Everyone is welcome to a preference of course, but I wonder why you assert Four Barrel is "much better" than Philz. If we're talking about non-espresso drinks, I know many people who prefer Philz. They have a huge variety of custom roasts and make remarkable ice coffee with cream. I like Four Barrel too, just surprised to see Philz dismissed out of hand. Most people who come to visit me in San Francisco end up going home with a bag of Philz' beans after trying a bunch of the third wave shops.

I miss Four Barrell since moving out of SF. I don't really understand why they don't seem to be doing as well as Blue Bottle or Stumptown or even Ritual.

There are a few coffeeshops in LA that brew four barrel coffee, I think it's a result of how Four Barrel mostly just sells beans instead of opening their own shops everywhere.

Additionally, Stumptown as well as Intellegencia are both owned by the same private equity firm that owns Peet's, Blue Bottle also got a ton of outside investment to allow them to grow as rapidly as they did, in addition to having a successful business of delivering their cold brew to peoples homes.

The thing about the food industry is that it has really high startup costs that take a very long time to pay off, so opening up a new store using the profits from existing stores isn't really all that easy to do without having a hundreds of stores already.

quick plug for Equator Coffee. Their stuff is great. Woman owned business based in Mill Valley, CA

What about Sightglass?

That list is entirely based on my personal preference for coffee which does not particularly like Sightglass or Verve. There is no objectivity here :)

Heh, no worries ;)

> Sightglass

I'm serious considering leaving my current job because the office coffee moved from Sightglass to some over-roasted junk from somewhere in Marin county...

I'm close to considering the same thing because the two closest coffee shops to my office in SF are both Starbucks...

I guess there's Philz a bit further, or Blue Bottle even more further.. but those are hardly convenient and Philz isn't great anyway.

Verve is also really good and just opened an SF location

I wish counter culture had cafes in the Bay -- they have a huge roasting center in Emeryville and their beans are delicious.

I have seen their coffee being served at various cafés in SF..

I've really been enjoying Black Powder