Good Vybes $ Brews opened a year ago on the ground level of Link Apartments. Entrance is on 4th St…read more side, not Madison St. Some nearby parking available in afternoon, unsure about mornings. Small central room with an adjacent one for leisurely sipping & lap topping. Able to order promptly as it's less busy in afternoons. Confirm with owner/associate that Asahi Matcha was available. No tipping policy here. Offerings: espressos, matcha lattes, coffee brews, teas, filter brews, classics, flavors+, toppings+, pastries, snacks.... Sips: Asahi Matcha (9.25) -Asahi described as a rare single cultivar, less than 1% of matcha is Asahi. With Oat milk, matcha was bold, full bodied, rich Unami, creamy, smooth. Very unique. Bits: rugelach (4) -made by Ukrainian bakers following old Ukrainian/Polish recipe. 4 flavors. Choose chocolate, least sweet amongst the fruit fillings. -hand rolled baked confections made of cheese dough. Liked the delicate light chocolate taste. Has slight resemble to rolled Thai ice cream. 5 stars: Worthy! Service: Fab. Quality: fantastic, made to order, quantity: reasonable pricing. *Kirishima & Uji matcha also available.

This cute lil cafe and the wonderful man behind it is a blessing to the neighborhood and community…read more If you want a delightful start to your morning, this is your spot. Constantine is a true craftsman with his drinks. The staples are great here, but the seasonal specials are unbeatable and can't be found anywhere else. His detailed oriented intentionality shines with them. He's always looking to create something new and I can't wait to discover his next work of art. I also appreciate the creative ways he involves the community, from inviting guests to write each other loving sticky notes to partnering with local artists to bring joy to our lives. Do yourself a favor and stop by soon.

Small surprise for our weekend getaway. It's hard to come across places that specialize in vegan…read morebaked goods, and this one had amazing options. They were out of matcha, so we didn't get to try it, but hopefully we will on another visit. The place was charming both inside and out. The café is located on a lovely street, which adds to the vibe. The croissants were amazing, though I do wish they had been warm, I'm not sure if that's something they offer. The coffee was really tasty as well. Staff was fast and friendly.

All food is Vegan, limited choices for gluten free. Tofu, onion, mushrooms quiche was okay, too…read moremany onions bit not bad. Pastries were good, cinnamon patries were very large and very good.

Appreciate this location as it's near my church and barber shop. As well as mixt and Bart.read more

I was immediately drawn in by the minimalist shipping container aesthetic of Cafenated Coffee Co…read more Their little cat mascot holding a cup of coffee made it even better. I ordered a mocha and thought it was just okay - a little too sweet for me. I believe they only serve drinks in 12 oz sizes. At the time of this review, my mocha with tax came out to $5.51, which is a pretty good price these days. Service was smooth and my drink came out pretty fast. I also found free street parking nearby since I visited on a Sunday.

Sent this email to them - No response…read more To whom it may concern. I started buying my coffee from roastco probably 10 years ago when I had an almost religious experience purchasing a cup of coffee at Farm:Table in SF. I inquired about the coffee and they're told me you were their supplier. I immediately bought a bag of your beans from them, researched pour-over brewing and began brewing your coffee at home. Later I drove to your location and was warmly welcomed in by employees and shown the roasting process and was given explanations of your various single origin offerings. Over the years I made many trips to your location to purchase beans and have turned countless friends and family members on to roastco. However, the last few visits to your location I've been met with rude employees who couldn't be bothered, and treated as though I were an annoyance to their job. Other times I drove to your location only to find nobody there even when your hours showed you to be open for business. I recently ordered two pounds of your Ethiopian beans. It's awful. Over the past couple days I've tried varying the coarseness of the grind, water temp, and even the pour over dripper. No matter what I change the cup is sour and bitter. I researched sour coffee and although extraction time and the coarseness of the grind can contribute to sour coffee, under-roasting seems to be the #1 culprit. I tried calling and as usual the call is never answered. Lately it seems you offer less varieties of coffee, poor customer service, and you're less available to your customers. Now the product sucks? What's up with your company? Are you going out of business? New ownership? Not sure what's going on with your company but I probably just wasted $45 and will be looking for a new coffee roaster, which is a shame because you had something good going...but it's been a steady decline.

YAY! Thanks to work, I got to try Roast Co which is what I would call a boutique coffee truck in…read moreOakland, CA. I don't know if they normally run trucks, but they definitely had a full service cart in MV today. I guess they also have an actual location in Oakland, but it doesn't say whether or not they serve coffee in the Oakland location. They are out at Off The Grid quite often, so check them out when you get a chance. They baristas & staff are very friendly, and they're very good at this coffee art thing ;) despite the poor quality of soy milk-able-art there is. I definitely recommend giving them a try as my latte was delicious, smooth and flavorful.

Roots & Craft Tea Roasters is a San Francisco based tea brand founded in 2018 that specializes in…read moresustainably grown and harvested artisanal tea from Miyazaki, Japan. They market their teas through their website shop and at Dolores Outpost in San Francisco. Through the years they have taken part in pop-ups at various locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area serving their Matcha, Hojicha and Sencha teas along with other Japanese specialties. Although I had previously had a sampling of their teas at one of their San Francisco pop-ups and have followed them on Facebook and Instagram it wasn't until recently that I became more interested in their product. Back in late April 2020 (actually May 1st) during the height of sheltering in place and bored out of my mind I came upon a ZOOM program hosted by the Japan Society of Northern California introducing participants to make-at-home tea concoctions using Roots & Craft artisanal teas and various forms of alcoholic beverages taught by Roots & Craft founders Maya Kono and her partner Teru. I learned of so many unique tea based beverages during that hour long presentation that suddenly I wanted to try them all. Then came the announcement about a week ago that following a series of successful pop-up events at Oakland's O2 Artisans Aggregate (now also known as Magnolia Mini Mart during the COVID-19 era) located at 2311 Magnolia Street in a mostly industrial area in West Oakland that Roots & Craft will set up shop every Friday and Saturday from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM until further notice. A week later on a beautifully sunny July 4th Saturday I found myself at Magnolia Mini Mart minutes after they had opened their gate to pay a visit with Maya and Teru and their Roots & Craft shared stall located next door to June's Pizza. The featured beverage for their July 4th pop up was their Hojicha Frappe which I ordered to be made with oat milk (whole milk and almond milk were the other options). Hojicha is a Japanese green tea where the tea leaves are roasted instead of steamed which gives it a smoky, almost nutty flavor. Their Hojicha Frappe combines their brewed Hojicha tea with your choice of milk, white chocolate chips and ice cubes. It can be topped with a whipped dairy cream which I opted out of and a dusting of Hojicha tea powder. In addition to the Frappe I ordered one of two featured Japanese sandwiches that being a dessert-like fresh fruit sandwich. For the month of July Roots & Craft in collaboration with Shades of Sugar Bakeshop of Oakland are featuring a set of tea inspired macarons. I couldn't pass on that so I ordered some of those as well. After conversing with the super nice couple I took a seat at the outdoor garden located in front of the neighboring Soba Ichi Restaurant to enjoy my treats. The Hojicha Frappe was amazing and the roasted, nutty flavor really shone so much in fact that I mistakenly thought the little ground up bits of white chocolate chips were crushed hazelnuts. The fruit sandwich was a hit as well. Sandwiched in between two slices of light and airy bread were huge pieces of fresh mango, pineapple, banana, peach and orange in a lightly sweetened whip cream. I had another commitment in the East Bay that limited my time here, but I've got a couple of off days next weekend and I'll be sure to return to try out some more tea-inspired concoctions from Roots & Craft. In the meantime, I can't wait to dig into those tea-inspired macarons. For COVID-19 contactless payments via credit card is used and hand sanitizer is available on the counter. Maya and Teru wear face masks and to be respectful you should too. There is plenty of open space on site for social distancing. For more information on Roots & Craft check out their website or follow them on Instagram. Interested in those tea-inspired July only macarons you can get more info or preorder them at this link: https://www.shadesofsugarbakeshop.com/matcha

The review is for their superb service, I was unsure of their hours and they promptly responded…read moreback to me through Instagram. I swung by and got their Matcha Tonic with Hojicha Latte each ~$6. I'd say it's a bit pricey for what it is but they also have food that I Must come back to try.

This was a cute and spacious coffee shop with a variety of seating options. The ambiance was…read morewelcoming for doing work. The coffee options felt limited, but the drinks we ordered were good. We had the seasonal iced carrot cake latte with cream cheese cold foam, and an iced vanilla oat milk latte. Pastries were delicious, we had a peach danish and a potato piroshki. It would be nice if they were able to warm up the pastries.

Best coffee in Jack London. Plus a great ambiance. Highly suggest walking through the store after!read more

Great fresh roasted coffee lots of variety outdoor paddock seating overlooking Broadway and very…read morelarge space inside. HOCho very fresh ground chocolate. They don't make the pastries here, but they have pastries, savory, and sweet every day as well rotten. Great service.

Solid downtown Oakland coffee stop with good vibes. Stopped…read moreby the Broadway location and it's a reliable spot for coffee and a quick bite. They roast their own beans and the drinks are consistently good. The lavender latte and ube latte both get a lot of love from me personally and deliver on flavor without being overly sweet. Espresso drinks are smooth and well made. Food side is decent. Bagels are one of the stronger points and closer to a proper New York style than most places around here. Avocado toast and simple bagel combos with cream cheese or hummus hold up fine for a casual meal. Pastries like the scones and muffins are solid too. Atmosphere is chill and spacious enough to work or hang out. Staff is friendly and the overall vibe feels welcoming. It can get a little pricey for what you get and the food options are more basic cafe fare than standout meals, which keeps it from a full 5. Still a good downtown Oakland go to when you want quality coffee and a relaxed place to sit.

Superb service and selection of green beans for roasting. They have everything for coffee.read more

After Covid knocked me down and broke my cookies, I stood up and decided to get my stuff together…read moreand do something nice for people I know and love. I decided to learn to roast coffee beans. Where to start? Sweet Maria's! I ordered the roaster, the beans, the bags, the book, all the things. I watched videos on their website (also, YouTube, I will not lie and pretend YouTube does not teach me all the things, it does, and so does the SM website, use both, but this review is for SM so I digress). I use the SR800 Fresh Roast air roaster. I love it. I upgraded to a Behmor AB2000 drum roaster and I was SOOO disappointed. No good way to watch temperature, no good way to stop it from coast roasting, just spent more money on a thing that was not (to ME) an improvement. I returned to my Fresh Roast 800 and I have gotten really good at roasting beans. I love the green beans selections from Sweet Maria's. The descriptions are great and they really know which beans roast up darker or lighter - I always press on that envelope and then I say to myself, "Why did I not just do what they tell me to do?" So do pay attention to the roast profiles on the beans - if you like yours dark, make sure Sweet Maria's thinks you should roast them up to Full City Plus. OK, other great things: They ship fast, and they have a nice flat rate UPS option that shows up on your doorstep quickly. They also have pick up service for when you drop your roasting chamber and break it on the day you planned on roasting. Yes, get a spare and yes, go pick that thing up instead of waiting on UPS! It's a cute little location and the folks are friendly. Beans beans - they source them from everywhere and the prices are right. Even Kona beans are available once in a while, which makes my heart sing songs about my coffee addiction. I am currently totally crushing on these: Honduras Dry Process Edwin Ever Parainema Kona Darnall Estate Typica Yemen Mokha Matari Guatamala Antigua Pulcal Inteligente Mexico (Organic!) Chiapas El Desvio Zambia Kateshi Estate AA I love Sumatra but I have not yet quite mastered that art yet, now that I have been at this game for about 5 years. Pro Tip: Order 1/2 lb tin-tie paper bags with ties so you can give some bean love to your friends. Other pro tips: Do get the Ecotact green coffee storage bags if you don't plan to roast your beans right away. Keep them fresh! Definitely store in good one-way valve containers, and don't roast too much all at once - just to have it get oxidized too quickly. Fresh! Fresh I tell you! They have an Atmos vacuum container. I use Airscape, works well.