Barefoot coffee

Finally, my favorite neighborhood café has turn to show up.

Here is my “base camp” café, Barefoot coffee in Santa Clara, where I often inhabit at window-side with books.

Not taste but atmosphere nails me there.

Barefoot is not spacey, rather small, but its size gives me comfort and secure feeling. 

Moreover, there are many many interesting group of people came and came…and go.  I often sit by the window and watch terrace seats, people with parakeets!!  Man watching is already fun and becomes more fun if there are people with birds.  I love to watch them enjoying cups with their unique companies, although I sometimes wonder how they manage their time and work in the middle of the day on weekdays…

Barefoot, of course, has good enough quality and variety of espresso base drinks, together with freshly roasted coffee beans、certainly organically grown, and fancy pastries.

Barefoot has changed both their layout and package design in 2010.  So, it might look different, especially espresso bar, when you step in...

 
 ※ Soy Latte is my cup always although taste is not as good as “Four Barrel”, café in SF.

SIGHT GLASS

Sightglass is one of newly introduced coffee shops by my foodie buddy, Kaori, in September.

Sightglass is located in SOMA, San Francisco, will have a spacey floor and full line coffee bar with a huge size roasting machine in center…in the nearest future.  Unfortunately, the roastery section, maybe whole café section, was still under construction at the time of our visit, which had been under construction for years.  

There was a temporally bar counter with a small espresso machine, maybe 2 or 3 shots size, at the entrance, with a line of people ordering espresso base drinks.  It is amazing to see that many people were coming in and out constantly even around 11 am on weekday.




My regular order, a cup of Soy latte came with silky foam and well harmonized taste.  It needs to be noted that taste of Soy latte is strongly affected by taste of soy milk, depending on “Bland” taste.  So, I cannot say much about “Taste of latte” but taste was not bad for sure. 
For the next time, I would like to visit COMPLETE version of Sightglass.

Labateca Typica

Beans: Lavateca Typica
Roasting degree: City
Roaster: Nama-mame hompo
Area of production: Labatica North Santander, Colombia
Grade: Spremo
Screen: 17up
Altitude: 1,500～1,800m
Processing: Fully washed
Species: Typica
Yr of cultivation: 2010

【Impression】 
Dark, full body and bitter but light and sharp.  Bitterness of coffee does not stay, whereas it gives strong impression and satisfaction at a first sip.  Nutty flavor together with sweetness in bottom. 
I recommend this as a first cup on fine spring or early summer morning.  Food pairing may be vegan homemade pancakes with a touch of maple sugar inside.
2nd Cup: Unlike the first impression, my second cup taste clear and light body, with depth of flavor consisted of layer of bitterness and a tip of sourness as tone.  But, still, this is good for a morning cup, from spring to summer.  

 【Note】
100% typica., traditional free-washed Colombian coffee.  It might sound strange but, since majority has shifted to mass-farming, this traditionally produced coffee became so called "SPECIALTY" coffee, which has lemony citrus and full nutty flavor with touch of sourness.  City roast is recommended.

Doi Coffee

 I already have my favorite coffee roaster for morning cups, but sometimes I would like to have “affair” with new roasters.

Taking exploration for something new, something fresh to surprise my taste and to satisfy my spirit of inquiry, I encounter a new roaster via Rakuten.

Doi Coffee offers so called “Trial set”, 200g X 2 packs of freshly roasted roaster’s choice.
My order was combination of Brazil and Guatemala, and arrived a day after they were roasted.
The level of roast is full-city, but taste is not strong and good for morning cup.

Actually, it was big surprise that quality of web shop has higher quality to offer fresh and aromatic coffee than some of major roasters in Kobe.
Doi coffee has monthly selection of beans to lower price, and, as I follow their list of selections, they will satisfy your craving for good coffee and spirit of inquiry.

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お気に入りのコーヒー豆屋はあるけれど、なんとなく刺激がほしい今日この頃。

　かといって、街中を歩いていてもなかなか舌に合うコーヒーに巡り合えないので、

　それならば・・・と楽天に。

　

　お試しセットのある豆屋を直感的に選んでみたが、これは正解。

　フルシティという割には、さっぱり。

　お試しパックの組み合わせも、ガテマラにブラジル・・・素敵な組み合わせである。

　

　さらっとした味だけれども、芳香豊か。

　商品も充実しているし、定番だけでなく月のお楽しみも十分あるので、コーヒー豆

　だけ買いに遠路はるばる足を運ぶなら、これで十分以上、おつりが余りあると思う。

　

　土居さんのこだわり、買ってみればわかります。

Grancino Coffee Roasters

Free sampling from Grancino Coffee Roasters.

3 types of beans, 50g each, with defferent roasting grade:
Mandelin - Dark
Moca cidamo - Medium dark
Columbia - Medium






Not knowing how good this roaster is, this sample request was a challenge, a little adventure for a consevative coffee maniac like myself.
What inspired me the most was their logical analysis of roasting, reminding me of chemistry experiment, as well as their notes referring Coffee roasting as music, which is also one of my idea about the art of coffee.

Hope this adventure will meet my  expectation...