Bay Area Coffee

Discover the rich history of San Francisco's coffee culture from its roots in the nineteenth century to today's celebrated artisanal roasters.

San Francisco was booming in the mid-nineteenth century, and along with adventurers seeking their fortunes came sacks of green coffee beans. The old Yerba Buena Cove swiftly filled with ships, and the city emerged as the third-largest coffee port in the United States.

What followed was the rise-and local demise-of the "big three" coffee roasters: Folger's, Hills Brothers and MJB. Specialized Bay Area roasters like Peerless, Peet's and Blue Bottle sprang up in their wake, while places such as Tosca's, Caffé Trieste and the Blue Unicorn blazed the way for modern coffeehouses. In Bay Area Coffee, Monika Trobits explores how the humble coffee bean became an ever-evolving stable of San Francisco Bay.