Blue Bottle Coffee — Restaurant in Oakland

Such a nice little spot. I work at Starbucks and was looking to get a different cafe experience, see how it was compared to my huge chain. It's a definitely small location, nestled in a little street corner. I braved the heat to have a bite and a drink.

The menu is short and sweet, about a dozen or so options in bold lettering on the wall. You won't have to squint and mull over what to have for 10 minutes.

At 4pm, not many options left in terms of food. Just some sweets left, and I chose the Caramel Chocolate Chunk cookie on a whim. Huge and delicious cookie, very sweet -- almost overly so. But the iced oatmilk matcha latte's milky, subtle but tasty flavour washed the strong sweetness down. I've only had matcha lattes from Starbucks up to this point. Blue Bottle Coffee's iced matcha latte was perfect, the flavour profile not as "in your face" as Starbuck's, but much less invasive AND somehow much more satisfying. Not too sweet... the ultimate Asian compliment! They offer oatmilk and almond milk for non-dairy options.

The little seating areas were full, but the wait was short with three people before me. They hand you a drink in a cute little compostable cup, and you are free to grab lids at the condiment bar. I saw a lady leave before me with a lidless coffee, topped with some cute latte art!

I drank my matcha latte down to the last drop and, upon removing the lid after, did not find any little stray remaining chunks of matcha like you might find in Starbucks' matcha lattes, which are shaken and foam up like crazy. The non-dairy less so, but there is still an obvious layer at the top in Starbucks iced matchas. Not to be found in Blue Bottle Coffee's, which makes the sipping experience very simple and enjoyable.

Overall, the cookie and matcha latte cost me $10. Be sure to tip your...

In my first experience with Blue Bottle Coffee I entered into the establishment will be expecting some full-on conversation with some caffeinated Millennial lab rat, with major attitude smirking at me while making me a $13 coffee. This was not to be, and was strictly the product of my not having had a coffee yet, a time at which even grizzled Oakland Police veterans stay out of my way when they see me on Piedmont Avenue, and I was pleasantly surprised and greeted in a friendly matter by the workers there who seemed know exactly what I was going through and exactly what I needed. Serving me a pour-over Ethiopian coffee strong enough to be sent to the weapons research division of any large government, I found the coffee was roasted the way coffee used to be roasted at the cafe Med in Berkeley by my godfather, which is dark dark roast, but in this case there were doing very dark roasts with only high end coffee, the result being me having that chip knocked off my shoulder, buy a hot cup of delicious Java containing 30000 mg of pure caffeine. I drank a cup of this and went out and started a new business, which I run to this day. Great place to go if you have a dormant dream that...

I absolutely adore this place and all the staff who work here.

The space is so nice and clean in true Blue Bottle style. But being on Piedmont Avenue makes it the perfect spot for a quiet morning read or chat with a friend.

The staff are so caring about the quality of every drink that comes off the bar and making sure customers are happy. I love hearing the baristas chat behind the bar about what flavor notes are standing out with each coffee today and seeing them be proud of and passionate about their craft.

Since I usually sit down inside and have plenty of time, they frequently ask me “Do you mind waiting a little bit? I just really want to get this coffee dialed in perfectly for you and it’s not quite there”. Whenever there’s a new coffee on rotation they assure me that if I don’t love it they’ll make me another one.

Finally I should be clear that the coffee is also absolutely superb, every single time. I think Blue Bottle does a great job at training staff in general so I just wanted to really highlight what makes this particular location...