FOURBARREL, a coffee shop on Valencia Street in San Francisco, is a representative of third-wave coffee, popular for its in-house roasted single-origin beans.
But it's not just the coffee that's garnering attention. It's also known for its hipster-inspired style, with tattooed baristas brewing drip coffee in a vintage-inspired space with rock music playing in the background.
Their second location, THE MILL, has just opened in the NOPA district. Unlike FOURBARREL's masculine, black-themed interior, THE MILL (meaning flour mill) has a completely different feel with its clean, white-tiled interior. Its most distinctive feature is the addition of a bakery in collaboration with artisan Josey Baker. They sell homemade bread baked in the shop's open kitchen.カフェを売りたい方にオススメは English:
Four Barrel, which means "four barrels," is an innovative cafe that proposes tasting coffee like wine, based on the origin and type of beans. In contrast, The Mill places more emphasis on food, and is positioned as a more everyday cafe that attracts local people, such as people having breakfast or families coming to buy bread.
We spoke to owner Jeremy Tooker about the concept of The Mill. "The property we found as our second location was too big for just a coffee shop. So we researched a concept that would suit the residents and the location, and arrived at the idea of a bakery. The magic of my store-making is creating something in-store. At our Valencia store, we roast coffee beans in a roaster installed at the back of the seating area. We also make and bake bread here. We've also acquired a flour mill, so we hope to eventually make bread from flour ground in-store."
Four Barrel recently acquired the micro-roaster De La Paz Coffee. "They were very keen on research and we had been on friendly terms for a while, but their business wasn't going very well, so they approached us about acquiring them. We were preparing another brand at the time, so we decided to use that idea at De La Paz. Four Barrel pursues single-origin coffee, but at De La Paz we want to create blends that clearly state the type of beans used, the season, the origin, and the producers."
They currently employ around 70 staff, and are about to open their third store in Portello. The coffee boom of the past few years has also attracted the attention of investors, with IT entrepreneurs such as the founder of Twitter and Google Ventures investing in Blue Bottle Coffee and Sightglass Coffee. Is Four Barrel also planning to expand its business with this investment? "I want to have my own company, and I love opening cafes. Each area has different residents and different needs. It's interesting to come up with a concept that suits them, decide on a design, and build a community. It takes a lot of work, but the sales are great. If I were to open a second store like The Mill with a different name and style, investors would definitely be against it. Portello is a different, developing area. This time, I want to try being self-sufficient, providing our own water and electricity."
San Francisco's third wave coffee has been supported by local residents as a counterculture to existing big coffee chains like Starbucks. Among them, Four Barrel Coffee has remained popular and always generated buzz, not only due to the owner's natural business acumen, but also because it has maintained its independent spirit. Drinking the coffee is a special experience that evokes the spirit of the store and evokes the old days of America, when people made their own coffee and bread.
