee resembles a bag of rotten teeth.

My daughter gifted me a bag of Philtered Soul which I used for espresso. Aside from being on the darker side of my preferred medium, it pulled fine and behaved like any other beans would for espresso. I only drink lattes and not straight shots nor americanos.

I'm not a fan of the flavoring so I wouldn't order them myself but I finished the bag so they certainly weren't horrible.