A Chocolate World: Love Served at Philz

Who would have thought there could be bad drinking chocolate? But after a few weeks of very disappointing experiences, I have discovered what I enjoy in a cup, and have come to appreciate the subtleties that make a fine brew. And it's not just about the chocolate!

With a friend in town last weekend, we went on the San Francisco Gourmet Chocolate Tour where we sampled chocolate in the downtown area. While the truffles and bars were excellent, the drinking chocolate at one of the stops was not up to my standards. BLECK!

To redeem the experience, I decided to order a spicy drinking chocolate for the road at our final tour stop. Made with milk and spiced with cayenne, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, it had a smooth slightly creamy texture and a nice kick that needed to be slowly sipped. Not bad after a string of bad drinking chocolate experiences over the past few weeks. It was especially enjoyable at the end of our tour as the sun was going down and it was getting cold. But while good, the best was still to come.

My friend wanted some excellent coffee, and with my car in the Mission district, Philz Coffee is the only place to go. With beans of your choice, each cup is freshly ground, brewed fresh to order, and handcrafted with love.

When I asked our barista Jacob (pictured above) about their drinking chocolate, I discovered that they work a similar magic. Though they do not grind their own cacao beans for each cup, they have a special blend which they make with hot water, rather than milk, thus making their hot chocolate vegan! I was already loving this.

After having 2 cups of drinking chocolate already that day I didn't need a third, but Jacob insisted and brewed one up "on the house." And it wasn't just a sample sip. It was literally a full cup, which was larger than each of the other brews sampled earlier that day.

Though not thick and creamy in texture, it was a balanced bittersweet brew which trumped the others. The third was the charm! The fresh sprig of crushed mint added a wonderful depth to the already rich dark chocolate flavor, but what made this cup one of the best cups I've had in a while is the "love" that went into its preparation.

Going above and beyond his job, Jacob is not a "barista" as much as he is one who share his love for life by creating "cups of love," as me and my friend have come to call it. "Cups of love" simply brighten a day as someone pours their heart and passion into what they do and then shares that gift with others. Jacob does it with coffee and chocolate. My friend who is a doctor does it with an encouraging word to each patient in her clinic. I try to do it with a smile and good attitude at school.

It is so easy to simply go through the motions at work, in class, at home. Jacob reminded me that it's all about enjoying what you do, living out your passion, serving others, always giving it your best, bringing to the counter a "cup of love."

As Gandhi has said, "Be the change that you want to see in the world." You can change the world with a smile, a kind word, a cup of chocolate. The smallest things make the biggest difference.

In addition to a free cup of chocolate, Jacob also gave us baklava and then refused to take an extra tip which my friend tried to put in the jar. "You are all the tip that I need," he said. "Just make sure you tell 10 people about us." With this blog (and my facebook chocolate reviews), I am doing just that!

With Philz opening a new cafe in Berkeley which will be just down the street from school on my way to BART, I soon will be able to get my chocolate fix, get some studying done, and with each cup, remember that it's all about the love.

And to think, I learned all that from a cup of chocolate.