A Trimethyldioxypurist Doubleshot
Let's start the week right. Let's talk caffeine -- trimethyldioxypurin. What better window into San Francisco than its coffee joints?
Man, the Trimethyldioxypurist is cranky lately. Even after he's had his coffee.
The sheer overproliferation of certain stores in San Francisco these days is frightening. You can't spit downtown without hitting a Subway or Quiznos (which still evoke the image of those disgusting "singing tumors," or whatever the hell they were supposed to be). More to our area of interest (the Trimethyldioxypurist certainly won't even feign an "expertise"), you can't find a non-residential area of San Fran that's a "Starbucks-free zone." Not to mention lesser offenders like Peet's, Tully's, etc. Well, at least we only have one CB&TL, unlike our L.A. brethren.
But, still -- if we're doomed to corporate overload, why can't we have more Torrefazione Italia Coffee cafes? Okay, maybe there are about the right amount -- three here in EssEff. And, in our opinion, it's corporate coffee done right.
By way of contrast, local brand Royal Ground seems to pop up all over the darned place in town. Every neighborhood seems to have one, and each one seems to reflect its surroundings. But it turns out that, despite the prevalence of the name, they aren't all necessarily affiliated. What gives?
The disadvantages of corporate institutions are obvious -- their business practices can often have negative impact on local establishments. Product can become watered down with market penetration of the brand, when marketing is suddenly more important than whatever is being sold.
There are advantages, however -- a corporate backing can lead to good, widespread consistency. At least, it seems to with Torrefazione. When working downtown in about 1999, Torrefazione became became part of our daily grind before we knew it was an institution; before our ingrained anti-corporate bias as a San Franciscan could turn me off.
Then, it was just a good cup of jet fuel. But, because of job hopping and other factors, until Monday it was jet fuel that we hadn't sampled in about two years.
Cut to Monday morning: The Bush & Montgomery location was as crowded as ever; dual lines snaking out the door; every table taken; newspapers, cell phones and PDAs abound. What's next -- buzz words and dot-com jargon? Discussions on Y2K?
Well, irrational exhuberance was indeed the order of the day -- for every annoyance, there was a lovely counterbalance. Long lines? Well, the staff was extremely efficient; the coffee was in-hand within minutes. Out of half-and-half? They refilled the creamer quickly, and at least it's good to know that it hadn't been sitting there for days and days, like you might worry about at other places (see below). Dumb customers ordering too much coffee for them to carry back to the office solo? The staff proactively intervened with the offer of a tray. That's post-dot-com efficiency for you.
So, the important stuff -- the coffee is still darned good. A couple dimes more than comparable corporate concerns, but well worth it -- a darker roast than most; good strong flavor that doesn't overpower; and a caffeine boost that got the Trimethyldioxypurist to work with fuel to spare.
So, it might not be fair to say the Royal Ground is a local brand that's overplayed, as opposed to a Torrefazione corporate brand that's underplayed. The fact is that very few Royal Ground shops are even affiliated with one another. According to the one Royal Ground employee that was able to answer a few questions (thanks again, man), Royal Ground was originally a franchise, but as of about six years ago, that's no longer the case. He said that no one person can own more than two shops -- that right there is the key to why there's little consistency between the stores that carry that name.
Burned coffee, for instance, is not unheard of at certain Royal Ground locations. Less-than-sanitary dairy sections as well. Bulk beans that prove stale. However, Royal Ground shops tend to maintain their "flavor," and really serve as community gathering spots. Very much more arty than anything corporate-sponsored around these parts. Very much EssEff-y. But perhaps as it is unwise to judge all corporate interests ahead of time, so must prejudices from past experiences sometimes be shed.
The requirment for coffee as a chaser to a bottle of el cheapo wine led us to the Polk Gulch location on Friday night. Art plasters the walls; locals made themselves comfortable, some with personal computers, others with board games, the loud bunch outside just satisfied with the company.
And the coffee was good. Really, really good. It wasn't just the wine talking. The wine did most of its talking in the form of our barely remembered conversation with the guy manning the espresso machine -- something about how inconcievable it was that there were so damned many kinds of syrup. "Gingerbread," for instance. Mrs. Trimethyldioxypurist got herself a sugar-free vanilla latte, which we also deemed "damned good." We must be getting soft in our old age.
In any case, the moral of the story is that the Trimethyldioxypurist has got to learn not to be so darned prejudiced. Every cup deserves a second chance. And a third.