Blue Bottle Cafe Opens, Features $20K Siphon Bar Coffee Machine

by Scott Beale on January 23, 2008 · 8 comments

Blue Bottle Cafe

The new Blue Bottle Cafe opened today in San Francisco’s Mint Plaza, the first full cafe from Blue Bottle Coffee. cheesebikini? points us to a New York Times article about their Lucky Cremas Bonmac 105 siphon bar, a $20,000 Japanese brewing device located at the new cafe.

With its brass-trimmed halogen heating elements, glass globes and bamboo paddles, the new contraption that is to begin making coffee this week at the Blue Bottle Cafe here looks like a machine from a Jules Verne novel, a 19th-century vision of the future.

The NYT article features a photo gallery that shows the step-by-step process of how coffee is made using the siphon bar.

UPDATE 1: Niall Kennedy went to the cafe’s opening this morning and shot a few photos, including some of the Lucky Cremas Bonmac 105 siphon bar.

Lucky Cremas Bonmac 105

Blue Bottle tamper

Blue Bottle Mint Plaza

UPDATE 2: Ryan Bailey shot some video of coffee being made with Lucky Cremas Bonmac 105 siphon bar.

photos by Peter DaSilva via The New York Times & Niall Kennedy

Here Are A Few Related Posts You Might Enjoy:

Blue Bottle Cafe at Mint Plaza (Photos & Video)

New Blue Bottle Coffee Bar Opening in SFMOMA Rooftop Garden

Sightglass Coffee, New Coffee Bar & Roastery in San Francisco’s SOMA Neighborhood

Cafe Grumpy

New Philz Coffee in SOMA’s Mission Rock

filed under San Francisco

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Niall Kennedy January 23, 2008 at 1:13 pm

I visited Blue Bottle Mint Plaza this morning for espresso, siphon, and breakfast. I took lots of pictures, now uploaded to Flickr.

Reply

2 Eddie Codel January 24, 2008 at 11:13 pm

Here’s a video my housemate Ryan shot of the place. The siphons look damn rad.

http://www.viddyou.com/profile?videoid=23483

Reply

3 Christian January 28, 2008 at 10:46 pm

I just did a review of this place on my blog. I think the whole $20k coffee thing is all a bit misleading even if it is good press. It really works out to about $3-5/cup. Not too bad if you consider that clover brewed coffee is about the same.

Reply

4 Rachel Hepstein February 4, 2008 at 12:34 pm

The coffee siphon is good press, but according to the JuliB.com write up, the place also offers “charcuterie, cheeses and more.” I’ more interested in hearing how that stacks up; there’s lots of places too get a decent cup of coffee in SF, but much fewer to get a decent plate of cured meats.

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