This Coffee Shop Either Puts Every Other Coffee Shop to Shame or is a Parody of Coffee Shops. I Can’t Tell.

I must have coffee on the brain, because this is the second article I’ve written on the drink this week.

What can I say, I’m fueled by caffeine. You probably are too. But let me ask you a question: what kind of coffee consumer are you?

Do you drink by the pot, whatever coffee your office provides? Are you a K-Cup man, never held to one flavor, never at the mercy of the community pot? Are you a Starbucks girl, willing to spend $4 for a delicious tasting coffee that has more calories in it than you would ever realize?

I’m all of the above. I like the free, plain coffee provided in most office spaces but I also like to splurge on a more gourmet cup of coffee from a local coffee shop. It depends on what mood I’m in – or what’s in my wallet.

So, I was fascinated by this Slate story about Blue Bottle Coffee. Slate compares Blue Bottle to Apple, while comparing Starbucks to Microsoft. I still can’t tell if this is meant to be a backhanded compliment or a direct insult to Starbucks.

The article describes Blue Bottle in terms that sound like a hipster paradise:

[blockquote source=””]They sell coffees like Stumptown’sIndonesia Sulawesi Toarco Toraja, which is grown by smallholder farmers whose faces you can see on the Stumptown website. The beans come with descriptors like “fair-trade,” “single-origin,” and “shade-grown,” and sport “flavor profiles” that would make Robert Parker blush.[/blockquote]

And

[blockquote source=””]It’s called Blue Bottle, and it’s the creation of a former freelance clarinetist named James Freeman.[/blockquote]

Wow. Blue Bottle sounds like they’re either trying to trump all other coffee shops, or are trying to pull off a perfect parody of them.

Then, I read some very interesting facts about them. They serve only coffee, nothing else. Their stores have no Wi-Fi connections. They won’t give you a to-go cup because “drinking espresso from a paper vessel results in an inferior experience.” The drinks only come in one size. They have a very minimalist culture:

Interior of a Blue Bottle Coffee Shop, photo via Slate

They also have millions of dollars in venture capital backing. You know, the type of funding that is usually reserved for up and coming tech companies.

I’m sure we will be hearing more about Blue Bottle in the future. I have a feeling their quirky brand of coffee shop is going to make its way into other major cities and become a coffee destination.

Would you alter your daily coffee routine to experience such a unique, carefully cultured and intentionally minimal coffee experience?

I would. Hell, I’m a sucker for a good cup of coffee and a unique concept.

Photo courtesy of Blue Bottle Coffee