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A cousin took us to Barefoot Coffee on a recent visit to the Bay Area.  It is hidden in a nondescript shopping center in Santa Clara, like so many good coffee shops and restaurants in California.  But as soon as you step up to the sidewalk you see good signs – people sitting at round tables outside, sipping coffee and talking, relaxing in the cool weather.  Inside, it is  clearly a coffee aficionado’s dream come true.  There are bags of coffee beans along one wall, and a bar for ordering specialty drinks.

I tried the Cubano – the sugar is caramelized in the shot itself.  I still had to sweeten it a bit for my taste, but it was damn good. Comes complete with coffee art.

Two of our party ordered the Caramel Brulee – a drink with caramelized sugar on top (blow torch and all).  Two thumbs up.

Finally, I had to buy a bag of the Honey Edlyna.  I didn’t know what a honey process is, but I wanted to find out.  Thanks to Google, I found this video that explains it a bit, but this article on barista exchange does it one better.  There’s a lighter color mixed in with the normal color of the roasted beans, and it sticks a bit to the scoop once you grind it up.  I’m assuming this is a byproduct of the honey processing.  I didn’t realize it was going to be $18 when I picked it up.  A bit pricey.  But the smell of this coffee is nearly worth the price.  I ground it this morning, filling the kitchen with the smell, and made it with a french press.  Worth every penny.  But if you’re on a budget, check the prices first.

Barefoot gets my recommendation.  Ratings are high on yelp – especially considering it is in California.

Update: Since the first french press, I also tried this as Vietnamese drip with condensed milk (just a little), and french press with condensed milk, and french press with a little skim milk and sugar.  I can’t decide which is my favorite but it is hard to go wrong with a strong french press brew.