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blue bottle coffee

Third Wave Coffee Shops
Love It or Hate It

Third Wave Coffee Shops: Love Them or Hate Them?

At certain boutique coffee shops like the Bay Area’s (and now Brooklyn’s) Blue Bottle, the roasters and baristas take their coffee and its preparation very seriously — and they think you should, too.
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At certain boutique coffee shops like the Bay Area’s (and now Brooklyn’s) Blue Bottle, the roasters and baristas take their coffee and its preparation very seriously — and they think you should, too. Blue Bottle baristas are part of the so-called third wave coffee movement, which focuses almost obsessively over coffee quality and roasting technique. These shops typically discourage modifications to their coffee drinks (requests for "half-caf" or "extra hot" are frowned upon) and don’t serve espresso to go; it’s best enjoyed, they say, right then and there in a ceramic cup. Personally, I’m happy to let the experts build and serve my coffee drink however they think best, and they’ve never let me down. But there’s also something to be said for a coffee shop that’ll make it your way, right away. How do you feel about the trend?

Source: Flickr User brookpeterson

Would You Pay $20,000 For a Cup of Coffee?
san francisco

Would You Pay $20,000 For a Cup of Coffee?

Would you pay $20,000 for a pot of coffee?
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Would you pay $20,000 for a pot of coffee? James Freeman did.

When the man behind San Francisco's cult favorite Blue Bottle Coffee decided to open his first café — a step way above the original kiosk — he took the plunge and purchased a $20,000 halogen-powered coffee siphon bar. The bar, which is imported from Japan, is the only one like it in the US and is really a sight to behold. In fact, it doesn't really look like a coffee maker; at first glance you might even think it's some sort of gadget from Journey to the Center of the Earth — or perhaps some weird device found on the Lost island.

However, I'm here to tell you that it is indeed a coffee maker. It uses a technique known as siphon or vacuum, where water rises from the bottom chamber to the top. We recently met up with Freeman and he and his crew gave us the lowdown on how it works. To find out just what a $20,000 coffee bar can do, read more