(Read my first review from the beginning of the month here: Four Barrel, Sept. 3)
It is time for round two of the Four Barrel's main store. The last time I sat here, I came by myself, early on Labor Day, which hosted longer lines, dogs on leashes and neighbors chatting it up, that otherwise would be at work. I enjoyed the medium roast and the record player. But the last time I came here, I showed up with my wife after the half hour walk at about 10:30 to a packed hipster mob scene - every table was taken, the seats in the parklet were filled and the line was out the door on a Saturday morning.
With an up and coming cafe, the latest new roaster that is opening up actual stores elsewhere or at least getting more distribution across town, as it gets better press, it is only natural that its main flagship store would be a mob scene. So, this morning, I decided to get here by 8 am, before the crowds and the must be seen types show up around 9:30 or so. In fact, I came here to watch the morning transformation and report on that very phenomena, since the atmosphere of a cafe is as important to this blogger as amazing coffee - it is the combination that makes it a cafe worth drinking at. As I have reported in the past, the lack of wifi should create a different flavor of clientele, but if that forces the cafe to turn into a place with a rock and roll after tone, in contrast to a laptop morgue, then is this is place to come and read the invisible or even digital newspaper or book?
As part of my preview of a cafe that is at least a half hour walk, I usually follow a macchiato up with a cup of black coffee so I can taste the average mix of coffee drinks that most people might get here - an espresso with some milk and a straight cup of coffee. The last time I was here, I had the straight cup of $2 brewed coffee (which was very smooth and exceptional), but this time I decided that the stand alone coffee bar, that has a cash register was worth a visit, although the specialty beans here run around $3.50 - $5 a cup.
I spoke with the coffee bar specialist here for some time, where most people went straight to the main service area, I had a great one-on-one, ten minute conversation with Bradley. He ran through the coffees, told me about what he is drinking from the selection these days, and was able to discuss a couple of the growers' backgrounds to help me make my selection. We spoke about the new store opening up closer to my house, on Divisidero, and the bakery that is part of the operation with its own grain mill. We spoke of other cafés and roasters, and how this cafe offers a great space. Every single person that has helped me the two times I have been here have been extremely personable and friendly. Bradley is no exception.
If I could join the coffee club here, I might. It seems that the staff who works here have a real enthusiasm about serving the best cup of coffee to customers, in a neighborhood with wall-to-wall, hip coffee hangouts.
I have to say, I am still entranced by their record selection. As I have gotten older, instead of clinging to the music that I heard in my high school and early college days as so many Americans fall victim to, I have broadened my musical tastes considerably, buying old-timey country, blues, 1950s country standards and R&B, as well as a few dollars spent on music from Africa and India, not to mention being able to preview all of the amazing Middle East and Central Asian music that my wife has collected over the years as part of her dancing career.
The most important distinction that listening to records has with the modern age of digital mixing, is that one side of a record is about 22 minutes long or so, of music from one band in a moment in time when the order of the songs was carefully formulated to keep the record playing all the way through to the end. In the days of the automatic record player, which is not used here, and was never considered high fidelity, I would stack up four or five records on the spindle, and each side would play, 22 minutes each, then the next record would drop down by the next artist. Contrast that today with the digital equivalent of a three-and-a-half minute song, then flipping to another totally random song by an artist has removed the idea from many listeners and artists that a 22 minute stretch of six or seven songs actually make up a composition, a collection, that should be arranged and listened to in its entirety. Gone are the days. Right now I am listening to the first side of a Greatest Hits Album by Fleetwood Mac, an album by the band that I actually never owned until I had an iPod. Except for listening to Fleetwood Mac on KMET in Los Angeles in the late Seventies, I have never heard an entire side of Fleetwood Mac, ever, of which my iPhone will not distinguish, unless I decided to set it to play the entire album of Rumors in order. Maybe there is something to listening to the entire album. There must be a way to capture that record listening format that is lost on the shuffle button and a half crafted set list in iTunes.
So, I come back to my original purpose of observing the long stay at Four Barrel, but before I start, I must say that a good cafe sets the mood to enjoy coffee. Since the record player has taken me back, and allowed me to lose myself in a time many years ago, I am a fan of the atmosphere at 9:15 in the morning. The line has edged out the door and the main service bar is in full swing, while only one to two customers are engaged by Bradley's magic at the coffee bar. A good half of the clientele are ordering coffee to go, and many do not appear to be the hipper than thou cafe goers that congregate at several of the cafés down the street.
On the coffee itself - incredible. I ordered a cappuccino, which made to spec is what is often mistakenly served at most cafés as a macchiato, was exceptional. Compared to the last time I was here,the roast was darker, more to my liking for espresso drinks. It had a minty after taste and a berry flavor that met my tongue for the entire 45 minutes that I nursed it. The drip coffee, which I drank black, which was from Ethiopia had an exceptional flavor from the first sip through the most recent about a half hour after the first sip hit my lips. That is truly the test of good coffee, that its flavor does not die after it cools down. I learned this many years ago with a large cup of good dark roast of Peet's Coffee that could literally be nursed from morning until lunch with just enough cream to maintain that rich chocolate flavor as I ushered my students off to lunch, a reward for the finish line of having made it through two thirds of the day. Four Barrel passes the long cup of coffee test.
As 9:30 approaches, more families with children stand in line and more cell phones are now out by the lone coffee drinkers which is countered by that magic of coffee houses in the pre-laptop, pre-cell phone days, real life conversation. From the friendly service by employees that is engaging, to the random friends and couples that are waking up, the place is buzzing with conversation. This is not a place where the middling types would be afraid to inhabit, who seem to frequent the line and tables, sitting alongside folks like myself who are in awe of an up and coming cafe, enjoying a true expression of crafting fine coffee (notice I will not use the word artisanal, which has been co-opted by a Jack-the-Box commercial, and in my opinion should not used to discuss food, unless there is a reason to be pretentious about the type of cheese or bread you want to spend extra money on).
Well, the line breathes denser now, and the cafe is in full swing. I am full of two coffee drinks and definitely awake. It is time to hit the bathroom and make the half hour trek home as a very satisfied customer. Next stop, soon, Four Barrel on Divisidero.
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