Blue Bottle Ferry Building Update

Had a chance to run over to the Ferry Building during my lunch break to check out the recently opened, third Blue Bottle location. Situated in a corner space, the cafe has two places to buy coffee. On one side, there's a little shop with some beans, machines and cups along with a glass counter containing baked items. There's also sandwiches on the counter for sale.

You can get a pour-over coffee or espresso-based drink from a three head, spring hand pulled lever here, and the baristas were pulling Blue Bottle's Retrofit Espresso blend. In this iteration, I found the scents coming from my mug more exciting than the taste itself.

Pulled slowly from the lever, my shot had nice, light tan-colored crema that didn't dissipate quickly. I found aromas of tropical fruits, chocolate and some muted spice on the nose. In the mouth, however, the espresso was more flat that I expected. It went down without harshness, but did have some flavors of smoked wood.

On the other side of the cafe, you can order espresso drinks from a more traditional La Marzocco. One of the baristas told me they're planning on offering single origin espresso shots at some future date. While some people in the coffee world prefer blends, I personally think having a choice is great because it allows people to truly see the difference growing conditions, country of origin and processed method can have on the end product.