Drink This

A Shot of the Dark

Jan Newberry

The beans go by the name of Hair Bender, and after finishing a macchiato at Ritual Coffee Roasters, a spacious new café in the Mission, it might be a good idea to check your tresses for a few extra kinks. This short shot of espresso stained with milk hits your brain like a 300-volt current. The coffee, flown in twice weekly from Portland's Stumptown Coffee Roasters (you may never have heard of it, but among the coffee cognoscenti, it's a legend), rivals the best of the Pacific Northwest and is unlike any available this side of the Oregon border. And when Gabriel Boscana, one of the state's top-ranking baristas (he placed second in a recent competition), is at the machine, you'll be getting what may be the best coffee of your life.

1026 Valencia St., S.F., (415) 641-1024.