location:
San Francisco, CA
Commuter of choice:
full suspension Starling Murmur
Coffee Outside SF
w/ Jim Santos
Q&A with BrookeWhat is Coffee Outside SF?
It’s largely a bike-and-coffee-themed meetup on Friday mornings, at a regular spot just across the Golden Gate Bridge called Battery Wagner. Our meeting time is pretty loose these days and some folks like to get a longer bike ride in before or after we meet. It’s conveniently at the base of Hawk Hill and connected to tons of trails that crisscross the Marin Headlands. People often bring homemade treats to share along with their coffee or tea, and there are a few attendees who have taken it upon themselves to make fresh waffles or other goodies right there!
How did Coffee Outside SF get started, and what made you want to start the SF chapter?
It was originally inspired by similar coffee-and-bike-centric meetups I’d see on Instagram in other cities. I remember seeing Seattle/PDX for sure, maybe some others as well. We didn’t really have our own in SF, so I just started doing it with a friend, Max, around 2014 or so.
What kind of coffee is involved, who brings what, and what sort of coffee making setups have you seen?
There is little structure and essentially no rules besides the location and general timing. I’d say most attendees bring ground beans of some sort and a brewing system like an aeropress or dripper. People seem to organically organize within their groups what they need to bring. There is no need for everyone to have their own system. So you usually see groups of 2-4 sharing a setup. Some folks just bring pre-made coffee in a thermos, and we’ve seen everything from tiny espresso devices to a full-size glass Chemex.
What is it about bicycles and coffee that go hand-in-hand? What makes them appeal to each other?
I think cafés have been such a traditional mid, or post-ride stop for cyclists since so many consider caffeine and sugar essential fuel for riding. A lot of cafés also have outdoor seating which is nice if you wanna keep an eye on your bike and/or don't wanna bring your dirty or stinky selves and gear inside.
What was the first (or first few) meetup like vs. now? How has it evolved?
For a long time it was just myself, my “co-founder” Max, and a few others we directly invited. Then in 2017 or so I started using the meetups as indirect marketing for my single-person bag brand, Fog City Gear. I posted info regularly and made sure I was there to host every Friday, which really helped to grow the attendance. When I merged my brand with Kyle and Outer Shell at the end of 2018, the meetups had kinda taken a life of their own which was great because I started getting tired of officially facilitating them. I started attending and posting only when I felt like it, which was enough to keep it going since a lot of the core attendees would still go regularly, and had their own circles of friends to bring along. Between then and now, I’ve become a father, we made our way through the pandemic, and tons of other priorities have come and gone, but Coffee Outside seems to just keep trucking along. Every once in a while, when the stars and weather align, I’ll put out a longer post and it’s always nice to see how easily you can fan the flames back up and fill the bunker to capacity.