I guess it’s time for a true confession. I’m a coffee snob. And when I travel, I have a passion for supporting local roasters and coffee houses. Let’s just say I’ve BEAN Around the World and I’m feeling like now is the time to start sharing the love… and caffeine, one city at a time. You may recall that I started this series with San Francisco – Part 1. If you haven’t already read it, please do before reading this article. It will give you background and a review of the first three coffee roasters I sampled. So let’s open the TWG cafe society doors and talk coffee. Here are the next three coffee places in San Francisco I visited.

Verve is the new kid on the block. I say “on the block” because in fact, they’ve been down in the Santa Cruz area since 2007 (the owner is from Chico and a surfer dude, so he chose Santa Cruz to open his shops) but only opened a cafe on the corner of Church and Market in mid-February of 2017. Stewart, the wonderfully friendly and informative assistant manager, sat with me for a good while and we had a fun chat. He told me that Verve had actually been looking for a space in San Francisco for some time. They wanted a space with a lot of natural light, and while they had this San Francisco space for two years, due to all the rules and regulations in city coding, it took them two years to build out the space and open their doors. Stewart said, “You can’t really be a big dog on the Northern Californian coffee scene without a shop in San Francisco!”

The space is very thoughtfully designed, very modern, lots of natural light, and has a few different seating options. The tables were big and would be good for working. All their beans are roasted in Santa Cruz and they use Colombian and Honduran beans. Pour over coffee is actually their biggest seller and cappuccino the second most requested beverage. And of course like all the other roasters, they are heavily focused on their wholesale bean business.

I guess it’s time for a true confession. I’m a coffee snob. And when I travel, I have a passion for supporting local roasters and coffee houses. Let’s just say I’ve BEAN Around the World and I’m feeling like now is the time to start sharing the love…..and caffeine, one city at a time.

You may recall, I started this series with San Diego. Now it’s time for Hawaii!

So let’s open the TWG cafe society doors and talk coffee. Every so often, I’ll even throw in a few of the best places to enjoy chai!

You’d think talking about coffee in Hawaii is an open and shut case of best coffee ever. After all, it’s the only state in the U.S. where coffee is grown, and most coffee drinkers have heard of Kona coffee.

But here’s the thing. I’m not at all a Kona blend fan! It’s too weak, and I prefer a stronger more robust blend. I do know that Kona coffee has different grades and different degrees of flavor. I’ve tasted enough of it to know that it’s just not for me.

My history as a tourist in Hawaii goes way back and I even lived there full-time for many years, so I’m no newcomer to the coffee scene.

People sometimes think I’m strange. And sometimes I’m sure I give them reason! But often my “strangeness” leads to great ideas. Or at least what I hope will be great ideas :)

Like for instance, this series of blog posts I’m writing for TWG.

The idea started a few days ago. Alexander from The Points of Life wrote, Stumptown Coffee NYC: What A Wait and I immediately emailed him to tell him about a great place for espresso in Philadelphia. After all, he was in NYC and Philly is close by!

Then over at Points with a Crew, Ian wrote, “May I charge my phone from your laptop?” Sure, sure, he’s writing about his dilemma and whether or not to allow a stranger to use his laptop to charge a phone, but all I could think of was……….WHAT ARE YOU DOING AT STARBUCKS?

So I emailed Ian and told him if he wanted to know 3 great coffee houses within minutes of the Hyatt Regency Vancouver BC, to let me know.

I guess it’s time for a true confession. I’m a coffee snob. And when I travel, I have a passion for supporting local roasters and coffee houses. Let’s just say I’ve BEAN Around the World and I’m feeling like now is the time to start sharing the love…..and caffeine.

Grant introduced me to his readers as a woman who embodies “healthy traveling,” and I’m sure by now you’ve heard that coffee is a health food. So let’s create the TWG Cafe Society and talk coffee. Every so often, I’ll even throw in a few of the best places to enjoy chai!