The Story
Four Barrel Coffee opened in 2008, founded by Jeremy Tooker, a veteran from Ritual Coffee Roasters , establishing its first location in San Francisco’s Mission District. The company takes its name from a century-old, four-barreled sample roaster that remains in use , though customers might notice instead the four mounted boar heads that line the north wall. Matthew Hein joined the business in 2009 and shortly after took over operations, becoming the driving force behind building a brand now known across the Bay Area and beyond .
The company weathered a significant crisis in 2018. Eight former employees filed suit against Four Barrel and founder Jeremy Tooker, alleging sexual assault and creation of a toxic workplace culture. The company settled the lawsuit out of court, and Tooker left the company and divested his shares . The company briefly rebranded as “The Tide” and transitioned to partial employee ownership, with remaining owners Jodi Geren and Tal Mor stating that “Four Barrel died with his departure” before eventually returning to the original name .
While originally roasting took place at the Valencia Street location, operations have since moved to a dedicated facility in Oakland , though the original vintage Probat roaster remains visible at the back of the flagship cafe.
Sourcing & Relationships
Four Barrel sources from third-generation farmers and mill-workers in Latin America, Indonesia, and East Africa, forging relationships that ensure quality of life for producers and high-quality coffee for their roastery in San Francisco . The company aims to improve lives throughout the coffee chain, spending months of every year on the road, visiting and cooperating with the folks who make it all happen at the source .
The team spends about nine months out of the year traveling and hunting down amazing coffees, including discoveries like a unique coffee from Ethiopia that grows at 2,000 meters above sea level from a cooperative so remote that “you sometimes ask yourself if you’re actually going somewhere real” . Their commitment to quality standards is evident in their approach to new origins—they struggled for years to find a Nicaraguan finca or processing station that could meet their standards, only recently featuring Nicaragua in their portfolio with coffees they describe as “just plain gorgeous” .
Four Barrel positions itself as offering “an impressive array of direct-trade coffees, sourced by Four Barrel’s globe-trotting team of coffee buyers” , emphasizing transparency and ethical sourcing as core components of their business model.
Roasting Philosophy
Four Barrel takes an “old-fashioned” approach to roasting, relying on highly trained people rather than computers to execute their roasting style . Their style highlights the intrinsic qualities of a coffee that drove them to purchase it in the first place: cleanness, sweetness, acidity, and complexity . They roast on “a hulking beast of a vintage German roaster—one that was made to hold consistent heat and let air flow through in simple ways controlled by a human being” .
The roastery maintains a decidedly analog aesthetic, fitting for a company that roasts all of their coffee on vintage Probat equipment . Their original location features a viewing platform that houses a vintage four-barrel roaster from Arnhem, Holland—hence the name . This commitment to traditional methods reflects their broader philosophy of valuing craftsmanship over automation.
The roasting approach emphasizes bringing out each coffee’s distinctive characteristics rather than imposing a house style. While the aesthetic has attracted both admirers and cynics, there’s no denying the quality of the product , with their roasting philosophy centered on preserving and enhancing what made them select each specific coffee in the first place.
What to Try
Friendo Blendo stands as Four Barrel’s flagship espresso blend—what visitors taste at their cafes . Currently composed of El Salvador La Selecta, Honduras Yojoa, and Kenya Gura , this blend delivers “bright, sweet, floral aromas, along with flavors of fresh berries and citrus with a toffee finish” . Four Barrel describes it poetically: “Citrus flavors swan dive into fresh berry full forward fold, which jumps or walks back into down dog, then ascends into a toffee sweetness sun salutation” .
The main counter offers Friendo Blendo as their seasonal house blend on espresso, along with decaf, plus a rapidly-changing single-origin on batch brew . For those seeking variety, the “slow bar” offers five single-origins on pour-over and another on espresso , including options like Ethiopia Bulga espresso and pour-over selections such as Colombia Andino, Rwanda Nyamulinda, Guatemala Los Yuc, and Ethiopia Qorema .
Four Barrel has developed innovative cold coffee options, experimenting for years with methods that promise “extravagant acidity, luscious sweetness and a clean, crisp finish,” offering three cold coffee options: Houdini (sweet and syrupy), Limelight (bright and floral), and Nitro . The company’s seasonal single-origin offerings showcase their direct-trade relationships, with coffees that exemplify their commitment to highlighting each origin’s distinctive characteristics.