Coffee Wars: Roaster Rankings

[healthcamp]

In an effort to present current SF coffee wars results, I'm dividing the rankings into tiers. This list is only my opinion and is based on roasted coffee beans for brewing at home and were compared primarily using the old fashioned pour over drip cone brew method. No scientific ranking scales were applied - just how much I like them. The focus has mainly been on Ethiopian origin coffees and medium roast blends. The roaster is listed, location, and recommended beans. Most are here in the San Francisco Bay area, but some sure aren't.

1st Tier:
- Blue Bottle (Oakland/San Francisco)
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, Giant Steps Blend

- Ogawa Coffee Company (Kyoto, Japan)
any, Fair Trade Organic Blend

- Stumptown (Portland, OR)
Hairbender Blend, Ethiopia Michelle Yirgacheffe

2nd:
- Barefoot Coffee Roasters (Santa Clara/San Jose, CA)
Ethiopia Amaro Gayo Sidamo, Guatamala Honey Michacoy, Metropolis Mix (RIP)

- Graffeo (San Francisco)
Light roast (of their trademark blend)

3rd:
- Four Barrel (San Francisco)
El Salvador Siberia Bourbon Estate, Ethiopia Mordecofe Natural Process

- Ecco Caffe (Sonoma County, CA)
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, various Brazil

- De La Paz (San Francisco)
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe

- Verve (Santa Cruz, CA)
Ethiopia Misty Valley

- Flying Goat (Santa Rosa, CA)
Panama Esmeralda Geisha, Ethiopia Mordecofe, Panama Los Lajones

4th:
- Ritual Coffee Roasters (San Francisco)
various Brazil, Ethiopia Gedeo Yirgacheffe

- Caffe Trieste
North Beach Blend

- Intelligentsia (Chicago/LA)
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe and Sidama, Columbia Las Mesas

5th:
- Caffe Roma (San Francisco)
Vineto blend

- Philz Coffee
Tesora Blend

- Peet's Coffee
Major Dickason's Blend, Ethiopian Fancy

then...
6th - Starbucks, Tullys
7th - Folgers, Chock Full O Nuts (non-instant)
8th - Maxwell House instant
9th - Folgers Instant
10th - Sanka