Coffee Shop Review- The Financial District’s “Coffee Bar”

It seems this hipster coffee trend is continuing to grow with the opening of Coffee Bar on Montgomery Street in the Financial District of San Francisco. This place has all the makings of a hipster coffee shop. The store has a crisp, clean design with a simple menu and serves up mainly traditional espresso drinks, small cups of coffee, and a simple selection of pastries delivered daily from a local bakery. All the employees wear black shirts, indigo jeans, and occasionally grey vests or other accoutrements. Their is a certain air of condescension coming from behind the counter, but much more understated than their Valencia Street counter parts. Oh, and did I mention the coffee is really f-ing good?

My main critique of the store is that instead of trying to do something new, it basically copied and synthesized various trends in cafes and threw it in haphazardly to the financial district. Probably the most blaring difference between walking into say Fourbarrel at 4 in the afternoon on the weekend, and Coffee Bar at 8 am is that you are simply going to get a different crowd. This isn’t your get coffee and linger to soak up the ambiance type of coffee shop. Instead it is in and out, and on your way back to the office.  Another difference is all the fun homeless people of downtown SF spicing up the urban ambiance.

Being that this place is right next to my office I go there from time to time with my coworkers. One of them observed recently, ” Is there some sort of requirement to work at these hipster coffee shops that you have to have an ambiguous sexual orientation.” Haha, so true.

Another interesting attempt at fitting this hipster aesthetic is this faux-Instagram photo blown up and posted above the door inside.

It shows an older white man in business clothes sitting on a financial district rooftop looking out over the bay.  I find it a little strange to take this virtual world aesthetic of Instagram and place it in your store as “artwork”. (As a side note, I love Instagram and you can follow me here under the name missionhipsters.)

What it feels like to order hipster coffee

How many times have you gone into Fourbarrel, Ritual or another hipster coffee place in the The Mission only to be made to feel a little awkward when you didn’t understand the menu or why you couldn’t order your favorite drink? This little sketch captures it perfectly.

http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/652h
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/d240b5ebec/coffee-snobs?rel=player

Mission cafe review: Four Barrel Coffee

This is my first in a series of reviews of cafe’s in The Mission.  I’ll be trying cappuccinos at each cafe and providing a review based on the taste of their coffee, their pastries, and making a few remarks on the ambiance encountered on the visit.

First, let me say that I like Four Barrel.  With it’s high vaulted ceilings, large glass windows and reclaimed industrial space look, it’s a treat for the senses.  Peering past the coffee bar, you can actually see the staff preparing the beans on large roasting machines. 

On to the coffee. The cappuccino was served with the milk foam gently placed on top, and then lightly stirred until he created this little heart on top.  (I guess love is the secret ingredient?) As far as taste goes, I found the coffee slightly bitter and acidic.  I know that many hardcore java aficionados like that dark, smoky complexity but I find the lighter, nutty roasts more agreeable to my palate.  

The ambiance.  As you approach the counter after queuing in line for 10 minutes, it becomes obvious that all the people who work there are way cooler than you are.  Their mix of flannel, plaid, and denim shirts along with rolled up sleeve hoodies and muted color beanies give them a distinct look from some of the patrons.  The line going out the door is not particularly hipster, having many iPod toting commuters wearing sweaters and button up shirts.  I suppose the only thing cooler than actually getting your daily coffee there, is working there. 

High up on the wall are four stuffed boar heads – but don’t worry, they all seem be smiling.  I’m not sure why taxidermy has become some popular in hipster neighborhoods – but stuffed, dead animals seem to be all the rage at stores like Paxton’s Gate in The Mission or restaurants like Lodge in Williamsburg.  Hanging near the entrance is a large sculpture of stiff, braided rope that looks like it was pulled from old ships down by the San Francisco piers.  To add a little vintage street cred, there is record collection on one wall and the bathroom has a clearly visible old chandelier.  Naturally, there is a city sponsored sidewalk parklet out front with arching metal structures and plenty of vertical bike parking – isn’t that really the preferred way to show up to a coffee shop?