1. The best flat white in Oakland and definitely my top 3 places in the Bay Area…read more 2. They remember your name after the first visit 3. Jefrey is an absolutely charming human being

This cute new coffee spot in West Oakland is going to slowly become your new favorite morning…read morecaffeine infusion with the fun music, delicious drinks, and great friendly staff to welcome you to start your next new day. They have outdoor and indoor seating and a spacious design that is welcoming with a Latin twist. This is probably the only spot that I know where you can get Horchata and a tamale to pair with your caffeine fix. The service is super quick, the prices are super reasonable, and you'll feel good about supporting this small business. Perfect for big or small groups and conveniently located next to Pacific pipe and Renegade Running. You'll find some great group active meet ups in this area which is a nice little bonus. The cafe de Olla is absolutely fantastic and smells amazing. Probably super reasonably considering the quality and the taste you are getting I will easily get this drink every time I pop into this area.

Roots & Craft Tea Roasters is a San Francisco based tea brand founded in 2018 that specializes in…read moresustainably grown and harvested artisanal tea from Miyazaki, Japan. They market their teas through their website shop and at Dolores Outpost in San Francisco. Through the years they have taken part in pop-ups at various locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area serving their Matcha, Hojicha and Sencha teas along with other Japanese specialties. Although I had previously had a sampling of their teas at one of their San Francisco pop-ups and have followed them on Facebook and Instagram it wasn't until recently that I became more interested in their product. Back in late April 2020 (actually May 1st) during the height of sheltering in place and bored out of my mind I came upon a ZOOM program hosted by the Japan Society of Northern California introducing participants to make-at-home tea concoctions using Roots & Craft artisanal teas and various forms of alcoholic beverages taught by Roots & Craft founders Maya Kono and her partner Teru. I learned of so many unique tea based beverages during that hour long presentation that suddenly I wanted to try them all. Then came the announcement about a week ago that following a series of successful pop-up events at Oakland's O2 Artisans Aggregate (now also known as Magnolia Mini Mart during the COVID-19 era) located at 2311 Magnolia Street in a mostly industrial area in West Oakland that Roots & Craft will set up shop every Friday and Saturday from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM until further notice. A week later on a beautifully sunny July 4th Saturday I found myself at Magnolia Mini Mart minutes after they had opened their gate to pay a visit with Maya and Teru and their Roots & Craft shared stall located next door to June's Pizza. The featured beverage for their July 4th pop up was their Hojicha Frappe which I ordered to be made with oat milk (whole milk and almond milk were the other options). Hojicha is a Japanese green tea where the tea leaves are roasted instead of steamed which gives it a smoky, almost nutty flavor. Their Hojicha Frappe combines their brewed Hojicha tea with your choice of milk, white chocolate chips and ice cubes. It can be topped with a whipped dairy cream which I opted out of and a dusting of Hojicha tea powder. In addition to the Frappe I ordered one of two featured Japanese sandwiches that being a dessert-like fresh fruit sandwich. For the month of July Roots & Craft in collaboration with Shades of Sugar Bakeshop of Oakland are featuring a set of tea inspired macarons. I couldn't pass on that so I ordered some of those as well. After conversing with the super nice couple I took a seat at the outdoor garden located in front of the neighboring Soba Ichi Restaurant to enjoy my treats. The Hojicha Frappe was amazing and the roasted, nutty flavor really shone so much in fact that I mistakenly thought the little ground up bits of white chocolate chips were crushed hazelnuts. The fruit sandwich was a hit as well. Sandwiched in between two slices of light and airy bread were huge pieces of fresh mango, pineapple, banana, peach and orange in a lightly sweetened whip cream. I had another commitment in the East Bay that limited my time here, but I've got a couple of off days next weekend and I'll be sure to return to try out some more tea-inspired concoctions from Roots & Craft. In the meantime, I can't wait to dig into those tea-inspired macarons. For COVID-19 contactless payments via credit card is used and hand sanitizer is available on the counter. Maya and Teru wear face masks and to be respectful you should too. There is plenty of open space on site for social distancing. For more information on Roots & Craft check out their website or follow them on Instagram. Interested in those tea-inspired July only macarons you can get more info or preorder them at this link: https://www.shadesofsugarbakeshop.com/matcha

The review is for their superb service, I was unsure of their hours and they promptly responded…read moreback to me through Instagram. I swung by and got their Matcha Tonic with Hojicha Latte each ~$6. I'd say it's a bit pricey for what it is but they also have food that I Must come back to try.

After Covid knocked me down and broke my cookies, I stood up and decided to get my stuff together…read moreand do something nice for people I know and love. I decided to learn to roast coffee beans. Where to start? Sweet Maria's! I ordered the roaster, the beans, the bags, the book, all the things. I watched videos on their website (also, YouTube, I will not lie and pretend YouTube does not teach me all the things, it does, and so does the SM website, use both, but this review is for SM so I digress). I use the SR800 Fresh Roast air roaster. I love it. I upgraded to a Behmor AB2000 drum roaster and I was SOOO disappointed. No good way to watch temperature, no good way to stop it from coast roasting, just spent more money on a thing that was not (to ME) an improvement. I returned to my Fresh Roast 800 and I have gotten really good at roasting beans. I love the green beans selections from Sweet Maria's. The descriptions are great and they really know which beans roast up darker or lighter - I always press on that envelope and then I say to myself, "Why did I not just do what they tell me to do?" So do pay attention to the roast profiles on the beans - if you like yours dark, make sure Sweet Maria's thinks you should roast them up to Full City Plus. OK, other great things: They ship fast, and they have a nice flat rate UPS option that shows up on your doorstep quickly. They also have pick up service for when you drop your roasting chamber and break it on the day you planned on roasting. Yes, get a spare and yes, go pick that thing up instead of waiting on UPS! It's a cute little location and the folks are friendly. Beans beans - they source them from everywhere and the prices are right. Even Kona beans are available once in a while, which makes my heart sing songs about my coffee addiction. I am currently totally crushing on these: Honduras Dry Process Edwin Ever Parainema Kona Darnall Estate Typica Yemen Mokha Matari Guatamala Antigua Pulcal Inteligente Mexico (Organic!) Chiapas El Desvio Zambia Kateshi Estate AA I love Sumatra but I have not yet quite mastered that art yet, now that I have been at this game for about 5 years. Pro Tip: Order 1/2 lb tin-tie paper bags with ties so you can give some bean love to your friends. Other pro tips: Do get the Ecotact green coffee storage bags if you don't plan to roast your beans right away. Keep them fresh! Definitely store in good one-way valve containers, and don't roast too much all at once - just to have it get oxidized too quickly. Fresh! Fresh I tell you! They have an Atmos vacuum container. I use Airscape, works well.

Superb service and selection of green beans for roasting. They have everything for coffee.read more

My sister came to town with a list of businesses she wanted to check out (specifically coffee…read moreplaces because she loves coffee) and this is one of the places from her list. I had never heard of it, but I am sooo glad she found it! Everything we had was delicious! And those pastries??? Heavenly!!! The atmosphere in the building is relaxed and chill, and on one of the coolest things we saw in there were the positive, loving notes written by children in the community and posted around the room! We got soo much joy from reading them! Great food and drinks, friendly, welcoming staff, relaxing atmosphere ... This place is the definition of a hidden gem! Highly recommended!!

Nice little hidden gem in Oakland. It's a chill spot to hang out at and they serve good lattes…read more They get their baked goods from Starter Bakery. My hubs and I got the Egg Bhurji Plate and I liked it. It's like a Mediterranean style omelette. The toast was nicely toasted and buttery. The ketchup used for the omelette had a nice spicy kick. They also have a book shelf for the fellow readers and a couple of games in stock. So yea, I'd come back.

So good anything you order is so good I will definitely my new go to coffee shop. 10/10read more

We come from out of State to Oakland to visit family and our favorite cafe for our daily coffee has…read morebeen Sana'a Cafe! Their organic coffee tastes great, the space is pleasant with a lot of natural light and the atmosphere is relaxed. We also love the mix of clientele which is just so Oakland. However this visit has been different. The quality of service has fallen tremendously. Despite the specific but extremely simple instructions of the order, it's rarely followed fully. One day it will be perfect, the next the coffee is barely warm when one has asked for extra hot; or one coffee will be sweetened and the other not at all when the instructions clearly ask for light sweet. One day we got two espressos instead of two cortados! The heated fatayer were cold in the corners and all crowded on to one plate so you couldn't tell which has which filling. Just generally, it's as if the people behind the counter no longer care that your experience should be great or that one cup of coffee that you have in your day be perfect! It's not even as if one is asking for anything outside of their ordering menu. We're really dismayed and saddened to see our favorite coffee haunt fall so far from grace. Here is hoping, though, that they will rethink their service attitude.

Such a great spot! The staff is incredibly friendly, and you really can't beat the prices here -…read moresuper affordable. I got the bacon and egg sandwich on a brioche bun with spicy mayo. It came out warm, fresh, and perfectly toasted. I honestly never thought spicy mayo would complement this kind of sandwich so well, but it was super tasty. I will definitely be coming back to try something else on the menu.

Had the bacon breakfast croissant sandwich. Finally somewhere that has flavor in their food ‍ also…read moregot a hazelnut iced latte which passed the color and taste test. The barista was so nice and attentive with service. Overall 10/10 will be back soon

Got an iced horchata latte and loved it! Also got an almond croissant which was a bit mushy, but…read morenot too bad! Also got banana bread which was also okay. Good space that has plenty of seating. Staff were pleasant. Not sure if they had wifi though!

Was really looking forward to finally checking this place out. They have a bunch of things to try…read moreon the menu. There was a lot of people in there 1/2 an hour before closing too so I'm sure the place is good. I tried something new cause I usually love this drink: banana matcha, (Even though i originally came to try something else) but I was disappointed. Matcha flavor was really light and so was the banana flavor. It was more of a light matcha milk, if you will. I will come back to try what I originally wanted to drink (horchata matcha latte, I believe it was) cause I really think they have good drinks. I've heard great things from friends so maybe I just got a bad drink, off day, or because it was a new drink on the menu, it just hasn't been perfected yet? Not sure but just wasn't what I usually expect from a matcha drink. Other than that, service was great. The cashier was really nice. I was able to find street parking really easily as well. (If you do try the banana matcha, maybe ask for less milk!)

Delah Coffee is a local gem that I love supporting! Located off the busy intersection of Grand Ave,…read morethis cafe offers a variety of Yemeni/middle eastern drinks and pastries. There are plenty of open seats inside, which is great for spending time with friends, reading a book or studying. I tried a few things this time - the Biscoff latte which is new, the pistachio and rose croissant, the milk cake, and the spinach and cheese turnover. Beginning with the latte, it actually wasn't too sweet and the Biscoff gave the coffee a light richness that wasn't overpowering. The milk cake is soft and practically melts in your mouth. The croissant goes well with the pistachio and rose filling. Lastly, the spinach and turnover is light, baked to golden perfection, and is the perfect size to share. I can't wait to come visit again!

Got the Yemeni latte (one regular sweet the other not sweet). The coffee was STRONG and spicy (not…read morehot spicy but rich and flavorful spice-forward). The pistachio and rose lattes also looked really good!

Great location with an excellent staff. Everyone is friendly, engaging , and consistently upbeat…read morewhich makes the experience really enjoyable. The condiment section is always clean and well stocked , and the location itself is very convenient. Always a pleasant stop.

Came here for the 1st time... ordered a grande, it felt super empty... I opened it and it was half…read moreway only. Don't come here, we paying for this shit... what a waste of money. They don't care... the worst Starbucks ever