Caffeinated Thoughts - Four Barrel Coffee
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 8:32PM A week ago I went to Four Barrel Coffee, located in the Mission District of San Francisco, for the first time. My parent and I took the trip down, after I had mentioned it to my dad, and he was willing to go try it. I’ve had Four Barrel before, at esteemed cafés such as Jane and the Réveille Coffee Truck, two of the best cups in the city. It’s safe to say that I had high expectations for the Roaster itself.
Sadly, I was a little disappointed. To be fair, the place was packed. The line was huge, all of the seats were taken. It’s a relatively large space, way bigger than any of the Blue Bottle storefronts, and most other cafes. That didn’t start it off very well. I went to a shelf to go look at the coffees they were selling, and the people were more than happy to help me make a decision. Sadly, while they had a vast selection of different origins, I couldn’t see any discernable marking to differentiate suggested preparation methods or how the coffee was processed. One coffee may not stand up to espresso as well as it does to drip, and visa versa. That being said, I don’t think I’ll be purchasing the coffee I was recommended again.
It took a little while to get to the front of the line, but it didn’t take too long to actually get the cup. They have a nice little two-sided coffee bar system going on that works really well. People who order on the left get their coffee from the left, and people who order on the right order from the right. This streamlines process and allows for a smooth acquisition of your caffeinated beverage.
The coffee itself is where it really fell flat in my opinion. As I said before, the place was packed, which may have contributed to the quality. That being said, it wasn’t the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had. In fact, it wasn’t even the best cup of Four Barrel Coffee I’ve had. It was something about the flavor of the coffee, mixed with the slightly too cold temperature, it really didn’t win me over. It was definitely a little more sour than I would have liked. While I would still go with a friend or two if they really wanted to check it out, I don’t think I would go back on my own accord.


