BY EMILY JOY MENESES BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Featured photo courtesy of Sextant Coffee Roasters
Though the city has changed a lot over the years, one thing that has always been intrinsic to San Francisco is its vibrant coffee culture—a movement powered by people from all over the world and their desire to infuse their unique backgrounds and histories into the drinks they offer. Today, we’re showcasing the Golden City and three of its most notable POC-owned cafés: Telescope Coffee, Pinhole Coffee, and Sextant Coffee Roasters.
Telescope Coffee
Operating since 2021, Telescope Coffee is a partnership between Jenny Ngo and Jenny Huynh, and the café recently moved into their new location on Sixth Street. Jenny Ngo serves as the coffeehouse’s pastry chef, whipping up specials like strawberry jasmine almond tarts, s’mores cakes, and citrus meringue puffs, while Jenny Huynh runs the coffee program, serving beans from her San Jose, Calif.-based roastery Cosmic Dust Coffee.
Notably, the shop’s menu features Vietnamese coffee, made with coffee beans that Jenny Huynh sources directly from Vietnam. Other customer favorites include the honeycomb latte and the mandarin clementine caramel latte—a drink the café recently added to their seasonal menu.
Pinhole Coffee
Located in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights, Pinhole was founded in 2014 by JoEllen Depakakibo, who got her start working at Intelligentsia Coffee in Chicago and Blue Bottle Coffee in California and New York. She brings her background into a variety of her cafe’s offerings—like the MasarapBlend (masarap meaning “delicious” in Tagalog) or the Cup of José Blend, named after her father.
The coffeehouse is also known for its creative seasonal and signature drinks, like the June Bug, infused with a house-made syrup of juniper berry, orange peel, rosemary, and orange blossom water, or blueberry pancake-inspired lattes infused with blueberry, lavender, and maple syrup. The café is also proudly queer-owned, showing support for other local queer-owned businesses like Modern Coffee, Kokak Chocolates, and Out and About Bookshop.
Sextant Coffee Roasters
Founded by first-generation Ethiopian Kinani Ahmed, Sextant Coffee Roasters specializes in direct-trade Ethiopian coffee—a reflection of Ahmed’s desire to share his country’s rich coffee culture with his home in San Francisco. One notable coffee offering is the Black Lion, an organic Yirgacheffe heirloom coffee with notes of honeywine, blueberry, and jasmine.
On the menu, you’ll also find creative drinks like hibiscus lavender tea. Or check out the Espresso Collins: a Tom-Collins inspired drink made with espresso, sparkling water, lemon, and simple syrup.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Emily Joy Meneses (she/they) is a writer and musician based in Los Angeles. Her hobbies include foraging, cortados, vintage synths, and connecting with her Filipino roots through music, art, food, and beverage.
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