Good news for these folks. Long been one of my favorites but nice to see them garner attention from those who know more than I do.
I read about his through the San Diego Union at:
San Diego Union Article on Bird Rock Coffee Roasters
The folks giving out the award are Roast Magazine at:
This place is my current favorite spot for a great cup of cappuccino. Zumbar’s is very close, they both make strong espresso that is super rich but not bitter.
While I love them both, the setting in Bird Rock is the bomb. Grab a cup of coffee, relax awhile, and then go for a walk down to the beach, which is ONLY a couple blocks away. Some nice grass covered park space nearby and some awesome waves to watch the surfers exploit.
They carry pastries from Bread and Cie, which have the best cinnamon rolls on the planet.
They also roast some really rare beans here. They rarely over roast anything, most of it has a medium roast to it. Lots of Batak’s and Peaberry beans. Never bought a bag of coffee beans that I didn’t think was some of the best coffee I have purchased. Today I purchased a special roast of Sumatra, designated as coming from Lake Tawar. Here is their tasting note on it:
TASTING NOTE:
From Northern Sumatra, this coffee is similar to the Blue Batak we have carried for a few seasons. Unlike most coffee from Sumatra, this lot is meticulously processed at origin and this extra effort shows. A coffee for the adventurous: Intense, earthy yet clean, full-bodied and dense, yet slightly sweet. Syrup-like in texture, a hint of cherries maybe grapefruit in the cup, rich, distinctive and memorable.Here’s what Ken Davids had to say about it: Pungently sweet and deep in both aroma and cup. Very complex: black cherry, grapefruit, fresh-turned earth, cedar, a hint of night flowers. Rich, grapefruit-toned acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel, sweetly tart finish saturated with fruit. This received 94 points from Coffee Review.
5627 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla CA 92037
858.551.1707
HRS: Mon-Fri 6am-6pm | Sat-Sun 6:30am-6pm
O’Brien’s Pub is kind of a classic, old school, pub. Seems like it is usually full of thirsty guys. My wife always comments that there are over 90% men there. There are places that have a fancier decor, no doubt but NOBODY pours better brew on a regular basis than these guys do. Their tasting events are legendary. You can sign up for their email list at their website. I read every one!
A couple of my favorite events this past year have been the Russian River “Tion” tasting and the Alesmith Stout tasting.
For the Russian River “Tion” tasting, they feature all 17 of the RR brews whose name end with “tion”. For example, Damnation, Supplication, etc. Most of these are sours. I’ve attended this even for about 3 years now and it took two times before I became addicted to this style. Now I am seeking them out everywhere I go.
One other thing they had at one of these events was a cask version of their Porter. That was totally awesome. Imperial styled, this was the best Porter I have ever tasted. Wish I could get it more often!
The other event that was awesome was the Alesmith Kopi Luwak Speedway Stout release tasting. This is a coffee bean Stout made from some of the most expensive coffee beans on the planet. Wild stuff, look up Kopi Luwak in Google, if you don’t know about it. Anyhow, along with this, they had some older cask versions of the Speedway Stout there too. As a special treat, I pulled out a bottle of some aged Speedway that had about 3 years on it. I think it was the beer of the night, which is saying something!
Anyhow, O’Brien’s rocks for having the best beer. Oh, and they have some decent food. Gastropub style. They make a darned good hamburger with stilton blue and bacon. They do specials all the time and keep a board menu out front, as you walk in. If you are hungry, don’t forget to check it out.
They are located in kind of a strange place. Right in the middle of the Oriental section of Kearny Mesa on Convoy Street.
