Friday, September 09, 2005

Barefoot Coffee Roasters

Location: 5237 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara.

Reviewed: September 9, 2005.

Espresso: Barefoot, as their name implies, roasts their own blends in-house. They rotate through several different blends that have different characteristics. This particular day they were serving a blend called Sweetness. Sweetness is, as the name implies, on the sweeter side, and has an initial upfront essence of berry that flows across the tongue. There is little aftertaste. The crema is medium-brown to burgundy, and tends to be on the thick side.

Atmosphere: Barefoot is a smallish shop, although the outdoor seating helps in this regard. The outdoor seating is, however, frequently filled by a regular cast of persons who smoke. Inside, there are a couple of comfy couches and the standard cafe tables. The chairs are a matter of some comment. Every single one has been turned into a separate piece of art (under the direction of one of the baristas). There is also one large circular table dating from ~1910. Local art adorns the walls, and the shows rotate monthly. Live music and the occasional coffee cupping dominate the weekend happenings.

Verdict: Great coffee, cool place. Quickly becoming the destination hub for those in the South Bay who know and love coffee.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Barefoot serves very good espresso, but not as good as Blue Bottle or Ritual in SFO. Barefoot coffee house is ugly and uncool compared to Ritual coffee house. Barefoot coffee houses gives the impression that you'll get a poor espresso, but instead they serve a good espresso. Del Doge in Palo Alto gives the impression that they serve a good espresso but their espressos are worse than Starbucks ruining the Del Doge coffee house visit experience.

espressophile said...

This is a friendly reminder that comments regarding a specific coffeeshop should be made on the appropriate posting.

mengerin said...

I agree with the general sentiment that Barefoot serves amazing espresso and espresso drinks.

However, if we look to their drip coffess, they have so far been universally sour and too gross for me to drink. I have purchased:

1. The Kenyan peaberry as a french press.
2. The Ethiopian Yergecheffe beans (twice)
3. A drip of the day.

In all cases, I and those with me threw our drinks out. The beans were slightly sour and rather than waste $15, could be made to be drinkable.