Not sure if coffee / tea counts as food, but it’s certainly life-sustaining!
But in the interests of sustaining that life a bit longer, anyone have recs for particularly good decaf coffee (even otherwise sturdy cafes tend to fall down on the decaf) and/or non-sugary teahouses?
Berkeley interestingly has Blue Willow, Teance, Far Leaves for tea, and CoRo often has a decent decaf roast on site – any others come to mind?
Depends on the kind of coffee you enjoy. Some like it strong, some like it weaker, some can’t drink it without cream and sugar.
We love low acid black, super strong coffee and espresso. Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurants have terrific coffee and espresso drinks. Belmo Cafe/Berkeley makes excellent decaf coffee/espresso, as well as caffeinated and Turkish.
Belmo Cafe
1160 University Ave, Berkeley (just off San Pablo Ave., easy parking)
For a tiny shop (we get it to go, only outside seating) they have ridiculously long hours, considering owner/baker Nadir is usually there by himself. I swear, I don’t think the guy sleeps!
Hours:
| Wednesday | 7 AM–10 PM |
|---|---|
| Thursday | 7 AM–10 PM |
| Friday | 7 AM–12 AM |
| Saturday | 7 AM–12 AM |
| Sunday | 7 AM–12 AM |
| Monday | 7 AM–10 PM |
| Tuesday | 7 AM–10 PM |
Belmo is great (didn’t think to try their decaf) and on occasion has tougher-to-find Algerian savory treats like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahdjouba
I tried the Turkish coffee at newly opened Heyma next door and it was both strong and good, but I also would not have thought to try decaf there.
