Hill of Beans

Morning Joe at Santa Barbara’s Roasting Company

View from their sidewalk seating area. The double-wide doors are open to allow the fresh sea-breeze in, and it’s delightful!

For those of you that came with me via video on post: Sunrise in Santa Barbara, and even for those that didn’t, I’d like to invite you to join me for the next leg up on the day: a fresh cuppa Joe at the RoCo! Where better to meet for coffee than the RoCo? In Santa Barbara, especially, since the SB Roasting Company is just a hop, skip, & bean away from Shoreline Park, the area our streaming capture of daybreak…ahh…broke. Located on Motor Way, but close enough to the park to walk, the quaint little streetlet is adjacent the freeway overpass at Lower State, while the RoCo itself is a longtime local’s favorite for getting our mocha-choca-Latte-Machiatto  on!

I got to be straight with you.  There’s been a > leetle < downtime twixt sunrise & some cups, here…Mainly because I didn’t want to scare the crowd that converges on this happening hotspot between 7 & 11 with my bedhead & lack of naturally applied beauty, but also because I went back home to scratch out some dawn-inspired poetry. Well, that and some facebooking, because Grumpy Cat isn’t going to post himself, you know, and there may have been some serious re-examination of the alphabet’s end, as well.

(AKA Zzzzz’s)

But we’re here now, and the “now” is all we ever really have, and since the first 75 minutes of this now offers entirely free parking in the neighboring lot, we have plenty of time for extreme caffeination.  And some aromatic tug-o-wars with the olfactory sense! Because that’s the first thing that grabs you on approach, of course. The Pied Piper aroma of some 25 varieties of freshly roasted & ground beans, a process that happens on site, and in some cases—right before your eyes in the ceiling tall, all-steel roasting drums.

Hill of Beans!

Sealing in flavors as appealing as Chocolate Raspberry &Palazzio Cinnamon, the gamut of taste choices is extensive, and features all the Cremes’, Vanillas’ and Nuts you could want, while the regions these beans come from encompasses all 3 growing zones of the Bean Belt. This purely theoretical Belt girds the globe at its equatorial waistline, and a given bean’s geographical origin is sure to affect its natural acidities and oils, just as sun & soil conditions affect the tannins in a wine grapes harvest—an astringent component virtually non-existent in coffee, contrary to common belief.

If you want to know more about such intricacies, you’ll have to hoof it to RoCo & chat with Brolin Russel yourself. It’s still too early for me to count too many Bean facts, but the outgoing son of Corey Russel—the RoCo’s visionary CEO and starter of business—is half a lifetime into his work. And a whole lot more awake than me, since the family-oriented shop opens its doors at the time I’m generally opening my eyes. (filming of sunrise videes, excepted) Yes, at half past the cock-a-doodle-doin’ hour of 5 am, Monday through Friday, and 6 am on the weekends, any early bird can get their “warm”. Even an early bird’s virtual, bird buddies can get their warm, since free Wi-Fi is a perk of this percolated, morning spot.

Santa Barbara Roasting Company

Or mid-morning spot…and since it is a bit later than dawn, there aren’t too many folk on line ahead of me, but I still have a chance to ogle the display cases stuffed with a tempting array of locally made pastries & sandwiches. From the ribbons of maple syrup on Debbie’s Delight-ful maple pecan scones, to filling-phat sandwiches, to the fragrant loaves of pillow-soft bread fresh from our Daily Bread, there’s plenty to give thanks for with these goodies on the menu.

And the Bean Menu is gratitude itself. A sight for tired eyes, all right, it’s as varied as the prices are reasonable, with more than a dozen, differently flavored coffees from which to choose, while the barrister-crafted, specialty brews smack back Starbucks vaunted Venti’s to the tune of foldable money in your pocket. A foam-topped selection can be enjoyed for as little as 3 bucks! That’s a lot of Bean for your Buck, chickens, and now that you’re armed with as many nuts, bolts & freshly-brewed facts about the RoCo as I am, I’m going to sign off and enjoy the buzz! I’ll leave you with these peeks inside the airy shop, though, and a drowsy thank-you for sharing an eye-opener with me this AM.

Not closer to noon at all! ;)