Four Barrel

Four Barrel Gets Edgy For the Holidays

“Fuck it!”—it's basically our parent's YOLO.  And just in time for the last minute gift-giving season, Four Barrel has rolled out a new coffee mug barring the old-timey exclamation of pseudo-subversive whimsy.  Only $10!

Meanwhile:

[Photo by WBTC]

Four Barrel Bans Instagraming Anti-Hipster Signage

Four Barrel updated their draconian laws this week, adding “not posting this on instagram” to the list.  The irony, of course, is that the very first photo taken with Instagram was of a Four Barrel cappuccino.  I guess they really hate the attention.

[via Instagram]

No More Talking About "Annoying Hipster Topics" and "Who You Fucked Last Night" at Four Barrel

Alley Barrel, Four Barrel's back-alley weekend coffee joint, is laying down the law, hoping to keep nice with the neighbors.  They won't tolerate further littering, dirty dishes left outside, and customers being oblivious while in traffic—common sense stuff I think we can all agree is good for everybody.  But their last law is a doozy: “Not talk about annoying hipster topics, or who you fucked last night.  You shouldn't do that anyhow, but our neighbors actually can hear you.”

Now, we're not particularly sure what qualifies as “annoying hipster topics”—the quality of various local music festivals? Mission vs. Public bikes? Telling the barista what kind of coffee you want?—but rest assured, Four Barrel Coffee wants none of your hipster hooey.

[Pic and Further Analysis by MrEricSir]

Missing Boar Head Replaced with Whimsical Collage

Ever since we brought you breaking coverage of the boar head theft at Four Barrel back in April, we've been carefully monitoring the situation for new developments.  After all, with only three boars, shouldn't the place change their name to Three Boar-el?  No?  What, that was a good pun.  Stop hitting me.

As of this week the cafe's gallery was refreshed with new work by Aaron Rodriguez.  With the new art, the dotted line where the boar head once stood is no longer empty — it's now filled with a whimsical collage.

This, folks, means there is hope. If an artist can use that space, who's to say their art itself cannot be an actual boar head mounted on a wooden shield?  The act of artistic re-boarment would not only restore Four Barrel's rightful fourth boar, but would also make the artist a hero to coffee nerds who make snarky comments about their shitty iPhone photos in local blogs.

Get on it, artists.  We're counting on you.

Video FINALLY Sheds Some Light on the Life of Four Barrel Coffee's Owner

Ever wanted to know about the day-to-day of Four Barrel Coffee owner Jeremy Tooker? Of course you have! And lucky for you, the new YouTube series “American Hipster” (which we had anticipated would be pretty “meh”) delivers a surprisingly sincere portrait of Jeremy, painting him as a fairly normal dude self-aware of Four Barrel's pretension.

(Also, is this the crystal ball into the future for the successful 20-something Mission kids as they crawl into their 30s? Total workaholic sporting tattoos who does cool dad stuff with mixed race kids all while lamenting the inherent pretentiousness of their hipster-targeted business? Whoa. Is there a Never Never Neverland?)

Schmendricks Brooklyn Bagels is Launching with a Party

I know this is an unappetizing photo of appetizing bagels, but you should pay attention anyway.  Why?  Because San Francisco's bagel scene has historically sucked shit, but then Schmendricks Brooklyn Bagels came along and changed the fucking game (I'm cussing because I'm excited).  Finally, a puffy bagel that tastes like a proper meal, rather than some circular afterthought.  Perhaps more importantly, a bagel that makes me want to eat bagels again.

Enough gushing.

After a few months of weekend pop-ups and a casual delivery service, the Schmendricks folks are stepping up their blooming bagel empire (we can only hope this means daily sales in various neighborhood cafes in the near future).  In doing so, they're kicking it off with a launch party at Four Barrel on May 10th:

Sure, 20 bucks might be a tad steep, but you get one free adult beverage.  And bagels.  So many bagels.

So if launch parties and bagels and adult beverages are you kinda thing, head over to their Eventbrite and plop down your credit card. 

Blantant Theft of Four Barrel's Boar Head Confirms Coffee Drinkers "Just Don't Give a Fuck"

The laughing at the end of the video suggests this was some sort of April Fools' prank, although the video was uploaded to the You Tubes on March 31st.  No matter; the fact that a bunch of fancy coffee drinkers will literally just stand around as a bunch of dapper white dudes sporting ski masks climb a ladder and lift a dead beast of the wall, waiting for a barista to get involved, pretty much screams “open season on coffee shop artwork” amirite?

[h/t Mission Local]

Four Barrel Baristas Also Say Shit

I know you'd rather lick the sidewalk than watch another “Shit ______ Says” video, buttttttt this one was put together by a barista Four Barrel and it reveals a lot about local coffee culture that I did not know about.  Like soy is looked down upon.  And someone still listens to The Shins.

[via Grub Street]

SFPD Storms Four Barrel, Guns Drawn, Following Valencia St. Beatdown

Mission Local follows up:

A scuffle on 15th Street near Valencia quickly escalated into a fight involving at least four suspects and two arrests just after 4 p.m. today. […]

When the victim was down on the ground, the male suspect pulled out a gun. The victim then attempted to take the gun from the male suspect, at which point the female suspect attacked the victim. During the struggle, a shot was fired but no one was injured.

According to eyewitness accounts from workers at PicaPica Maize Kitchen, a crowd gathered around the scene and people attempted to help the victim. Two men reportedly emerged from a vehicle, and one beat the victim with a bat.

And then the attackers fled into Four Barrel…

According to [Four Barrel coffee roaster Tal Mor], the suspects ran to the back room where he was roasting coffee beans and asked if they could get out. When Mor denied them an exit, they turned around and tried to blend in among the 80 or so customers. When officers arrived, they were handcuffed.

Read on.

[Tweet | Aftermath photo by Mai]