coffee shop connoisseur

RJ and I are into beverages. 

He's always been a beverage guy. I remember sending him to the grocery store in our early days of marriage and feeling flabbergasted as I helped him unpack the bags because all he would come home with was one type of fruit, a few varieties of cheese, maybe some pasta sauce and at least 7 different kinds of juice/wine/drinkable yogurt/etc. The guys likes stuff that comes in a cup.

On any given Saturday he'll use at least a dozen different glasses. One for his morning coffee, than a glass of water, followed by some Kombucha (homemade), another cup of coffee (new mug), more water, a glass of juice, and so-on and so-forth. It's quite hilarious actually. (Rephrase: Now I have a dishwasher it's hilarious. There was a lot less laughing when we I did dishes by hand.)

So over the years I've caught some of his enthusiasm for beverages. In particular we both really have a taste for coffee and microbrews. (We are oozing health.) And whenever we travel one of our favorite things to do is find the best local coffee shop and visit a microbrewery (You might remember our Microbrewery tour from last summer.) 

To get four stars a coffee shop must excel in all the following areas:

- quality of coffee

- atmosphere

- barista demeanor 

- pastry quality

I worked for a corporate coffee giant for years and still love their espresso, but these days I much prefer a well-done local shop to a large chain. 

San Luis Obispo is a coffee shop mecca. There is a place to get a cup of joe on every corner. We like many of them for different reasons but our current favorite is Kruezberg. They serve Verve coffee, employ friendly baristas who make pretty drinks with an easy-going manner, awesome atmosphere, and while the pastries aren't amazing the breakfast burritos were bomb. So we'll give them four stars.