A California road trip | Part one: San Francisco and Muir Woods

From San Francisco to Muir Woods

Hi there!

We finished the first blog post about our trip to California! A couple of years ago we drove the Highway 1 from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and because we have fond memories of that road trip we wanted to go back, but then drive it the other way around. People always say that's the best way to do it, because there's nothing else between you and the ocean than coastline, rocks and vegetation. And now and then some sea lions! 

We flew from Amsterdam to San Francisco, where we picked up our car and drove to Oakland, the location of our first accommodation. Oakland is a nice alternative for San Francisco, because it can be tricky to find a nice and affordable place to stay in the city that became one of the most expensive in the US over the last years. From Oakland you can easily take the BART (metro) to San Francisco, which is just a 20 minute ride to downtown. 

We stayed in the Bay Area for three full days, and this is our top 10 of favourites:

  1. Muir Woods (and Equator coffee at Proof Lab in Mill Valley on the way)
  2. The Mill, close to Alamo Square. The toast with almond butter and honey is a must try! Check out #hipstertoast on Instagram.
  3. Wise and sons in The Mission. Challah French Toast, yes!
  4. General Store in Outer Sunset. Think Bohemian treasures, natural beauty products, and the greenhouse in the garden is fabulous!
  5. The Scarlet Sage Herb Co. in The Mission. A Wonderful store with herbs, mineral stones, Tarot decks, books and more.
  6. Little Paper Planes. Beautiful curated collections from upcoming artists and designers. Mission is a fantastic area for more original shops, bars and restaurants.
  7. Blue Bottle & Heath Ceramics in The Mission for the perfect coffee and some shopping. 
  8. Four Barrel Coffee. The slow brew bar in their Valencia Street store is great! 
  9. Sightglass Coffee in SoMA; check out the amazing interior! 
  10. Outer Sunset. Lovely quiet 'hood, close to the beach. Don't forget 3 Fish Studios for nice affordable art, and Hollow Coffee. 

As you can imagine; three days is waaay to short for this amazing city. In our next post about California we'll continue our trip along the stunning Pacific coast, so stay tuned! 

Andres & Joyce

 

Stooker Roasting Company | Amsterdam

A morning at Stooker Roasting Company

Check out the Q&A we did with Onno and Florian after the images!

Coffee lovers in Amsterdam are getting all excited for the latest addition to the city's coffee scene: Stooker Roasting Company! Our friends Onno and Florian will officially open their awesome new space in the East of Amsterdam on Saturday, March 21. They will not be a coffee bar like other places, but you can visit the roastery on Saturdays to participate in cuppings, taste different coffees, learn more about brewing methods and they're happy to help you to find the coffee you love and how to make a good cup at home. Onno and Florian are both well trained, SCAE certified, professionals and have loads of experience. They will also organise workshops for coffee professionals and home baristas and deliver beans for restaurants and coffee bars.
Many good reasons to visit them soon or find more information on the Stooker website!

This week we're taking over the Instagram account of @stookercoffee , so if you like you can pop over to their account and follow along... Enjoy!

To get to know Onno and Florian a little bit better we've asked them some coffee related questions.

Florian: 
Can you tell us what's your very favourite coffee bean? 
Florian: I was really surprised about the fruitiness of a couple Bolivian I’ve tried last year. Loved the thick, gloopyness of ‘m. 

Imagine: It's a quiet Sunday morning, what's your preferred brewing method when you have all the time in the world?Florian: Let’s say it’s a sunny Sunday morning, I’d prefer a nice overnight coldbrew of an unwashed Ethiopia in that case! 

Which coffeebar, near or far, is high on your list of places to visit? 
Florian: Lomi in Paris is always on my list, love that spot. One I’m really curious about and would like to visit in the future is PULP in Malaysia. 

Onno: 
Can you tell us what's your very favourite coffee bean? 
Onno: Clean, Tea-like Yirgacheffe, packed with Bergamot and Jasmin     

Imagine: It's a quiet Sunday morning, what's your preferred brewing method when you have all the time in the world?Onno: I would go for an Espro Press, nice body, long-lasting. 

Which coffeebar, near or far, is high on your list of places to visit? 
Onno: Caffenation Amsterdam, such a shame I haven’t bean there jet.. Sorry Bert! ;-S 


We hope to meet you at Stooker on a Saturday soon!

Andres & Joyce