The menu is drip only: more than twenty house blends, no lattes, no cappuccinos, no espresso drinks at all. Phil Jaber spent a quarter century refining those blends before opening the original store in San Francisco's Mission District on January 1, 2003. Each cup is made one at a time. A barista grinds fresh beans for each selected blend, brews it to order, and stirs in cream and sugar to taste before handing it across.
Sources: facebook.com · sandiego.eater.com
“Unhurried hospitality, one cup at a time — twenty-plus blends, no espresso, and a Mint Mojito worth the pilgrimage.”
The signature Mint Mojito, an iced coffee that has followed the chain from city to city, is the drink most associated with the brand. The La Jolla outpost sits inside The Shops at La Jolla Village, minutes from the UC San Diego campus, with power at every seat, free wifi, and daylight enough to function as a study and work room through finals. The chain helped popularize third wave coffee statewide before expanding into Chicago and Washington, DC.
Photo: Zury Cibrian
The ethos is unhurried hospitality, community over speed, what the company terms cups of love.