This coffee is insanely good. This coffee is so good that I have taken a bus across town for a single cup. This coffee is so good that upon taking the first sip I have to yell repeatedly about how fucking awesome it is. This coffee is so good that I'm willing to pay $2.75 for a cup. Hell, I'd pay twice that. This coffee is a different beverage entirely than Starbucks and Peets or even IntelligentsiA and Cafe Trieste.
Philz Coffee is the wonder of which I speak. There are three locations, all in San Francisco, and I recommend that everyone make it a point to once in their lives have a cup of Philz, even if it means driving two thousand miles across the desert in the summer. (Okay, that's a bit hyperbolic, even for me.)
Upon walking into Philz, the customer is greeted with a list of twenty coffee blends. A loving description is available on the menu, or the bouncy hipsters behind the counter will help you choose the right one. I asked for something like Kona or Jamaican Blue Mountain, and they steered me to the "So Good" blend. It's not necessary to call these kids barristas... "angels" would hit the mark better. The angel takes a single scoop of whole beans from one of several dozen tubs, grinds them, pours them into a puffy paper filter, then pours super-hot water over the beans. She adds cream and sugar to my specifications, then hands me the glorious product of this endeavor. The top layer is a thick froth; the liquid is exquisite. It has all the beautiful rich coffee flavor with none, zero, none of the bitterness. The lack of bitterness is what separates Philz from everything else ever. This is when the yelling starts; I spend a few minutes unable to contain my astonishment and joy at the deliciousness of this coffee.
...all of which explains why, at 11 am on a Sunday with the New York Times delivered to my door, I'm contemplating a trek across town to purchase another heavenly concoction. My god. Go drink this coffee, then tell me I'm wrong.
Philz Coffee, 24th at Folsom, Fourth at Berry, or 18th and Castro, San Francisco. www.PhilzCoffee.com.