CoffeeGeek - Regional: United States West, Frozen yogurt and Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto

Regional: United States West
Frozen yogurt and Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto

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Discussions > Regional > US West > Frozen yogurt...

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GaryH
Senior Member

Joined: 24 Oct 2003
Posts: 2,526
Location: San Jose California
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Isomac Zaffiro
Grinder: Macap M4 Doserless
Vac Pot: none
Drip: yes
Roaster: none

Posted Tue Nov 18, 2008, 3:00am Subject: Frozen yogurt and Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto

I learned from this coffee blog http://manseekingcoffee.wordpress.com/ that a frozen yogurt store in Palo Alto pulls espresso using beans from Blue Bottle. I've walked by this store before but never stopped in, the small Blue Bottle sign in the window is easy to miss. But I love going to Palo Alto and and I did get to visit Fraiche on Monday November 17, 2008. (Click for larger image)

GaryH
Senior Member

Posted Tue Nov 18, 2008, 3:01am Subject: Re: Frozen yogurt and Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto

At Fraiche they use Blue Bottle Hayes Valley blend to pull ristrettos. That's the only choice they have unfortunately. (Click for larger image)

GaryH
Senior Member

Posted Tue Nov 18, 2008, 3:01am Subject: Re: Frozen yogurt and Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto

I had this very nice tasting double Hayes Valley ristretto which was pulled on a GB/5. And this in a yogurt shop! They also make drip coffee using Blue Bottle Bella Donovan blend. They told me that they get fresh roasted coffee beans from Blue Bottle every Thursday and sell small bags of beans to the public within four days of roast. Coffee beans for sale in a yogurt shop with a maximum of four days after roast! The staff told me that Blue Bottle likes it that way. After that they are out of beans and customers have to come back on Thursday afternoon if they want fresh roasted Blue Bottle coffee beans. They only carry two different Blue Bottle blends so that is a disadvantage. (Click for larger image)

GaryH
Senior Member

Posted Wed Nov 19, 2008, 11:13am Subject: Re: Frozen yogurt and Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto

I went back to Fraiche for a second time and had another Blue Bottle Hayes Valley blend ristretto which was pulled by another barista. This time the shot was even better tasting. Very well balanced and complex with lots of body. One of those good shots that made me meditate on it for a while. They use a doserless grinder with a blue display which is barely visible in the photo . They grind into a plastic cup and pour the grounds into a naked PF. Unfortunately the way the GB/5 is positioned it's very hard to see what is going on back there. On yelp there are hundreds of Fraiche reviews but they are all raving about the very good froyo. I'll have to try that next time I visit. (Click for larger image)

christiang
Senior Member

Joined: 14 Dec 2007
Posts: 50
Location: Berkeley
Expertise: I live coffee

Espresso: Mini Gaggia
Grinder: Mazzer Super Jolly, Porlex...
Vac Pot: Hario 2-cup
Drip: Chemex (Kone and paper),...

Posted Wed Nov 19, 2008, 3:19pm Subject: Re: Frozen yogurt and Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto

I'm glad to hear that the quality was still high (even more data points). I also have to add that I love your inset photos. It makes it look like Blue Bottle is creeping into your shot like those guys who come into view behind a news anchor when they report live from the scene. I feel like that Blue Bottle sign ought to be sporting a peace sign!

GaryH
Senior Member

Posted Thu Nov 20, 2008, 9:46pm Subject: Re: Frozen yogurt and Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto

So did espressophile find it first? http://espressophile.blogspot.com/

GaryH
Senior Member

Posted Thu Nov 20, 2008, 10:46pm Subject: Re: Frozen yogurt and Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto

Looks like Steve Jobs (CEO, Apple) likes to visit Fraiche Yogurt in Palo Alto. Click Here (swanktastic.org) http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=9685

TimothyH
Senior Member

Joined: 9 Sep 2006
Posts: 30
Location: USA
Expertise: Just starting

Espresso: silvia (pid); Europiccola
Grinder: mazzer mini (doser)
Vac Pot: yama 3 cup; bodum press pot
Drip: capresso;
Roaster: Behmor

Posted Fri Nov 21, 2008, 11:04am Subject: Re: Frozen yogurt and Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto

My mother in law lives in Mountain View. Now I know where to go when we are visiting her! Tim

GaryH
Senior Member

Posted Fri Nov 21, 2008, 4:03pm Subject: Re: Frozen yogurt and Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto

I went to Fraiche on Friday November 21 and bought the last bag of Hayes Valley blend which was roasted two day earlier. This time the visit was disappointing. I ordered an espresso and after the pull the barista noticed that there were no saucers. She disappeared for a whole two minutes and came back with the saucers. All the while the espresso sat there behind the counter which to them was not a problem. Interesting to observe. Espresso had low body but still tasted quite good. Last few times I visited Fraiche, there was confusion about the price of the espresso I ordered. The sign shows an espresso is $2. But each time I ordered a double espresso they charged $3. What happened is that at Fraiche a $2 espresso is one single pull producing a double 1.5oz ristretto (they use a double naked PF to pull shots). So to them a double espresso is two pulls producing two double ristrettos for which they charge $3 (which is like a quad shot). So each time I had to change my double espresso order to a single espresso order so I could get a single double 1.5oz ristretto shot for $2 as shown in pics. Pretty confusing. (Click for larger image)

espressophile
Senior Member

Joined: 19 Dec 2001
Posts: 384
Location: Bottom of the Bay
Expertise: I live coffee

Espresso: Isomac Venus
Grinder: Innova
Roaster: iRoast

Posted Fri Nov 21, 2008, 5:16pm Subject: Re: Frozen yogurt and Blue Bottle Coffee in Palo Alto

GaryH Said: So did espressophile find it first? Posted November 20, 2008 link Seems that I did. :) I may have been the first to review (by a day), but I can't properly take credit for the "discovery" such as it is. Eddie, formerly of Broken Door, had informed me that the guys at Blue Bottle had expressly told him to check it out. To my knowledge, he never did get there. I'd been there three or four times before I posted my review.

looking for signs in the sky following ghosts, following visions http://espressophile.blogspot.com - reviews of coffeeshops, mostly in the Bay Area http://www.twitter.com/espressophile - the every espresso project

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