I am in a high-end coffee shop in a tech-heavy area of San Francisco, staring suspiciously into a cup of espresso. This is no conventional coffee: it is made without using a single coffee bean.
It comes from Atomo, one of a band of alt-coffee start-ups hoping to revolutionise the world of brewed coffee.
“We take great offence when someone says that we’re a coffee substitute,” says Andy Kleitsch, the chief executive of Seattle based start-up Atomo, from whose pure, beanless ground product my espresso has been made.
Traditional coffee substitutes have a reputation for not tasting much like coffee and are usually caffeine-free.
However, the newcomers intend to replicate one of the world’s most popular beverages from taste, to caffeine punch, to drinking experience – and the first of this nascent industry’s beanless concoctions have begun to appear.
For those wondering.
I can’t help but wonder whether having 3 tropical plants involved is actually better than one.
So it’s a coffee alternative. Like chicory but with caffeine.
But, importantly, also without chicory…
That is the ingredient list for their espresso. Weirdly enough, the coffee they sell is 50% real coffee grounds (per the ingredient list on their website). Kinda feels like cheating.