I may just have went to more coffee shops this year then in previous years. Actually it’s pretty likely, here is why

1. In previous years i made multiple trips to Equator Coffee in San Francisco, which is still like, but the fact i took multiple trips there meant other coffee shops weren’t visited
2. This year i went for more variety, and had a few new locations.
3. I also made coffee using my Hario hand grinder and this year i chose the Kalita Wave for pourovers, instead of the Aeropress. The reasons why i made this choice will probably be made on another post about the particular new filter i have on the Aeropress

Without further ado, here is my list. Note that this year i had done a 40 day coffee fast for Lent again so my caffeine tolerance started out lower at the beginning of the trip as i had only been back on coffee for about a week.

Day 1: Brewed coffee at home before my flight. Sleep was pretty heavily on my mind as alot of people say that 2 nights before the marathon is the most important for sleep. I think this takes into account also that it’s difficult to sleep the night before a marathon (particularly Big Sur given the early wakeup bus ride 3:45 AM this year

Day 2: The Saturday of marathon weekend. I probably made a pourover in the hotel, but i knew i wanted to go get some food before the Hoka fun run. I had seen several times Plumes Coffee shop (Plumes Coffee House | Old Monterey), This fit the bill because it was open early (6am) had food and also had alot of coffee options. I ended up getting a drip coffee instead of a pourover. Both the coffee and sandwich were quite good. This was perfect because Hoka started handing out free shirts at 7:15 am and as always with runners there were lines. The coffee fueled the fun run nicely.

I knew then i was off to Carmel for some more food and also a place that sells the best pain relief cream for the post marathon days. I actually was having some shoulder pain that was related to my deadlift injury so used some of that on Saturday night and also pre-emptively put some on my ankle which was luckily not injured after missing a step on the stairs while waiting for the Saturday night Pasta party.

Day 3- Marathon day, I always make coffee at the hotel first. This year i brought a thermos that you plug in that heats up and the Kalita wave. The coffee i brought with me was from Worthington Hills market in Ohio, i believe its Cafe Brioso (i will update this). At the campground where we bus to before the race I also had a cup of coffee, i am not sure where it was from but if I had to guess, it would be Carmel Valley coffee. I wouldn’t blame the organizers for picking cheaper options for so many runners, but am not totally sure where it was from. It was decent. I wasn’t about to drink an excess amount of coffee before the run as my heart rate is high enough during the run as it is.

Day 4) Post marathon day. This might be the biggest day of coffee consumption i had on the trip. I believe i made a cup at the hotel, and i definitely then went to a really good coffee shop called Captain + Stoker in Monterey . I walked there from the Marriot then went to the Catholic Church for service. The coffee i had there was a pourover and it was one where it was co-fermented with pineapple yeast. I bought a bag of it as well and will provide specifics on it later. You could definitely taste pineapple

After checking out of the hotel i knew i would visit my nephew in San Francisco, but first i wanted to stop in Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is the home of Verve coffee, so i set my GPS for there. I was also independently told by Emily at the front desk of the Marriot and Elaina a runner that Cat and Cloud was a good coffee shop so knew i would go there as well.

The Verve i went to wasn’t the original location, but it was a roastery which was pretty cool. I ended up getting an iced coffee on tap that was pretty good. I’ve always liked the coffees i’ve ordered from Verve and told them my favorite is called Sermon. One of the baristas agreed that it was a favorite but they also liked some single origins. This particular roaster location didn’t seem to have indoor seating that i noticed so i got my drink to go.

Off next to the Cat and Cloud, the first location seemed to come up as in a food court, so i reprogrammed it for another location since there are multipled locations in Santa Cruz.

At the Cat and the Cloud, Erica had recommended a drink called the Creamy Beige and it was really delicious. It was as they said almost like a milkshake. I ate an Umami sandwich which was a really tasty grilled mushroom sandwich.

After i left this coffee shop i programmed my trip to SF to meet my nephew Rob. I took one wrong turn and ended up on a very windy road but it included a redwood forest, so I was happy to hop out and take a bit of a walk there. That was a nice surprise. Santa Cruz was a very interesting town that i can only describe as funky. I definitely want to check it out again sometime.

Then it was off to SF to meet my nephew for an early dinner at RadHaus and then Irish coffees at Buena vista. I had two beers at Radhaus and two irish coffees at Buena vista. That was alot of coffee for one day!

Day 5) I got up and made coffee at the hotel most likely. The Kalita wave is so convenient and the portable electric water thermos came in handy. Since i was still in San Francisco i knew i wanted to hit a couple of coffee shops. I normally go to Equator but wanted to try some new places.

I looked at some options and first went to Coffee Bodega because i noticed they also made empanadas. So i started my day with a really good pourover and an empanada! The guy who worked there is super nice and mentioned they have an Argentinian chef and a Colombian chef who make the empanadas which explained the varieties.

After that i went to Saint Franks, which is a really nice coffee shop. Now the drink i got there was an almond macadamia nut latte. I kept reading Macadamia nut latte in a book (I think it was the book Yellowface), so i finally had to try it. It was good but not very sweet. They also had some good pastry options.

Day 6) I had driven to Dublin the previous afternoon. Here i ended up just drinking my pourover and the hotel coffee during the day. In the evening i went to Barnes and Noble and had a Hot cinnamon tea the first night, while i read. Since i ate half of an Indian pizza (chicken tikka masala), i think it made me quite sleepy. The fatigue from the busy weekend and the coffee and drinks of the prior day caught up to me as well. I think the second night in Dublin i had an Americano at Barnes and Noble. I got alot of reading done and a little bit of writing done.

Day 7) On this day, i headed to Berkeley after checking out the hotel. The day started with a somber note, as i visited the address where a podcaster i like used to live. He sadly passed away in January. He was pretty influential for me because of his thoughts on success and positive thinking. Driving past his house was a little surreal because he would podcast daily from there, streaming live. I had never really tried to find out where he lived on previous trips to the area, more out of respect for his privacy. I saw his house was up for sale.

I drove to Berkeley and stopped by the hotel. They let me drop off my luggage and then i decided to drive up to Berkeley. I saw alot of coffee shops but the one that appealed to me first was called 1951 and it was a nonprofit supporting refugees.

Home – 1951 Coffee Company

It was super neat inside and I had a cherry vanilla latte that was quite tasty. My daughter and i loved starbucks Cherry Chai latte last year which sadly they didn’t bring back this year. What also was cool is that they had a Bellweather coffee roaster, something i had become aware of from James Hoffman videos and it could actually be something i could consider purchasing sometime if i wanted to do micro-lot roasting (more of a retirement gig if i even consider it at all). Not convinced that i would do anything other than lose money on it haha.

Now i had a bit of time prior to meeting with my pump club friends Peggy and William. So first i went to a noodle place Impression of Lanzhou – Chinese Restaurant | Online Order | Berkeley | CA that was quite good.

Later when Peggy and i met up i had a nice ginger drink at Mezzo where we would eat later. The highlight of Berkeleys coffee houses was later after dinner at Cafe Strada. Caffe Strada Berkeley This coffee shop is really neat and has great indoor and outside seating options. Peggy commented about how quick they are and she was absolutely correct. It was super quick. I got their famous white chocoloate drink and it was really tasty. I confirmed how quick they were by going there the next day as well. Once again the coffee the next day was really quick. I was sitting there in my German jacket and saw a woman field hockey player and a guy sitting next to her. They were speaking German. I was a little worried they might start up a conversation with me, and my lack of German speaking would make me seem like an imposter. I love learning languages but know very little German. I hope to remedy that one day.

I really wanted to try a few more coffee places but between my daily pourover at the hotel and going to at least one coffee shop a day most days, i really got my fill off coffee. I had to really hold back on buying bags of coffee as it takes me a while to get through them.

Oh on my morning run on Friday i saw a Sake company. I saw that they had tasting visits. So i went there in the afternoon on Friday. The sakes were really tasty and i ended up buying a rather expensive one as a gift for my nephew Robert because he is marrying a woman who was born in Japan. I did let him know that they said sake should be drank within 2 years.

The day of the flight back i made coffee at the hotel, then i went to the airport early. Somehow i just had to try Pliny the Elder since i had spied that beer everytime i was in the airport at SF. It was really an excellent beer and i had two pints of it with a breakfast burrito that was quite good. And a long flight back and that was a wrap for the trip.

It’s funny that this ended up being more of a beverage report. I hardly drink alcohol at all anymore but had a little bit on the trip.

I think i will write a separate report about the marathon itself. I’m really looking to practice my writing skills. For someone who considers himself an avid reader, i don’t feel confident in my writing abilities. I think i will enjoy the process of working on my writing skills, however.