Let’s not talk about the cocktails we had in the hotel bar last night, or about the quantity of chili almonds that I ate while drinking those (bourbon) cocktails. Suffice to say that I woke up this morning feeling toxic and in need of coffee and greasy breakfast – but a goood greasy breakfast. While Shane was in the shower, I concocted a plan for the day, and we stumbled down the street in a hung over haze in search of breakfast at Blue Bottle’s Mint Plaza shopfront. Little did we know that we were about to encounter a coffee dreamworld.
A $20,000 syphon brewing system, where water heated by a halogen lamp rises up through the grounds to make a perfectly smooth cup of coffee:
An iced coffee system that redefines slow brewing: water passes through the grounds one drip at a time over the course of eight hours. Eight hours!
And, of course, perfect pour-over coffee and espresso drinks made with care. Such was our infatuation with this place that we actually had breakfast here two days in a row – but I’ll spare you two posts’ worth of drooling and instead give you one overly-enthusiastic one.
Breakfast #1: a grilled ham and gruyere sandwich for me and a fabulous frittata with goat cheese, sweet corn, and red pepper puree for Shane. I coveted that frittata. I dream of that frittata. Fortunately he shared a few bites, and we shared two syphon pots of Amaro Gayo and Guatemalan Guya’b, enjoying the former much more than the latter. As we were sitting in the front window enjoying our breakfast, we spotted the owner of one of our favorite Ann Arbor coffee spots standing in line for his own breakfast. What are the chances?!
Breakfast #2: less hungry and less hung over, so we shared the dreamy frittata and thick slabs of ACME toast, along with two beautiful cappuccinos – Shane’s first! His tastes in espresso drinks previously leaned in the vanilla latte direction, so this was a revelation, and the beginning of a beautiful obsession.
If you go:
Blue Bottle Mint Plaza
66 Mint St
San Francisco, CA 94103-1800
Go for brunch on Sunday or to just admire the beautiful coffee equipment – while drinking amazing coffee, of course.
latterdaybohemian 
Mm, Blue Bottle! I also had breakfast at the Mint Plaza location – mine was this and this. And yeah, that Kyoto-style iced coffee is craziness – I didn’t have any in SF but tried some at Caffetteria SoHo. I was interested to read the NY Times piece you linked to, and how it talks about the coffee having an “alcoholic heat” – when J took the first sip of his, he said it was like drinking whiskey, and when I tried it, I agreed!
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