Artís Coffee

Such a stellar coffee experience! We walked in and we were greeted by the coffee roaster at the "bar." (see photo uploaded) We were instructed to pick out our fresh beans (in barrels) where we would then have them freshly roasted right then and there. While we waited, we tried their vanilla latte and it was excellent! You can not beat fresh vanilla syrup made by the team that works there. This coffeehouse has atmosphere is bright, open and airy with a definitive industrial/warehouse feel to the place. There's plenty of seating to be found and lots of coffee equipment/gadgets to be purchased at this neat, new-ish coffeehouse on the 4th Street drag.

Great coffee ... but really, kick your Internet Services Provider to the curb. I don’t mind paying top dollar for the coffee and ambience, however one should be able to work from a laptop without getting kicked off every 5 minutes. This is the only coffee shop in Berkeley where I experience issues. Addiitonally, the last 5 lattes I received were luke warm at best. Really an unenjoyable experience for a $6 cup of coffee. Ask for it extra hot. Really want to like this place, but this issues should be addresed as you are paying top dollar for the experience.

Great coffee and nice vibe. I suggest their flat whites and cortados. Ever single time I come here there isn't any good seating to work(they could definitely add another table), so I suggest coming here to get coffee to go.

Fantastic coffee, to be sure, but the food is banal and overpriced. I ordered an avocado toast on sourdough - the tomato was sad, the sourdough hardly toasted, and dry... If I had made a toast that sad at home I would've tossed it and bought better ingredients, but here I had to eat this $6 "toast" in sadness and self-loathing

I'm revising my review. This used to be the best coffee shop in the bay area but it's been going slowly downhill. They switched to these awful metal filters for pour overs that leave a disgusting sediment in the cup. It doesn't even extract properly as the holes are way too big and it drains fast. For a while I've been able to ask for my pour over in a V60 with paper filter but today I was told they got rid of all their V60s and refused to make me a pour over with a paper filter. I was left with a gross sediment filled coffee that tasted ALL wrong.

They also switched to these hipster looking paper bags that your coffee will go bad in much much faster than their older style thick bags with inner aluminum linings (yes, they changed bags a while ago but it was a horrible decision. The new bags breathe way too much)

Tons of seating. Excellent for college students doing their work. Large interior. Outside seating as well. Very simple coffee menu compared to Starbucks. Reasonable prices. Nice staff. Very clean.

Where else can you choose your coffee and have it roasted in front of you? Awesome concept for the home brewer who isn't ready or interested in roasting their own.

Plus the location is great and the staff is friendly - why would anyone go to Pete's again?

Must try the iced honey lavender latte.

Delicious coffee, freshly roasted, brewed properly, cozy/nice/modern atmosphere, and non-pretentious/great service! Also, Artis supports women in the international coffee community... Just LOVE this place all around!

My first impression of Artis was that it’s spacious, light-filled, and welcoming. It has a great laid back atmosphere and friendly staff. There’s nicely spaced out indoor and outdoor seating. The music is mellow but good and not too loud. It’s on the edge of the fourth street area but it doesn’t feel overrun by rich folk and it’s not overly hipster either. There was a good mix of people and the staff seemed to make everyone feel welcome.

Overall I’m giving Artis 4/5 “normal” stars for quality/price/experience but only 2/5 “green” stars for their social and environmental impact.

First, the coffee and overall experience… I had a flat white ($3.50), which was small, only around 5 or 6 oz, and not as velvety as other flat whites, but it was good overall. The coffee was strong and well balanced. I also had a savory scone (cheese and corn) which I think was $3. The scone was good and their other pastries look tasty too – but it is a small selection. Good sandwiches (like Blue Bottle) or any kind of savory food menu would be welcome. A downside for me was that the WiFi networks only worked very briefly for me – it was pretty frustrating.

It was around $20 per lb for most of their coffees and you can have them roasted to order in their big “popcorn poppers”. Watching them being roasted on site is fun but I wasn’t temped to buy any. Their coffees have no formal certifications (Organic or Fair Trade, etc.) and when I asked the staff about it they were super vague (“we try to buy ethically sourced coffee”). Their website makes a very broad claim (“We offer the finest coffees from around the world, sustainably and ethically sourced.”) but the coffees listed coffees on their site gives no info to support this. Come on folks, your entire operation is built around coffee – you need to back up any claims you make.

I’d be more inclined to buy some green coffee from Sweet Maria’s in Oakland (for $7) and roast it at home in an old popcorn air popper (which is a lot of fun to learn!). Sweet Maria’s provides a lot more information on each variety of coffee so you know what you’re getting.

Artis uses nice cups and plates but it’s a little strange that they don’t have metal spoons – I feel wasteful using a spoon just to stir my coffee a few times and then trashing it. But at least all of their utensils are compostable and they have separate bins for recycling and composting. Their bathroom… Why do I care about their bathroom? It’s a good way to get a feeling for their ethos. Ok, continue. Thank you, your honor! So, their bathroom doesn’t have a low-flow toilet or hand-activated taps; a fairly new place fitted out during the worst drought on record should have these. Their toilet paper and toilet seat covers aren’t recycled or FSC certified. At least there’s a hand dryer.

They also have a lot of lights on that are not needed – the wide windows and skylight supply most of the light. This might all seem like nitpicking, but I feel that they are putting a lot of emphasis on style over substance. If they are going to charge $20 for a pound of coffee then it should have a positive social and environmental impact. Artis: I can see on your blog that you supported the International Women's Coffee Alliance in Burundi back in 2013 and that you had a fundraiser for distracted driving awareness in April, but you need to be more forthcoming with information on your coffee, and also more consistent in your approach to sustainability in the store if you want to earn more green stars :)