Restaurant Review: Blue Bottle Coffee

Claire Zhou and Isabel Ji • January 8, 2025

Winter brew, Winter Latte, and Winter Iced Nola sit on the table. All three drinks were part of the Blue Bottle Coffee’s winter drinks menu.

The minimalist interior of Blue Bottle is inspired by the colors of San Francisco — blue for the sky and off-white like the fog. Their store also featured winter sets. (Claire Zhou)

It hardly looks like winter in San Diego until lights are strung across storefronts and rooftops, and Christmas music begins to play over the radio. At Blue Bottle Coffee, the winter menu serves as another nod to the holiday spirit. Beside their airy off-white walls and blond wood frames, we tried three of their seasonal items: the Winter NOLA ($6.25), Winter Latte ($7.75) and Winter Blend ($5.00). But perhaps the strongest holiday flavor was nostalgia.

The Winter NOLA is a play on Blue Bottle Coffee’s already well-known NOLA — or New Orleans style coffee, which has signature chicory and floral notes — with an addition of mint and chocolate flavors from a partnership with TCHO Chocolate. The drink has high notes of floral, but leaves with a light aftertaste of smoky dark chocolate. While a standard cup is mixed with oat milk and ice, there are also options of other dairy products. The taste of the NOLA was comparable to tea, with a small amount of bitterness and hints of caramel.

“[The NOLA is] a lot of spices and is like the perfect amount of sweet,” Faith Bailey (12) said. “I think it’s really good for a flavored coffee that’s not, like, overbearing.”

The Winter Latte is poured with a tulip. Flavors reflected a toasty, holiday feel with sprinkles for rosemary and red peppercorn. (Claire Zhou)

If you’re looking for a heartwarming drink in recent chilly weather, the Winter Latte, a warm herby aromatic latte topped with pink peppercorn and infused with sweet piney juniper, is the perfect choice. Topping the drink, the latte art of a tulip and warm sensation of the cup gives typical winter-holiday feels. The notes of juniper are noticeably heavy on rosemary, but also contain slight citrus flavoring. Compared to the other winter drinks, this latte is less bold, but definitely more fragrant due to its herby juniper composition and slightly-spicy garnish of pink peppercorn. The drink itself is remarkably creamy, yet also has a unique woody aftertaste from the winter blend.

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For those who enjoy the crisp taste of pour over coffee, the winter menu also features a Winter Blend. The beans are medium dark roast sourced from Latin America with flavors of blackberry and dark chocolate. The coffee itself is similar to Ethiopian coffee, with notes of fruit and flowers, but leans toward a distinctive blackberry tanginess, and a subtle dark chocolate aftertaste that balances the tartness. Much like Blue Bottle Coffee’s reputation, the pour over coffee is light and bitter.

Throughout the winter season, a fresh cup of coffee from Blue Bottle Coffee is definitely a must-have, with our standout favorite being the Winter Latte. Each drink had their own distinctive taste: the Winter NOLA with floral, yet also chocolatey flavoring, the Winter Latte composed of herby sweet juniper and woody notes and the Winter Blend having a bitter blackberry tartness.

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About the Contributors

Claire Zhou, Writer

An equal parts music and riddle enthusiast, sophomore Claire Zhou enjoys listening to Clairo, Big Thief or Adrianne Lenker while solving daily New York Times sudoku puzzles. For her first year on the Falconer, Claire is thrilled to find a writing community while covering stories on the Carmel Valley community in addition to picking up new skills and perspectives along the way. She is also involved in TPHS Math Club as well as Youth Care Club. When she’s not in school, Claire enjoys reading work by Paige Lewis, attempting to write poetry, and growing her collection of annotated Jane Austen books. Otherwise, Claire can be found volunteering at the local food bank, senior center, or binging Gilmore Girls. Someday, she will attend culinary school with her younger sister.

Isabel Ji, Writer

Sitting in cafes and sipping on matcha lattes is a common environment to see Isabel Ji, a sophomore at TPHS and a first-time Falconer staff writer. Outside of the Falconer, Ji loves to play volleyball, draw and cook food from a variety of cuisines for her family — especially Chinese. She moves throughout her day with a growing imagination, expectation for the future, and sweet tooth for ice cream. Ji looks forward to growing as a writer, artist and social media manager. Passions of hers includes expressing her creativity through managing social media for DECA, a business club, Psychology club and Roboctopi, a robotics team. Ji loves music of all kinds from rap to indie, including Mac Miller, Dominic Fike and Malcom Todd. She is always ready to learn new things and work through any challenges she comes across.