Coffee, Coffee, Coffee in San Ramon

That first sweet cup of coffee bliss brings me out of my slumber every day. I sometimes dream of my first cup of coffee and imagine that heady coffee roasted smell wafting through my room, invading my dreams and causing me to, ghostlike, blunder downstairs to create my first pot of roasted bean wonder.

I often enjoy my awesome coffee goodness without creamers or artificial sweeteners or even fancy additives (syrups and creams and sugars with names I cannot pronounce). No, I sip the pure, unadulterated complex taste, swirling those flavors across my taste buds, imagining the beans being roasted and ground to perfect precision before the hot steaming water effortlessly produces my first cup of the morning. Sweet heaven, sweet joy!

Okay, so I’m a little into my coffee, it’s true. Sometimes in the middle of the afternoon I find myself away from home and alas, I must have my cup of coffee! That’s when I enjoy my coffee pleasure in a local coffee shop. San Ramon has quite a few choices. Our city is home to 2 Peet's, 3 Starbucks, and I discovered several independent coffee shops, like Has Beans, Diedrich Coffee, and the Coffee Cavern on my internet search.

Has Beans is a cute little independent coffee shop, located in the Crow Canyon shopping center near CVS and Safeway. The coffee is good and the service is wonderful. I have not tried Diedrich or the Coffee cavern, so it will be on my list of things to explore.

As I write this article, I am cheerfully sipping my soy latte at my favorite Peet's in the Target shopping center, admiring the heart shape in the foam the barista thoughtfully made.  Now that’s service.

On a road trip, my family knows I have to have my Joe, whether it’s a latte or a simple cup of black coffee, it just makes driving all that much more enjoyable, for me and for my family, who know that me with no coffee is a very scary thing. I whine, I pout, I want coffee.

If there is no Starbucks or other coffee shops to find, I have discovered McDonalds has a whole new McCafe offering different iced coffee drinks, cappuccinos, and mochas, although plain brewed coffee is my favorite. It’s hot, it’s fast, and it will keep you humming your favorite song as you coast on down the road, looking for the next Starbucks or McDonalds, as the case may be in some off beaten tracks of my adventures.

Once in a while, and this is the worst, I can’t locate a McDonalds, or Starbucks or anything but gas stations. That’s when I discovered Chevron’s Extra Mile. The one on San Ramon Boulevard and Bollinger Canyon brew a decent coffee, in assorted flavors and strengths. Van Houtte coffee after pumping your gas and you are ready for a road trip! And how easy is that, you need gas, you need coffee. Voila!

I do enjoy an adventure, especially with a fellow coffee lover at a fun, independent coffee house.  We sit and talk for hours, listening to the hiss of the powerful machine producing little espresso shots that I savor like a piece of fine chocolate or vintage wine upon my tongue.

See you at the coffee shop, let us sit a while and enjoy a quiet moment as I revel in my coffee’s savory bliss.