Third Wave coffee has done a good job at closing the door behind it, leaving companies like Peet's and that one with the mermaid to seem like lumbering giants better at pushing dark-roast concoctions on malls in Orinda rather cultivating a purer appreciation of coffee. It's patently untrue, of course: Peet's was founded in Berkeley, and Blue Bottle clearly has galactic-conquest aspirations. But the battle lines are drawn. Small-scale roastery Mr. Espresso doesn't easily map onto them, having been roasting beans over oak in Oakland since 1978 for high-end cafes such as Coffee Bar and restaurants such as Perbacco or flour + water. I got the chance to look at the facility and glean some wisdom from a family-run business devoted to yielding the perfect Neapolitan cup as flawlessly as any temple to coffee on Valencia Street.
VP Luigi Di Ruocco (who co-founded Coffee Bar) represents the second generation of Misters Espresso. His father, Carlo, was born in Italy, while his mother (Marie-Francoise) is French, and right off the bat, what differentiates the coffees is that Old-World flavor profile: namely, balance and consistency. Most Third Wave roasteries use gas, whereas Mr. Espresso's oak ovens burn off much of the acids while retaining more of the oils, so that the body holds up through the end of the brewing process. Italians habitually add a bit of sugar to their espresso, and the coffee shouldn't suffer for it.
Among the heavy machinery -- and pallets stacked with burlap sacks of green coffee beans -- lie several tasting rooms and the odd gallery of vintage espresso machines, many of them made from polished copper and with ornamental crown eagles on them, decorative elements of a world gone by. A Rube Goldberg-type contraption fashioned from scrap tubing and odd knick-knacks was pretty eye-catching but sadly, did not produce a Wonka-esque cup of joe.
Using a Clever Dripper, a stopwatch, and water he calibrated at precisely 205 degrees, Di Ruocco staged a cupping of four single-origin coffees plus Mr. Espresso's current blend, Elysian. As an aside, he noted that his brother scours the word's highland regions for the best estates, paying attention to how "people don't realize that you can end up just giving money to the richest men in" any given country. The standout? The Colombia El Bado, a maple-y coffee with lots of berry notes, grown in volcanic soil. (Coffee Review gave it 92 points).
To brew a perfect cup of coffee in five minutes with this method, pre-rinse the filter before adding 25 grams of ground coffee. Begin your four-minute count by adding just enough water to wet the grounds and after 45 seconds have elapsed, top off and cover. Fill the dripper to the top of the ribs and let it work its magic until four minutes have gone by. Finish by proceeding happily about your day.
Mr. Espresso, 696 3rd St., Oakland, (510) 287-5200.
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