Highwire Coffee Roasters

1 Reviews on “Highwire Coffee Roasters”

• JKay

  Highwire is a pleasant, spacious caf with good light and seating, free WiFi and plenty of people on laptops. The music is fairly loud inside (but its an interesting eclectic mix) and the staff lean more towards the friendly side than hipster-aloof. The little yard out back is great its a sun trap in the afternoon (theres some shade available) and a very pleasant place for melting the chocolate in your cookie a little : ) I had a Guatemala pour-over ($3.50) served in a nice ceramic mug, which was very good but not so amazingly good that I was tempted to buy a bag ($17.50 for 12 oz). They also do a cold brew nitro-coffee which I didnt spot until afterwards. But I did have a Salty Date cookie ($3) made by Bump City from organic Medjool dates, pecans, almonds, & chocolate chips and sprinkled with large very thin flakes of sea salt. It was very, very good! I think they are stretching the price a little with $3 for a pretty small cookie (they are $2.25 from Bump City) but after eating it, I have to admit, I would pay $3 for another! Easily the best vegan cookie Ive ever had (and its gluten-free too). OK, to be truthful, I havent had that many vegan cookies, but Id also rate it as one of the best cookies Ive ever had, period. Props to Bump City for excellence in vegan baking I want to try more of their stuff now (they also make a vegan Smores cookie).For social and environmental impact Im giving them 4/5 green stars. On their blog they say that they raised coffee prices to ensure a good wage for bay area workers and I found an article (from CUESA) that mentions that they pay around twice the Fair Trade price to farmers (and they often source their single-origin coffees from smaller family farms). They also changed the packaging in 2016, but strangely didnt opt for compostable bags as others (Counter Culture, Ritual) have done. Or maybe it is compostable but its just not stated anywhere. Overall, I feel that Highwire make a lot of effort towards sustainability and social responsibility, but they dont do a very good job at communicating this to customers. Their standard milk is not organic (but its from Clover) and they make a lot of effort to conserve energy and reduce waste (for people who need take-out disposables, the lids and straws are compostable). Judging from their choice of pastry suppliers (Bump City, Muffin Revolution, etc.) they favor local bakers who are conscientious about their ingredients (Bump City uses mostly organic ingredients). Even their ceramics come from Heath (who also supplies Blue Bottle and Chez Panisse) a great voice for putting local creativity, worker welfare and responsibility over profit. I feel grateful to Highwire for introducing me to a great new bakery, a very cool ceramics company, a few new songs, and some very decent coffee!

  October 29, 2016, 7:59 am

  Log in to Reply