Philz Coffee: San Mateo/San Francisco, CA, USA
Philz is actually a “local” coffee shop to the Bay area. Their unique style of drink dispensing starts off with a wait in what is usually a moderate line that snakes around wooden rails in an s-shaped box spiral. At the counter, you select from their very distinct coffee flavors: light, medium, or dark roasts. At that point you can either pay first at the counters to the side, or you can have a seat right in front of the counter at the wooden bench so placed just for this purpose, until your beverage is ready.
Now moving on to the more important part: the beverage. I was highly recommended to get the mint mojito coffee. This only comes iced so if you want it in a hot version, you’re SOL. I will tell you though, as much as I like my coffee hot in the mornings, I gave it up for this drink. Made with a spring (and possibly muddled mint leaves), this drink is very light in flavor, ridiculously creamy, and ultra decadent. You can also ask them to sweeten it slightly for you but mind you, these Californians don’t understand the level of sweetness as compared to a Southerner like me. “Lightly sweetened” means barely any sugar to the point where you want to question if there was any point to adding sweetener at all. That being said, most Californians have ridiculously nice bodies and are super in shape. In fact, they are much more in shape than us Southerners (and this Southerner goes to the gym several times a week!)
The (iced) Mint Mojito (Latte)
PROS
- thick and creamy
- super filling
- cold
- light coffee flavor, especially after the cream is added
- low sugar
- very nice combination with the mint leaves!
CONS
- no hot version
You can totally find Philz at various locations throughout the city, including the suburbs. I did try their light roast coffee on the first day that I was in San Mateo, and it was way better than Starbucks. You’d be surprised at how awful the coffee at Starbucks tastes once you get to try some local coffeeshops and roasting companies. All in all, I’d totally give the mint mojito 4 stars (****). If you like your coffee black though, this drink is NOT for you. I think I put on about three pounds just from all the half-and-half that they use for this drink and given that I drank about four of these in a three day weekend, that’s not helping the waistline much. Good thing we were celebrating the beginning of Veramas!
Philz’s Coffee website is listed here.
Let me know what you think!
R/g
Rammiegirl 2.0 