Four Barrel Coffee is a specialty coffee roaster and seller in San Francisco, California. It originally opened in 2008, but its history from then through modern day has been tumultuous. Best Sumatran bean selection is discussed in detail here.
Restructured in 2018
At the start of 2018, one of Four Barrel’s three cofounders found himself subject to sexual assault accusations, and was subsequently booted out of the company, forfeiting his fifty percent stock and all.
While a few adjustments were made to the business’s operations and plans, Four Barrel has mostly remained the same. It supports three locations, all in San Francisco, and is co-owned between Jodi Geren and Tal Mor.
3 Different and Unique Locations
Even though one location is based out of a renovated warehouse, one a more standard shop, and one operating out of local restaurant, The Mill, they are each artistic and modern. The first two are full of whites, bricks, cement, and light woods.
Suitably for a company that sells as artistically crafted beverages as Four Barrel, the walls of Four Barrel cafes are adorned with a wealth of art from featured local artists, which add both color and character to the environment.
No WIFI in Their Shops
An aspect the former owner set in place that hasn’t changed is that no Four Barrel location has WIFI, and this carries specific intentions. The owner had previously worked at Ritual Coffee and was one of the first to introduce free WIFI to coffee shops, but noticed how it destroyed people’s ability to connect, as well as how they enjoyed their coffee experience.
People were staying in their cafe for the wrong reasons, and without WIFI, Four Barrel’s sought after coffee takes priority. Formerly, they didn’t even sell tea, because they focus so much on coffee.
Their Menu is Traditional and Simple
Their menu isn’t extensive, only involving espresso, macchiatos, mochas, lattes, cappuccinos, americanos, affogatos, and coffee. However, it is all directly, sustainably sourced from farmers that Four Barrel visits for multiple months every year and roasted in a vintage Probat roaster operated by highly trained experts.
Offering Non-Dairy Options
Four Barrel offers an alternative milk additive in their house-made almond-macadamia milk for those that crave a nuttier taste, but their specialty is a black, cold coffee. Not believers in cold-brew, Four Barrel sells a coffee that is heat-brewed and then quickly cooled, available in-store and in cans in retails stores.
Four Barrel Coffee sticks to their guns where their coffee experience is concerned. No WIFI and no cold brew, but artistically roasted, high quality beans, enjoyed in a communal environment is their trade.
Address
375 Valencia St, 736 Divisadero St, or 2 Burrows St, San Francisco, California.
