Mint Plaza
66 Mint Street, San Francisco
M-F 7-7,
Saturday and Sundays 8-6
We opened our Mint Plaza café in January of 2008, in the rear of the elegant 1912 Provident Loan Building in downtown San Francisco. In stark contrast to the old limestone-clad Mint just across the street, we’ve loaded this shop with our prettiest, most delicate gear: Perhaps the most compelling is the five-light siphon bar, manufactured by the Lucky i. Cremas company of Japan – the first of its kind in the United States. Here we feature a menu of three single origin coffees which changes weekly. Next is the Kyoto-style iced-coffee apparatus, which produces a delicate, refined and fragrant cold-brewed coffee.
Last but not least is the one-group San Marco lever machine. Clad in glorious rounded copper, it was our very first espresso machine. We think was built in the late 1970s. Sometimes it breaks, and sometimes it breaks our hearts. An aura of doomed romance, frustration, and beauty surrounds it, which makes us think of youthful love. The selection of single origin coffees changes weekly. At the other end of the shop (and spectrum) is a thoroughly modern three-group La Marzocco Linea, with which we make our 17 ft. Ceiling espresso blend. We brew a rotating selection of drip coffee blends individually on a drip bar of our own design. Desserts are made at the Blue Bottle kitchen in Oakland.
We have a small selection of high quality coffee makers, grinders and espresso machines for sale.
The café is available for special events. Please email for more details. We offer beans to sell, dropped off five mornings a week. We use Clover organic milk and organic sugar. Siphon bar and single-origin espresso hours are from 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m.-3 p.m. on weekdays; and 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.-1 p.m.-3 p.m. on weekends. We serve a full breakfast and lunch from 8 a.m.-11 a.m., and 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., respectively. Our weekend brunch service runs from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.