1951 Coffee Company — Restaurant in Berkeley

Verve coffee and mochi muffins in support of a social mission! (5/5 green stars also). It’s pretty quiet inside – definitely a study spot. But then the owner got some music going and the place seemed to relax a bit. Staff members were friendly. WiFi signal is good. Tables and lighting are good (although the high chairs may not be ideal for some). Coffee: The Verve pour-over was excellent – Jurutungo Natural (from Panama) – best coffee I’ve had in a while. Natural (sun-dried) coffees have a wonderful sweetness to them from the pulp that’s left on the bean. I recognized the mochi muffin from Sam’s Patisserie and nabbed one. Sam’s (whose bakery shares space with Catahoula coffee on 4th street) has been renamed as Third Culture Bakery. Their mochi hasn’t changed, thankfully : ) The coffee and mocha muffin came to just over $7 including tax, which was very reasonable considering the quality of both – Verve coffee beans aren’t cheap. The other pastries were from Starter Bakery. I tried their staff favorite – sour cherry Danish ($4). The pastry in the Danish was delicious and the cherry was sour, as advertised, providing a nice contrast.

I’m also giving them 5/5 “green stars” for social and environmental impact, based on these reasons: • The whole refugee hiring and training program is legit and the owner seems to get along really well with the workers. • Verve coffee says: “Our direct trade practice allows us to exceed Fair Trade minimums every time, no exceptions.” No information on growth conditions (e.g., shade cover) but the natural sun drying processing conserves water: “capitalizing on the complex sugars found in fully-ripe catuai cherries, without further straining the water-scarce region.” • Sam, the maker of the wonderful mochi muffins bakes with organic (and pasture-raised) dairy, eggs, flour, and fruits whenever possible. He tends to use good local seasonal ingredients from sustainably-minded suppliers, e.g. fruit from Frog Hollow farm and flour from Central Milling. • Their other pastry supplier, Starter Bakery, say that their “flours and grains are non-GMO and/or organic; the only fats we use are butter, non-GMO canola oil and organic olive oil; we never use shortening. Premier local food companies like Clover, Guittard, TCHO, Central Milling and select farms supply us...” Interested in writing green star reviews? If...

Overall a great cafe! My issue is random, but not insignificant. I went to the bathroom in the hallway right outside the cafe. I was in the bathroom for about 2 minutes and when I tried to leave, I realized someone had locked me inside. I was trapped inside for about 10 minutes until somewhere heard me pounding on the door and contacted the custodial staff in the building. This all happened around 2:30pm on Friday. I notified the 1951 staff and their response was that it wasn't their bathroom. While that may be true, I'm pretty sure many many ppl at the cafe use this bathroom considering there's only 1 single use bathroom in the cafe itself, this other much larger bathroom is in the same building and is ~30 feet away from the cafe door (in fact it's inbetween the cafe's indoor & outdoor seating), and there's no signage indicating that this non-cafe bathroom shouldn't be used or isn't associated with the cafe. So it's not the cafes fault, but I think they can play a more active role in preventing this from happening (which they don't seem to agree with). So because of that, I feel obligated to leave a...

Good coffee in clean, upscale interior space with cafe style outdoor tables for enjoying a sunny day. Cappuccino and cortado were good though lacking intense aromas, thick crema and strong arabica notes I’ve come to expect from top tier coffee shops. Chocolate croissant was dry - likely a day old pastry given it was Memorial Day. This establishment roasts its own beans which I appreciate. My son previously purchased beans here from which we made good coffee at home, however, did not buy on today’s visit. The draw of this establishment appears to be its financial support of Bay Area refugees and large, quiet inside space which many patrons were enjoying while working on their laptops. There is also a sitting area with soft chairs in a quiet corner. If milder coffee is your preference - my palate prefers strong Italian espresso flavors - 1951 Coffee Company could be a...