In 1683, Franz George Kolshitsky opened in Vienna, The Blue Bottle, Central Europe’s first coffee house. Fast forward to 2002, when James Freeman, a slightly disaffected freelance musician and coffee lunatic decided to focus on selling coffee less than 48 hours out of vintage roasters. In honor of Kolshitsky, he named his business Blue Bottle Coffee Company, and opened a shop in Oakland, California.
Blue Bottle Coffee Company uses only the finest organic, and pesticide-free, shade-grown beans. Unique slow drip devices are used to prepare Blue Bottle’s Kyoto coffee. This is Blue Bottle’s trademark sight: iced coffee, brewed drip-by-drip, intended to be consumed black.
The company has grown to multiple locations of cafes in California and New York, wholesale partners, an espresso cart, and a coffee kiosk.
Blue Bottle’s book, Craft of Coffee, hits bookstores on October 9, 2012. The book written by James Freeman, his wife Caitlin, and Tara Duggan provides recipes for the company’s renowned baked goods. With selections ranging from saffron-vanilla snickerdoodles and chocolate Parisian macarons to strawberry buckles with lemon-pistachio streusel, coffee drinkers are not the only ones who will appreciate these tasty treats.
Sections of the book include “With Your Morning Coffee,” “Perfect for Dunking” and “In The Afternoon,” each of which offers both sweet and savory options to make at home, though none of the recipes include coffee in the food itself.
