9 nice new Bay Space espresso and tea spots

Positive, you could possibly get your morning joe at Starbucks or stick a type of pods within the gizmo. However wouldn’t or not it’s extra attention-grabbing to discover a espresso or tea home that provides one thing out of the strange?

A number of the latest Bay Space espresso and tea spots are pushing the creativity envelope, providing drinks reminiscent of Corn Lattes and Thai Tea Einspanners. There’s a tea home that places poetry into their craft — fairly actually — and cafes which might be reinventing that final espresso go-with. (We had no concept we would have liked a “croissubi.”)

Listed below are 9 sizzling new cafes to take a look at if you’re on the lookout for one thing particular.

Moonwake Espresso Roasters, San Jose

It’s not stunning that the Moonwake espresso menu reads like a sommelier’s tasting notes. Co-owner Ming Wooden is a licensed Q Grader, what the Espresso High quality Institute describes as an trade skilled “skilled in sensory evaluation of green coffee.” And his roasters and baristas in West San Jose know their stuff.

“How would this one” — Zarza’s Pacamara, a Double Anaerobic Thermal Shock from Colombia — “taste over ice?” I inquire on a sunny day. From behind the bar, staffer Chris opines that the notes of purple currant, cabernet sauvignon and maraschino cherry ought to maintain up nicely in a chilly pour-over ($13). Certainly, they do.

Wooden and spouse Mabel Yeung, each tech trade alums, started roasting beans first for associates and neighbors, then promoting on the farmers market. They now provide the complete espresso expertise, having remodeled a former 7-Eleven, of all locations, right into a smooth, ultra-modern cafe with seating surrounding a stay espresso tree and a glassed-in roasting station.

They scour the globe for single-estate varietals, forging relationships with farmers to allow them to provide style, high quality, transparency and sustainability to clients within the store and people who order freshly roasted beans. “The variety is what we find exciting about the coffee world these days,” he says.

The cup: Latte lovers go for the Cardamom Orange Latte ($7). For pour-over and espresso followers, about 4 pour-overs and 4 kinds of espresso ($4, mild, medium, darkish, decaf) are supplied day by day. Drip espresso ($3.50, rotating choice) is brewed till midday day by day.

The chew: Neighbor Bakehouse delivers recent goodies each morning. The Pistachio Twice-Baked Berry Croissant is a scrumptious selection; attempt it heated up barely.

Particulars: Open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and eight a.m. to five p.m. weekends at 1412 Saratoga Ave., San Jose. You’ll additionally discover Moonwake on Sundays on the De Anza School farmers market in Cupertino from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., climate allowing. www.moonwakecoffeeroasters.com

Masterpiece Espresso, Berkeley

Opened final fall, this teeny North Berkeley operation ought to earn an award for Unlikeliest Cafe House. Masterpiece Espresso is within the Imasala Collective, a shoebox-sized retail complicated with classic furnishings and kids’s items, and is principally a minimalist kiosk missed by its pleasant proprietor, Younger Solar.

The espresso is equally unlikely. The star beans come from Yunnan, China, and are roasted in Fremont. (There are additionally Peruvian, Colombian, Ethiopian and Brazilian coffees, with plans to debut a premium line from Ecuador and Tanzania.) You may get it black or white – the latter which means blended with oat milk, the one type of “dairy” right here – or blended into lattes with Asian substances like miso, sesame and Sichuan peppercorn. Tea lovers can sip natural ceremonial matcha or hojicha, inexperienced tea that’s roasted in porcelain over charcoal.

Younger labored at Religious Espresso in Fremont and Artis Espresso in Berkeley, and likewise based a roasting enterprise referred to as Storyboard Espresso, earlier than touchdown at this little spot — which, because it occurs, has a stunning hidden-aura backyard exterior to get pleasure from your joe.

“My philosophy at Masterpiece Coffee is inspired by the ‘shokunin spirit’ – a focus on quality and craftsmanship,” he explains. “I want to highlight Asian flavors and Asian coffee-producing countries, creating a slow bar with an intimate setup for deeper connections with customers.”

The cup: People who’ve by no means tried Chinese language espresso are in for a deal with. The brew is fruity and easy, virtually creamy, an ideal backdrop for the flavors within the lattes ($7). “Our most popular drink is the ‘Kuro’ (black in Japanese) using Okinawa black sugar,” Younger says. “We also have a popular ‘Shiro’ latte made with white miso and brown sugar, and a monthly rotating seasonal drink.”

The chew: The store serves pastries from Bake Sum, an Oakland boutique bakery that highlights Asian flavors. Bake Sum makes its decadent croissants with Isigny Ste Mere butter, and does twists on classics like loco-moco danish and a croissant/Spam musubi crossover referred to as a “croissubi.”

Particulars: Open 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at 1714 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley; masterpiececoffee.us

Haiku Teahouse, San Jose

“Steaming cups of change

New leaves bloom with time’s embrace

Flavors come, then drift”

That haiku poetically describes the philosophy behind a brand new enterprise from two entrepreneurial cousins, Kevin Lam (CA Bakehouse) and Tim Cheung (@bayarea.foodies weblog).

Their discuss of opening a inventive, no-boundaries tea store began throughout the pandemic, as they targeting restaurant catering and pop-ups. However it took a couple of years to carry the concept to fruition. Final August, Haiku Teahouse lastly made its debut in San Jose’s Berryessa district.

The pan-Asian menu travels from Taiwan (boba) to Vietnam (espresso) to China (tea), Japan (matcha), Thailand (tea) and the Philippines (citrusy calamansi with tea) — and to South Korea and LA’s Koreatown, the place a espresso drink referred to as the Einspanner that originated in Vienna, Austria, is wildly standard. Historically a sizzling espresso topped with a beneficiant dollop of chilly, freshly whipped cream, the Haiku duo apply the idea to their Matcha, Hojicha and Thai Tea Einspanners ($7 every).

Brewed tea selections ($6.50 for 16 ounces, sizzling or iced) change with the tea harvest seasons. Present buyer favorites embody the complicated 8 Immortals Oolong and the caffeine-free Chrysanthemum. Haiku’s homeowners and their staffers encourage customization, providing sweetness ranges of sunshine, average, “signature sweet” or “full sweetness.”

Younger latte sippers pack the tiny tables most hours at Haiku, so that you may need to attend for a spot to open. However come spring, outside seating will sprout on the expansive patio space.

The cup: We couldn’t resist attempting the Corn Latte ($7.15), a bestseller made with corn milk, a shot of espresso, housemade corn ice cream and whipped cream. Refreshing and evenly corn-flavored on high, the drink turns into extra like a Vietnamese iced espresso because the espresso and cream mix.

The chew: The Lam household’s CA Bakehouse in Little Saigon makes the guava and banana mochi truffles ($3.50). Croissants and muffins fill the remainder of the pastry case.

Particulars: Open day by day from midday to 9 p.m. at The Platform complicated, 1501 Berryessa Street. Park behind the storage off Flea Market Drive (search for the Retail Parking signal), then take the exit walkway to the entrance. https://haikuteahouse.com/

Marvel Cake, Walnut Creek

Maryam Menbari and husband Reza Mirzadeh had been on vacation in Paris after they fell in love with Mariage Freres tea, luxurious tea blends crafted by a French firm that dates again to 1854. Mirzadeh scored a gathering with the corporate and, regardless of being advised that Mariage Freres hardly ever sells its product for out of doors distribution, fashioned a relationship.

At this time, Marvel Cake sells greater than a dozen flavors of Mariage Freres teas, together with blue teas, which mix the sweetness of inexperienced tea with the light flavors of black tea.

It’s been a giant hit at Marvel Cake. The couple opened the primary location in Campbell in 2020, providing teas and pastries baked by Maryam who had been baking truffles for associates, households and company purchasers out of her residence kitchen for years. In 2023, they opened a second location in Palo Alto and the Walnut Creek store has been open since January. Clients can create specialty advance orders or cease by for a soothing afternoon with French tea and a tart.

The cup: Attempt any of the blue teas ($6), just like the Paris in Love, with flavors of rose and purple fruits. The espresso drinks are made out of espresso by San Francisco-based SightGlass Espresso.

The chew: The viral spiral croissant ($7.50) made Marvel Cake well-known. The couple noticed one in New York Metropolis, then determined to carry it to the West Coast. Earlier than they knew it, two-hour-long traces had been forming and each native information station was doing tales on the round croissants which have a crunchy, flaky exterior and creamy inside crammed with pistachio, chocolate, hazelnut, strawberry or matcha.

Particulars: Open 9 a.m to 7 p.m., Tuesday by way of Saturday, and 10 a.m. to  6 p.m. on Sunday at 1496 Newell Ave. in Walnut Creek; marvelcake.com.

Temp & Time, Menlo Park

Hidden behind the Drunken Monk, a Japanese izakaya that opened in early 2024, this new dessert store and cafe in Menlo Park focuses on Asian-inspired roll truffles and Basque cheesecakes, plus inventive teas and occasional.

The cup: With an abundance of tea drinks to pattern, it’s exhausting to choose only one, however the matcha strawberry latte ($6.50) is artwork in a cup. Housemade strawberry puree is layered atop creamy milk, then vibrant inexperienced matcha, yielding a drink that appears nearly as good because it tastes.

The chew: Basque cheesecake or roll cake? It’s a tricky name. Finest get each. The basic Basque-style burnt-top cheesecake ($7.50) is creamy and wealthy; the hojicha roll cake ($6.50) pairs a fluffy cake exterior with dense, creamy inexperienced tea filling and taste. Each are good for a day teatime pick-me-up.

Particulars: Open 12-6 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday at 1438 El Camino Actual, Menlo Park; tempandtimecafe.com.

Proyecto Diaz Espresso, Oakland

This West Oakland spot, opened in early 2024, goes deep on the coffees of Latin America. “We’re one of the few – potentially only — cafes in the Bay Area that historically and currently grows coffee. We come from a long line of coffee growers and have a family coffee farm in Oaxaca, Mexico,” says Fernando Diaz, who owns this coffeehouse together with his spouse, Hannah-Love Diaz.

Clients can get a style of these Mexican beans in addition to espresso from Nicaragua, Bolivia and Colombia, ready at Proyecto Diaz’s roastery a couple of mile away. The preparations vary from normal – pour-over, cappuccino, mocha – to Mazapan latte made with peanut sweet, nitro chilly brew and Americola with espresso and Mexican Coke.

The cafe boasts an airplane hangar-like house exterior to get pleasure from your java, although it’s enjoyable to take a seat inside with its wealth of colourful artifacts, prints and pottery. “We highlight and curate different Latin American elements,” says Diaz. “We treat the space as a pseudo-museum that teaches about different elements of the Latin American diasporas.”