But First, Coffee.

It’s a typical day in San Francisco. Overcast skies and a slight chill in the air create a perfect atmosphere for a cup of coffee. At a cafe, a high-pitched metallic buzz fills the air as beans are churned to grounds. There’s magic going on behind the counter. Soon, a smooth dark liquid is poured into a cup that radiates heat to your hands. You breathe it in. There’s a warm, tangy scent that fills the place. On first sip, a slight bitterness hits the back of your throat, but warms your whole body as it goes down. In the Bay Area, there is great access to local coffee roasters that have grown out of the third wave coffee movement.

San Francisco and Coffee have always gone hand in hand. The city’s role has been significant in the industry. For the coffee-crazed, a good cup of coffee doesn't involve opening the pantry and reaching for a can of Folgers. But it was Folgers and Hills Bros., that established the Cafe Culture in San Francisco during the mid 19th century. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Cafe Culture flourished in San Francisco during the 1950s as Caffe Trieste opened in North Beach, which is arguably the first espresso bar on the West Coast.

Photo Illustration by Cristina Macz via Canva.

In 1966, a man by the name of Alfred Peet opened up a coffee bar in Berkeley CA. The coffee shop we know as Peet's became an inspiration of the second wave coffee shops which brought up the chains such as Blue Bottle and Starbucks. A coffee revolution was created, and the experts claim that it was all him. Peet's brought about sourcing selectively, roasting by hand, and crafting to perfection. It was not too long after, in 1971, that Jerry Baldwin who learned the coffee trade from Peet planted his own legacy. In Seattle, Baldwin along with Gordon Bowker, Zev Siegl (two friends whom he met at the University of San Francisco) founded the now International coffee chain, Starbucks.

We are living in the third wave of coffee, which focuses on the lighter roast and the undertones and flavors of the coffee. It’s fun, it’s progressive, it’s on-site, it’s sustainable. The third wave of the coffee movement has been spreading for almost two decades, and it is all about specialty coffee. These specialty roasters often are the kind of places with a minimalist style and young, hip baristas wearing thick-rimmed glasses and high-and-tight haircuts. Their aim is for the customers to enjoy the specific characteristics of the coffee variety and roast. Instead of pouring in milk and creamer, they pride themselves on the artisanal qualities of their drinks and their attention to detail.

Take a walk around San Francisco, even just your neighborhood and count how many coffee shops you find, you’ll probably lose track. In 2016, Bustle reported that San Francisco had 2,613 coffee shops. The variety of coffee shops is just one of the many diverse components in the city, this includes specialty roasters, chains, and coffee shops that aren’t always a part of the third wave movement.

Henry Kalebjian checking the coffee beans during the "first-crack", Henry's House of Coffee.

On any given day you can find Henry Kalebjian of Henry’s House of Coffee roasting beans in his own shop. Henry purchased his shop, which was originally named House of Coffee in 1983. HOC has been around long before the third wave it opened in 1983 but the café was renamed Henry’s House of Coffee in 2012 when Henry Kalebjian’s son Hrag became a co-owner. Hrag Kalebjian, who is now a co-owner at HOC is in charge of business development and marketing, under Hrag’s supervision, the cafe was remodeled. Henry, who is 76, works at the store and starts every morning along with a shot of espresso handed to him by one of the baristas. He roasts the coffee beans near the front counter where the customers can see the care put into each cup of coffee. This is the type of shop where everyone knows Henry and greets him. For more than three decades, Henry’s House of Coffee has been family tradition and now a part of San Francisco tradition as a staple in the Outer Sunset.

Henry Kalebjian starts of the morning with a single shot of espresso, Henry's House of Coffee.

“We roast our bean because it's a family tradition, it's part of our heritage,” Hrag Kalebjian said. “My grandfather used to roast his own coffee when he lived in Lebanon as a baker. When my father was 12, he joined the business and his job was to roast.”

Like most coffee roasters, Henry starts his roasting process with the raw coffee beans known as green coffee. The coffee bean comes from the pit of the coffee plant known as the coffee cherry, it is cut in half and then we get the coffee bean. This all happens before they receive the coffee beans explains Hrag Kalebjian . The beans arrive at the coffee shop in burlap bags, and they are stored before they are ready to roast.

Henry prepares the HOC roaster, he dubbed The San Franciscan; it is black and metallic. It looks nearly new, but according Hrag Kalebjian they’ve had it since 1993 when they replaced one that burned down. Henry dispenses the beans into a triangular entrance at the top of the roaster and the beans begin to cook. It is during this cooking process that we begin to have the warm aroma of the coffee and the beans gains their flavor during the chemical reaction that occurs during roasting. In food science, this chemical reaction is known as the Maillard reaction when the beans release their natural flavor and the roasting causes the natural sugars in the beans to caramelize. The browning of the green coffee beans during roasting is evidence of the Maillard reaction, explained Hrag Kalebjian.

The San Franciscan Roaster cooling beans in action, Henry's House of Coffee.

HOC remains dedicated to dark roast coffee, even though light roasts are in vogue. HOC roasts their beans dark, often roasting them past the first crack and into the second, which allows for a smooth, but never bitter, finish. Hrag Kalebjian said that although the third wave coffee movement has focused on the light and medium roast, his family’s style of roasting remains dark and traditional.

After the "second-crack" the beans are now a dark brown resembling black, Henry's House of Coffee.

About 1.5 miles away, and a handful of coffee shops away from HOC is Andytown Coffee Roasters on 18th and Taraval in the Outer Sunset.

The cafe itself is filled with white furniture and rustic details. Their signature drink is known as the Snowy Plover, an iced coffee drink that contains two espresso shots, sparkling water, and a splash of brown sugar syrup, topped with a fat dollop of whipped cream. Corazon Padilla, director of quality control for Andytown, says the drink was named after a Western bird that winters along protected stretches of the city shoreline. As for their roasts, they roast their beans much different than HOC, the Andytown roasts stay on a spectrum of medium. They believe the lighter the roast, the more customers experience the specific flavors of the beans.

“I don't know if it's necessarily a right or wrong way to roast coffee,” Padilla said. “You find that every company has their own idea of what they think is good. It’s all a matter of perspective.”

Corazon Padilla prepares to check beans at the "first-crack", Andytown Coffee Roasters.

Andytown was built mostly by Lauren Crabbe and Michael McCrory but community has remained of meaning to them. Their roaster has been handed down more times than anyone remembers. The Idrocompresso espresso machine was originally from the Blue Bottle SFMOMA location. Even the café recipes are originally McCrory's grandmother's. Although Andytown’s style is different from HOC’s, each in its way is keeping coffee in the family.