Philz Coffee, San Francisco (SOMA)

Brews their coffee "One Cup at a Time" (hence their cute slogan), resulting in reliably fresh, snappy coffee and an intense caffeine buzz.

Police cars and Fire trucks pull in front of the no-parking signs, flick on their lights and wander into the shop. Completely unfair, if you ask me.

At Philz, a bubbly barista greets us with a smile; Z mentions that we're first-timers and she all-but glows. She makes a gentle gesture toward the wall: lined up in labeled buckets, over twenty of their signature blends grin back at us. They're separated by roast--dark, medium, light--and each have a snazzy name of their own--"Dancing Water", "Philharmonic", "Greater Alarm", "Canopy of Heaven.."

Z gets a Tesora (the house blend) and I get an Ethiopian (not one of their specialties but a really good coffee shop should be phenomenal even in their least popular).

The Tesora: I must confess...cream and sugar were added (should I be ashamed?) but it was BROWN sugar and REAL cream. Plus: the addition was part of the full-service set up - I didn't touch a thing. Ok, and quite honestly, I'm not much for the sappy coffee-esque words like "rich" or "smooth," but I will say this was the best freakin' cup of coffee I've had yet in San Francisco. Go here. Get this. From now on, Philz is the standard to which I measure.

The Ethiopian: smooth but had a slightly bitter aftertaste, as if the beans had been roasted just a little too long.



-KZ