Kiosk Birthday and Cleaning Party!

It's been one year now to the day since the opening of the kiosk on Linden Street. To celebrate, the entire Blue Bottle barista staff gathered at the cart to set about those tasks best left for a year in order to become truly challenging.

We rolled the beast to the street, removed all its guts, and set about the deep cleaning measures.

Oldman climbed into the rafters to excavate the lighting from the layers of dust.

"Doobie-doobie-doobie-achoo-achoo-achoo!"

Meanwhile Manboy, Boyman and T-bone attacked the cart with tools and rags and foul language and eventually managed to get all the pieces back together.

"When we drop this 450 in there this bitch'll really kick ass!"

Boychick pitched in by walking around and...umm...well she walked around a lot.

"If you tell them where I am, I will kill you."

It took several hours of concentrated barista power, but in the end, only a few things were broken and the gum had been extracted from the sidewalk. Good job team!

tall row (l-r) Boyman, Manboy, T-bone and his mustache, The Botanist
short row (l-r) Boychick, Oldman

Then it was time to drink.

The crew retired to James' apartment for a petit soirée complete with champagne and caviar. And you think we're kidding.

Cabby fixed up the goods on some small buckwheat pancakes with a funny name.


Though tastey, not all were impressed.

Manboy: "Ho-hum, it's not even imported."

Actually, we did quite well with food from our friends at Boulette's Larder, Fatted Calf, and Miette Cakes. We pigged out on pig of various consistencies and enjoyed many sweet and colorful fruit options. We got to see some of our co-workers, that because of the nature of our cross-bay business, we don't normally see. Here are some of the attendees.

T-bone, Romeo Nocturne, The Hug


(l-r) David Kastle (Royal Coffee), Caitlin (Miette), Margherita and Loring Sagan (Sagan-Piechota Architecture) and James Freeman (Blue Bottle Coffee).


...and Ivy. "Where am I and how did I get this dog between my legs?!"

So here's to everyone that made this last year possible. Thanks, it's been a lot of fun and we're looking forward to many more years of serving quality drinks without having to clean a bathroom. Cheers!

Though this is a little late in coming...

We at the BBCC made out like bandits over the holiday season thanks largely in part to our collaborator customers that took it upon themselves to carry coffee contraband from various roaster cities the United States.

From our dear friends Victrola Coffee Roasters in Seattle we received several half pounds of coffee, carried to us by our mutual customer Ms. Katie K. In this bundle of goodies was a half pound of the mysterious Streamline Espresso, another half of some Guat (that was dropped off at our feral pig den of a roaster where it was promptly consumed) and also some of the Holiday Blend. Whether the lore is true or not, there has always been a joke among coffee roasteries that "holiday blend" is synonymous with "what was swept from the floor at the end of our busiest day ever blend," or the "no one in their right minds would drink that crap lets repackage it and sell it to all those unsuspecting suckers blend."



Thus, Victrola's move to supply the demands of their customers with a snappy blend of Central and South American coffees minus any broken broom strands, was a brave albeit tasty maneuver. This coffee killed in both a filter drip and a french press. Shaka guys and thanks!

Thought the Holiday Blend is surely gone by now, be sure to check out their site for a unique coffee experience while supplies last.

Also!

The BBCC's very own Boychick returned to her home port of Kansas City, Mo. to get sick and hang with family. Somehow, between hurried trips from the couch to the bathroom there was a venture to the beloved Broadway Cafe and Roastery where she managed to gather coffees galore. Returning to the Bay Area in the luggage was two different coffees from Ethiopia (Sidamo and Harrar Horse) as well as a Peruvian (Ayacucho Fair Trade) and a El Salvadorian (Bourbon from Monté Leon).



Besides providing us with funny new things to say, the BCR package kept us cupping for days. Danke!


And Then!

From the 50th State (via our Vegan, Jesse) came a sampling of some of the only coffee grown domestically. The Kona Extra Fancy from the Honolulu Coffee Company was surprisingly dark for a Kona. When questioned on this point, our Vegan merely shrugged his shoulders and told us that when in Hawaii, one usually drinks big iced coffee drinks. Can't argue with that.