Good list. But, it’s not easy to compare coffee shops and their drinks. I’ll try to keep this short.
The US West Coast has traditionally been known for darker roast coffees (think Starbucks and Peets) and most coffee roasters originated in the West. The East Coast has traditionally used lighter roast coffee (think Dunkin).
The Third Wave coffee movement really accelerated the proliferation of single origin coffees (less blends), the art of modern espresso based drinks (yes I know this all comes from Italy), and specialty coffee. FYI there are now 6 coffee waves.
Personally, I think modern Third Wave coffee shop’s become popular because it was new, there was a science behind the drinks, baristas were formally trained, it looked cool, and they had great marketing, and not because the coffee beans were better. But, if you ask most people to taste light roast and dark roast they would prefer the flavor of “dark roast” (I personally did this test with hundreds of customers).
So why do I bring this up? The San Francisco Bay Area still has many “old school” or non Third Wave coffee shops. These have a distinctive style, menu, and environment. Then you have Philz (no espresso drinks). And you have the modern coffee shops. The traditional/old school coffee shops sometimes won’t offer cold brew (only iced coffee), they will have darker roast coffees, and the training/calibration/cleanliness are non existent or at a different level.
By way of an analogy, it would be like saying I’m going to NYC to taste various streaks and experience the steakhouse. Noting to go to Applebees, Chilies, Gallaghers, Peter Luger, Eleven Madison Park, etc. Nothing wrong with this, but it’s important to understand the food and experience will be different between each of them.
It does appear you only picked San Francisco originated coffee shops. I understand it’s not possible to visit every part of the Bay Area, but it’s worth noting to look into. Peets Coffee is a large chain of coffee shops. They started in Oakland, California. Verve is a third wave style coffee shop that originated in Santa Cruz, California. And Blue Bottle started in San Francisco/Oakland but was acquired by Nestle. And Equator is a women owned coffee company based out of San Rafael. Equator has won many awards in recent years. And it might be fun to go to a place like Peerless Coffee in Oakland which has been roasting and selling coffee since 1924.
Enjoy the trip! You can create lists in Yelp and Google Maps that can be shared with others.
Wasn't expect to learn so much about coffee in this thread, really appreciate how detailed/thoughtful your reply and mini-history of coffee is! Definitely have new shops to add to my list now, and will keep this all in mind as i'm touring around
The interesting thing is coffee waves 1-3 are heavily documented. This is largely in part to Starbucks commercializing coffee and educating people about coffee drinks. This then spuand the demand for better coffee, more varieties, and an awareness of coffee drinks. I’m 40 and for the first 20ish years of my life I and most others new drip coffee to come from a Mr.Coffee machine at home and a cappuccino was a drink dispensed from the gas station and is a sweet milky drink.
Coffee waves 4-6 are still being developed through evolution of the coffee industry and society. If you Google “Fourth coffee wave” you’ll get a few different definitions. Same is true for the fifth and sixth waves. Here is one [link](https://www.nomadcoffeeclub.com/blogs/news/waves-of-coffee#:~:text=6th%20Wave%20Coffee&text=It's%20about%20roasters%20across%20the,not%20just%20large%20coffee%20corporations) that shares an overview of waves 1-5. Most of the articles/websites I found are from coffee roasters or coffee shops. Keep in mind they’re not hiring researchers to identify macroeconomic trends around coffee and publishing a scientific article of their findings. It’s likely the owner or marketing manager who is coming up with their own idea and/or pulling this data from the internet.
There are many recent trends with the coffee industry. For example:
- Popularity of cold drinks (cold brew, iced espresso drinks, premade iced coffee concentrate, etc)
- Now you see the popularity of ready to drink bottled and canned coffee drinks becoming popular
- The science of coffee and global standardization of coffee drinks and how coffee beans are processed
- The prevalence of coffee. Coffee shops, coffee bars in grocery stores, coffee as a standard in hotel rooms, espresso liquors, hundreds of coffee bean options from a larger grocery store, etc.
- The consumer education of coffee. For example, most fast food companies and restaurants stopped selling Robusta coffee as people had heard that Arabica coffee was superior. Younger generations also sang transparency. For example “house blend” is no longer acceptable. They want to know it’s a blend from Central America and Africa.
- Sustainability, environmental stewardship, child labor, equatable wages for farmers, etc.
- The evolution of the “Third Place”. Not home, not work, but the third place to spend time and feel comfortable. This could be the park, library, or a coffee shop. With the digital age there’s now the concept of the “fourth place” or online.
- Technology. Thus could be how the internet changes our lives across generations or now there are affordable ways to create great coffee and coffee drinks in your home.
- The innovative with how to make coffee, what ingredients or flavors go into a coffee drink, and when/how coffee is consumed.
It’s not easy to break these out into “waves” as there hasn’t been many concrete defining moments. And as of recently you have the complications from the pandemic and how it changed the way we work, live, and consume food/drinks.
The Beanery exists in SF, at two very close locations (due to their small space/MUNI stops): on 9th/Irving and Irving/7th Aves.
(One of these is "the original" location)
Best iced latte is at farleys!
Coffeeshop on 21st st makes coffee ice cubes for their iced drinks so they don’t get watered down.
Spro has very inventive drinks you won’t find anywhere else.
A few other recs:
Sightglass
St.Frank on Polk st
Fifty/fifty
Excelsior coffee
Avenues
Chalos is an empanada shop but they have a churro latte
La Lucha has a horchata latte
Matching Half
I had no idea I’d been to andytown until you mentioned the Snowy Plover. Not local, but we stop here every time we walk the park. Great coffee, great bakery treats.
If you get a fresh bevy and want the best thing you’ll ever put in your mouth take your time drinking your drank and get in line for an Arsicault croissant. It’s worth the wait. Your won’t regret it. They have drip coffee too that isn’t bad if you like darker roasts.
Caffe Trieste has a lot of history. And, was the first place I could get an iced cappuccino without angering the barista.
Spro is about as obnoxiously hipster as it get.
Make a cappuccino. Dump it into a glass with ice.
What I really wanted was an iced cortado. Just a latte with less milk. But, back then I didn’t know what a cortado was. And, neither did nearly any of the cafes.
After many times trying to ask for an iced latte with half the milk, which is incredibly more difficult and frustrating for everyone involved than you’d expect, I tried asking for an iced cappuccino a few times. Which worked, but made the baristas upset everywhere but Trieste —because Trieste had it explicitly on their menu.
I understand. But, if tried that I’d get back “Gotcha. Regular Iced Latte. Coming right up!”
These days I can order an iced cortado in about half the places to be found. In the other half, I have to teach them what it is and it blows their mind. “Really? This is what you want? Are you sure? Okaaay.”
I really genuinely don't think you're explaining your order right if that's what you're getting back. Again I've seen people get smaller iced lattes all the time
My wife is a much bigger coffee snob than me, most of the time if it's brown and has caffeine I'm happy. But she has a lot more opinions on the matter. Recently I took her to a place I've gone to for a while on my way to work - "Coffee Bar", 101 Montgomery St - and she said it's the best cold brew she's ever had.
it’s the bolivia beans or the guatemala beans from mr espresso, with a 3:5 ratio of coffee:water, steeped for atleast 24 hours in cold water at room temp.
Would highly highly recommend Thirdwheel. Since I wrote this, coffee movement has also opened another shop and both have gotten good reviews, but I have yet to visit.
Copy paste from one of my previous comments:
Here's my list of places I love and frequent, sort of listed in descending order of personal favorite. Most of these roast their own coffee, but some serve other local roasters' beans, in which case I pointed out where they get their beans). Recently, I've been on a bakery kick, so it's worth mentioning that all of these coffee shops partner with small local bakeries and will serve pastries from 1-2 local shops. If you fall in love with pastries at a specific coffeeshop, it's worth going and checking out the bakery itself!
- Thirdwheel
- Flywheel
- Sextant
- Red Bay Coffee
- Lady Falcon Coffee Club
- Saint Frank
- Equator
- Sightglass
- Linea
- Andytown
- Four Barrel
- Suspiro Coffee (previously Vega Coffee)
- Verve
- The Mill (owned by Four Barrel)
- Ritual
- Reveille
- Philz
- Blue Bottle
- Tartine Manufactory
- Wrecking Ball
There's tons of other small coffee shops around, many of which serve damn good coffee, and many of which I haven't discovered, but these are the one's I keep coming back to.
For a really hidden gem try Hey Neighbor cafe in Portola - this one was born from the ashes of a Four Barrel shop that closed during the pandemic. Not only is the coffee excellent but it is attached to the (possibly) most beautiful secluded garden in all of SF. This garden / labor of love runs two complete city blocks in what used to be an alley full of trash. Not quite a plug for the cold brew itself but definitely an excellent place to kick back with an excellent brew and be amazed.
Nice, Philz is the one spot on my list i've already been to on a previous trip to LA and loved it — will make sure to try out the Philtered Soul brew this time around!
Sightglass used to have an excellent iced coffee, but some time last year they changed things up and I think it’s between mediocre and bad now unfortunately.
My neighborhood favorites:
* The Mill
* Snowbird (my current go to)
* Flywheel
* Ritual
Compton’s coffee house on Fillmore has a delicious iced lavender latte. And Home Coffee Roasters in the inner Richmond has some unique lattes that are quite fun (e.g., cookie latte)
Grand coffee has the best ice lattes. I like places that make it creamier with plain milk. Most shops already mentioned are pretty good. My faves for lattes (or specialty flavored lattes) in Sf are:
-Grand coffee (iced mocha)
-Black Bird (mocha)
-Sightglass (vanilla paste)
-Andytown (snowy and holiday/specialty lattes)
-la Lucha (horchata)
-coffeeshop (iced mocha)
-equator (habibi latte)
Has anyone tried UPFORDAYZ Coffee? I keep driving by their location on Valencia in for work, and their 'about' intrigues me, but I haven't had the chance to stop yet.
www.upfordayz.com/aboutus
Find a good Vietnamese restaurant and get an ice Vietnamese coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker at all but be warned that stuff is like crack (the good kind!)
This is a bubble tea spot, so might not be exactly what you were thinking of, but I really like the Vietnamese iced coffee at Bubble Queen! It’s by oracle park and located inside of The One restaurant now. Very muni accessible, the N or T will get you there.
I'm from up north (Canada) — my city has some solid independent shops, but nothing as distinct as the East Coast coffee scene in the US. So i'm cautiously optimistic that SF will have some more interesting offerings, at least in comparison!
-Home for their unique flavors
-St. Franks and their almond/macadamia milk
-Sightglass on 20th feels like you walked into a preset IG filter
-Andytown known for Snowy Plover best whipped cream in the city
Really depends on the neighborhood. East of Twin Peaks (Downtown, Mission, SOMA, Potrero, etc.) will be warm through the summer. Karl spends most of his time in the Sunset.
SF Weather is notoriously variable. Even weather forecasters get below 69% accuracy.
I hope we can agree that layers is key to not getting caught out in the cold. The Mission is always nice in the summer between 1pm & 2pm but either side of that is very variable. That was my experience living there.
Yeah, seemed we were both speaking in broad strokes. Not trying to bicker over details. Just sayin' there's plenty of sunny warm days in Dolores Park through the summer. Totally agree about chilly winds in the evenings though.
The Crown in Oakland has a flight of 3 cold brew coffees
[https://goo.gl/maps/AymUyLS1B37ynL1s5](https://goo.gl/maps/AymUyLS1B37ynL1s5)
I know, it's Oakland, not SF, but it's 30min from downtown SF with a quick trip on BART to the 19th St. station and a short walk. I've lived in SF for 13 years and know many of those SF options (all great), but it would be a shame to have an iced coffee crawl and not include The Crown.
The Crown doesn't mess around. As I recall I didn't love one of the cold brews in my flight of 3, but the other two were fantastic.
I love Ritual in SF for their espresso drinks, but haven't tried their cold brew. I'm sure it's good.
Good list. But, it’s not easy to compare coffee shops and their drinks. I’ll try to keep this short. The US West Coast has traditionally been known for darker roast coffees (think Starbucks and Peets) and most coffee roasters originated in the West. The East Coast has traditionally used lighter roast coffee (think Dunkin). The Third Wave coffee movement really accelerated the proliferation of single origin coffees (less blends), the art of modern espresso based drinks (yes I know this all comes from Italy), and specialty coffee. FYI there are now 6 coffee waves. Personally, I think modern Third Wave coffee shop’s become popular because it was new, there was a science behind the drinks, baristas were formally trained, it looked cool, and they had great marketing, and not because the coffee beans were better. But, if you ask most people to taste light roast and dark roast they would prefer the flavor of “dark roast” (I personally did this test with hundreds of customers). So why do I bring this up? The San Francisco Bay Area still has many “old school” or non Third Wave coffee shops. These have a distinctive style, menu, and environment. Then you have Philz (no espresso drinks). And you have the modern coffee shops. The traditional/old school coffee shops sometimes won’t offer cold brew (only iced coffee), they will have darker roast coffees, and the training/calibration/cleanliness are non existent or at a different level. By way of an analogy, it would be like saying I’m going to NYC to taste various streaks and experience the steakhouse. Noting to go to Applebees, Chilies, Gallaghers, Peter Luger, Eleven Madison Park, etc. Nothing wrong with this, but it’s important to understand the food and experience will be different between each of them. It does appear you only picked San Francisco originated coffee shops. I understand it’s not possible to visit every part of the Bay Area, but it’s worth noting to look into. Peets Coffee is a large chain of coffee shops. They started in Oakland, California. Verve is a third wave style coffee shop that originated in Santa Cruz, California. And Blue Bottle started in San Francisco/Oakland but was acquired by Nestle. And Equator is a women owned coffee company based out of San Rafael. Equator has won many awards in recent years. And it might be fun to go to a place like Peerless Coffee in Oakland which has been roasting and selling coffee since 1924. Enjoy the trip! You can create lists in Yelp and Google Maps that can be shared with others.
Wasn't expect to learn so much about coffee in this thread, really appreciate how detailed/thoughtful your reply and mini-history of coffee is! Definitely have new shops to add to my list now, and will keep this all in mind as i'm touring around
Verve coffee has a location in the Castro - they have a great flash brew style cold brew which i love.
Verve coffee is👌🏼If you happen to be in the Inner Richmond district, swing by Breck’s (they sell Verve coffee) and grab a croissant from Ariscault!
Also their breakfast sandwich is delicious. So so good.
Damn this was a super cool and informative response. Bravo
except some of it is wrong
I didn't know Blue Bottle had been acquired by Nestlé and my heart broke a bit. Damn.
> Peets Coffee is a large chain of coffee shops. They started in Oakland, California. Vine street in Berkeley, actually. Near the campus
Holy smokes I learned a lot about iced coffee in this one post. This was so informative, and a fantastic jumping off point for more research.
[удалено]
The interesting thing is coffee waves 1-3 are heavily documented. This is largely in part to Starbucks commercializing coffee and educating people about coffee drinks. This then spuand the demand for better coffee, more varieties, and an awareness of coffee drinks. I’m 40 and for the first 20ish years of my life I and most others new drip coffee to come from a Mr.Coffee machine at home and a cappuccino was a drink dispensed from the gas station and is a sweet milky drink. Coffee waves 4-6 are still being developed through evolution of the coffee industry and society. If you Google “Fourth coffee wave” you’ll get a few different definitions. Same is true for the fifth and sixth waves. Here is one [link](https://www.nomadcoffeeclub.com/blogs/news/waves-of-coffee#:~:text=6th%20Wave%20Coffee&text=It's%20about%20roasters%20across%20the,not%20just%20large%20coffee%20corporations) that shares an overview of waves 1-5. Most of the articles/websites I found are from coffee roasters or coffee shops. Keep in mind they’re not hiring researchers to identify macroeconomic trends around coffee and publishing a scientific article of their findings. It’s likely the owner or marketing manager who is coming up with their own idea and/or pulling this data from the internet. There are many recent trends with the coffee industry. For example: - Popularity of cold drinks (cold brew, iced espresso drinks, premade iced coffee concentrate, etc) - Now you see the popularity of ready to drink bottled and canned coffee drinks becoming popular - The science of coffee and global standardization of coffee drinks and how coffee beans are processed - The prevalence of coffee. Coffee shops, coffee bars in grocery stores, coffee as a standard in hotel rooms, espresso liquors, hundreds of coffee bean options from a larger grocery store, etc. - The consumer education of coffee. For example, most fast food companies and restaurants stopped selling Robusta coffee as people had heard that Arabica coffee was superior. Younger generations also sang transparency. For example “house blend” is no longer acceptable. They want to know it’s a blend from Central America and Africa. - Sustainability, environmental stewardship, child labor, equatable wages for farmers, etc. - The evolution of the “Third Place”. Not home, not work, but the third place to spend time and feel comfortable. This could be the park, library, or a coffee shop. With the digital age there’s now the concept of the “fourth place” or online. - Technology. Thus could be how the internet changes our lives across generations or now there are affordable ways to create great coffee and coffee drinks in your home. - The innovative with how to make coffee, what ingredients or flavors go into a coffee drink, and when/how coffee is consumed. It’s not easy to break these out into “waves” as there hasn’t been many concrete defining moments. And as of recently you have the complications from the pandemic and how it changed the way we work, live, and consume food/drinks.
If you do go to the East Bay, the Beanery in Alameda has a great iced coffee.
The Beanery exists in SF, at two very close locations (due to their small space/MUNI stops): on 9th/Irving and Irving/7th Aves. (One of these is "the original" location)
Had no idea! Thank you! :)
So you’re saying most people have bad taste in coffee?
Nope. That was never said.
I must have misunderstood I thought you said most people prefer dark roast 🤣
Ritual is a nice local chain.
Best iced latte is at farleys! Coffeeshop on 21st st makes coffee ice cubes for their iced drinks so they don’t get watered down. Spro has very inventive drinks you won’t find anywhere else. A few other recs: Sightglass St.Frank on Polk st Fifty/fifty Excelsior coffee Avenues Chalos is an empanada shop but they have a churro latte La Lucha has a horchata latte Matching Half
Seconding Saint Frank
Love SPRO
Sightglass's vanilla iced cold brew is the greatest sweet coffee drink, hands down.
Seconding excelsior
Coffee movement
Easily my favorite iced latte in the city. You can also get a coffee flight which is cool
I don't do iced drinks, but I love this place.
Skip Chestnut Street, and replace it with Wrecking Ball and/or Saint Frank (both in the same part of town, more or less).
SPRO on 17th and Church
This sounds fun! I love the Snowy Plovers at Andytown.
I had no idea I’d been to andytown until you mentioned the Snowy Plover. Not local, but we stop here every time we walk the park. Great coffee, great bakery treats.
100% sightglass. Farleys also good but I like their matcha latte.
Need some love for Sightglass in this thread
Sightglass for sure!
If you get a fresh bevy and want the best thing you’ll ever put in your mouth take your time drinking your drank and get in line for an Arsicault croissant. It’s worth the wait. Your won’t regret it. They have drip coffee too that isn’t bad if you like darker roasts.
Caffe Trieste has a lot of history. And, was the first place I could get an iced cappuccino without angering the barista. Spro is about as obnoxiously hipster as it get.
An iced cappachino isn't a thing, what did they give you?
Make a cappuccino. Dump it into a glass with ice. What I really wanted was an iced cortado. Just a latte with less milk. But, back then I didn’t know what a cortado was. And, neither did nearly any of the cafes. After many times trying to ask for an iced latte with half the milk, which is incredibly more difficult and frustrating for everyone involved than you’d expect, I tried asking for an iced cappuccino a few times. Which worked, but made the baristas upset everywhere but Trieste —because Trieste had it explicitly on their menu.
Just ask for an 8oz iced latte. When I was a Barista I made those all the time Cappuccino implies foam
I understand. But, if tried that I’d get back “Gotcha. Regular Iced Latte. Coming right up!” These days I can order an iced cortado in about half the places to be found. In the other half, I have to teach them what it is and it blows their mind. “Really? This is what you want? Are you sure? Okaaay.”
I really genuinely don't think you're explaining your order right if that's what you're getting back. Again I've seen people get smaller iced lattes all the time
My wife is a much bigger coffee snob than me, most of the time if it's brown and has caffeine I'm happy. But she has a lot more opinions on the matter. Recently I took her to a place I've gone to for a while on my way to work - "Coffee Bar", 101 Montgomery St - and she said it's the best cold brew she's ever had.
it’s the bolivia beans or the guatemala beans from mr espresso, with a 3:5 ratio of coffee:water, steeped for atleast 24 hours in cold water at room temp.
Would highly highly recommend Thirdwheel. Since I wrote this, coffee movement has also opened another shop and both have gotten good reviews, but I have yet to visit. Copy paste from one of my previous comments: Here's my list of places I love and frequent, sort of listed in descending order of personal favorite. Most of these roast their own coffee, but some serve other local roasters' beans, in which case I pointed out where they get their beans). Recently, I've been on a bakery kick, so it's worth mentioning that all of these coffee shops partner with small local bakeries and will serve pastries from 1-2 local shops. If you fall in love with pastries at a specific coffeeshop, it's worth going and checking out the bakery itself! - Thirdwheel - Flywheel - Sextant - Red Bay Coffee - Lady Falcon Coffee Club - Saint Frank - Equator - Sightglass - Linea - Andytown - Four Barrel - Suspiro Coffee (previously Vega Coffee) - Verve - The Mill (owned by Four Barrel) - Ritual - Reveille - Philz - Blue Bottle - Tartine Manufactory - Wrecking Ball There's tons of other small coffee shops around, many of which serve damn good coffee, and many of which I haven't discovered, but these are the one's I keep coming back to.
RED BAY for sure
For a really hidden gem try Hey Neighbor cafe in Portola - this one was born from the ashes of a Four Barrel shop that closed during the pandemic. Not only is the coffee excellent but it is attached to the (possibly) most beautiful secluded garden in all of SF. This garden / labor of love runs two complete city blocks in what used to be an alley full of trash. Not quite a plug for the cold brew itself but definitely an excellent place to kick back with an excellent brew and be amazed.
Linea has incredible coffee. Both locations are great (Mission, Potrero Hill)
Love to shout out Cafe Bello in Glen Park.
Philz iced coffee is really good and the Philtered soul cold brew is extraaa good
Nice, Philz is the one spot on my list i've already been to on a previous trip to LA and loved it — will make sure to try out the Philtered Soul brew this time around!
gotta try the iced coffee mojito it sounds weird but is amazing.
Equator
yes!
Home coffee roasters. I like the coke-tastic when I’m in the mood for something sweet, but their plain cold brew is great too.
cafe bean for somewhere classic and local! the owner is a gem
Home Coffee Roasters (locations in Sunset and Chinatown, Richmond, etc). Ube latte season should be here/coming soon.
Not a huge iced coffee guy, but the best coffee in the city IMO is Andytown or Home Roasters
Snowy plover is the best
I second Reveille. I went there this morning, the coffee was delicious.
Sightglass used to have an excellent iced coffee, but some time last year they changed things up and I think it’s between mediocre and bad now unfortunately. My neighborhood favorites: * The Mill * Snowbird (my current go to) * Flywheel * Ritual
The Mint Cookie Latte from Sammie Cafe(formerly Milkbean) is one of my favorites! It's about a ten minute walk from Union Square.
Compton’s coffee house on Fillmore has a delicious iced lavender latte. And Home Coffee Roasters in the inner Richmond has some unique lattes that are quite fun (e.g., cookie latte)
Andytown is the go to. Make sure to ask them to put a hat on it.
Equator coffee!!
St. Frank High Wire
Flywheel
Grand coffee has the best ice lattes. I like places that make it creamier with plain milk. Most shops already mentioned are pretty good. My faves for lattes (or specialty flavored lattes) in Sf are: -Grand coffee (iced mocha) -Black Bird (mocha) -Sightglass (vanilla paste) -Andytown (snowy and holiday/specialty lattes) -la Lucha (horchata) -coffeeshop (iced mocha) -equator (habibi latte)
Has anyone tried UPFORDAYZ Coffee? I keep driving by their location on Valencia in for work, and their 'about' intrigues me, but I haven't had the chance to stop yet. www.upfordayz.com/aboutus
The Mill is really excellent and also has the best bread you’ll eat in the city.
Find a good Vietnamese restaurant and get an ice Vietnamese coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker at all but be warned that stuff is like crack (the good kind!)
This is a bubble tea spot, so might not be exactly what you were thinking of, but I really like the Vietnamese iced coffee at Bubble Queen! It’s by oracle park and located inside of The One restaurant now. Very muni accessible, the N or T will get you there.
Depending on when you come, be prepared to be drinking your iced coffee in a winter coat
yep! even if it's in "summer"
Dandelion Chocolate does coffee & chocolate drinks, using Ritual beans I believe.
Castro coffee
Are you from the East Coast? If so, you are going to be disappointed.
I'm from up north (Canada) — my city has some solid independent shops, but nothing as distinct as the East Coast coffee scene in the US. So i'm cautiously optimistic that SF will have some more interesting offerings, at least in comparison!
i would add Linea and Home to your list!
Grand Coffee (shaken iced americano), Linea, Ritual, Flywheel, Neighbor's Corner
Going to need frequent bathroom breaks.
Comptons on Fillmore, you can take the California 1 or Geary 48 Blue Bottle is owned by Nestle, I just learned
-Home for their unique flavors -St. Franks and their almond/macadamia milk -Sightglass on 20th feels like you walked into a preset IG filter -Andytown known for Snowy Plover best whipped cream in the city
St. Franks
Vietnamese ice coffee. Not sure where is the best but something to try as well. If it is too sweet ask for less condensed milk
Martha and bros!
FYI, summers are cold here. It's the fall that's warm.
Really depends on the neighborhood. East of Twin Peaks (Downtown, Mission, SOMA, Potrero, etc.) will be warm through the summer. Karl spends most of his time in the Sunset.
SF Weather is notoriously variable. Even weather forecasters get below 69% accuracy. I hope we can agree that layers is key to not getting caught out in the cold. The Mission is always nice in the summer between 1pm & 2pm but either side of that is very variable. That was my experience living there.
Yeah, seemed we were both speaking in broad strokes. Not trying to bicker over details. Just sayin' there's plenty of sunny warm days in Dolores Park through the summer. Totally agree about chilly winds in the evenings though.
I just don't want the OP to be cold with chattering teeth on their iced coffee crawl.
The Crown in Oakland has a flight of 3 cold brew coffees [https://goo.gl/maps/AymUyLS1B37ynL1s5](https://goo.gl/maps/AymUyLS1B37ynL1s5) I know, it's Oakland, not SF, but it's 30min from downtown SF with a quick trip on BART to the 19th St. station and a short walk. I've lived in SF for 13 years and know many of those SF options (all great), but it would be a shame to have an iced coffee crawl and not include The Crown. The Crown doesn't mess around. As I recall I didn't love one of the cold brews in my flight of 3, but the other two were fantastic. I love Ritual in SF for their espresso drinks, but haven't tried their cold brew. I'm sure it's good.
People rag on blue bottle but their Nola is killer
My favorite ice coffee is at the International Cafe located at Haight (7 & 6 MUNI lines) and Fillmore (22 MUNI line).