My perfect ending to a perfect weekend visiting San Luis Obispo ends with a departing breakfast at Sally Loo’s Wholesome Cafe. This means a large iced soy latte and acai bowl.

Sally Loo’s is proudly pouring Four Barrel Coffee. They only use organic milk, and you have a choice between whole, nonfat, raw, almond, and soy. I love places that actually have both non-dairy alternatives, soy and almond, and love the dairy-free trend (and I’m even more impressed when they have coconut milk as an option).

They are obsessive about the way they pour their shots. They dial in the espresso (to make it pull correctly by checking how corse and fine the espresso beans are going into the porta filter) and they are constantly playing with it throughout the day to make sure the taste and flavor profiles are matching the espresso specks, checking for how heavy it should be and how long it should pull for and the amount of grounds you should look for, given to them by Four Barrel. The baristas constantly taste it (rough life) throughout the day. This is a new single origin espresso, called Lovo, Nicaragua, from a single farm that knows how to grow great beans. Each single origin espresso they have right now has their own flavor profile, and Lovo is bright, juicy and citrus.

I strongly recommend a stop by Sally Loo’s for their quality choices in coffee and espresso, as well as for their food offerings.

I shared my first Klatch Coffee experience with Hugo, the man who introduced me to this wonderful place. Klatch is defined as a social gathering, especially for coffee and conversation, and it was defined by Hugo as something along the lines of a social experience, which I think aligns perfectly. Klatch, as the most famous coffee shop in San Dimas, is into everything fair trade. Something that you would not expect is that Klatch Coffee Inc. is the largest wholesale coffee company, a specialty coffee roaster who specializes in single-origin coffees and world best espresso blends.

Although I’m not even the biggest dessert person, once I saw the s’mores kit option I was too intrigued to pass it up. Hands down, this was the most unique and creative dessert idea I’ve ever seen at a coffee shop. The s’mores kit came on a round wooden board with two wooden skewers, each with four marshmallows. The entire assortment of supplies was enough to make four extra-gooey s’mores sandwiches, with eight gram crackers and four squares of Hershey chocolate. I wish you were able to chose which type of chocolate you received because I would have preferred a bit of dark chocolate to balance the flavor out with a tad of bitterness, but I know that milk chocolate is much more traditional and preferred by the majority of sweets-lovers. It even came with a mini campfire for you to roast the marshmallows! The black pot had some type of flammable pinkish-purple keratin gel that one of the baristas lit for us, producing an entirely blue flame. This crackling flame licks the marshmallow to a perfect toasted level right at your table!

On to the drinks. First, we ordered our classic: a hot soy chai with a shot of espresso. The tea is pre-spiced and on the sweeter side of the chai scale, steeped with brown sugar and vanilla. The chai smells like velvet (how is that possible?) and spice. Maybe it’s the smooth velvet appearance of the light-tan foam? The drink itself is very smooth. In fact, it goes down so smoothly that it feels light, as if drinking a chai flavored cloud. This sweetened chai tea has a lot of strong flavors, all while maintaining a calm, balanced, mild flavor.

The second drink we ordered on a whim because of a San Dimas Newsletter we saw posted near the register, which listed The Naked Verbena on the seasonal menu. The picture sold me before I even read the description, which stated “This 2003 USBC Winner is a Klatch favorite! The combination of lemon verbena, lemon zest and simple syrup make for the perfect summer pick me up.” They make The Naked Verbena by pulling two espresso shots and throwing it in a shaker with lemon rind. They infuse with leaves and shake everything with ice before they run it over simple syrup to create a layered look (note: make sure to stir before drinking). The Naked Verbena is an espresso dominant beverage, and the sweetness comes from the simple syrup. Good to know: it has no milk, and therefore I did not have to compromise any flavors by switching out for soy or almond milk. The Naked Verbena was innovative and very different from anything I’ve ever experienced, being the first time I’ve ever tasted refreshing hints of lemon in coffee. Very fresh and sweet, while the espresso overpowers the simple syrup in a perfect balance that dances on your tongue and confuses your taste buds to a point where they are frantically running around with excitement and end up crashing into each other. It tastes like it could be a tea, but you know it’s actually espresso. A perfect refreshing iced drink for summer.

The chai at Samovar Tea Lounge, like many other chai teas, is a black tea and spice blend.  In the chai, they put a mixture of cloves, cardamom, black tea/English breakfast tea, cinnamon, and ginger. One of their special features is the taste freshness and strong flavors that come from brewing consistently throughout the day in large copper pots.

Samovar has both traditional and vegan versions, with almond and coconut milk for the vegan, and the vegan is visibly darker than the original. They came up with the recipe themselves and are the new shop on the block, having been open for just a few weeks. There are three other locations, but those are more restaurant style.

The ceramic cups were designed by a company in Oakland specifically for Samovar, smooth on the inside and texture on exterior. Interestingly enough, they designed the cups before the space. The design is clean, organized, and simple. The colors are white, khaki, tan, and beige, with lots of limestones. You sit on very smooth and well-finished white finished concrete blocks anchored against a white wall for seating.

We could smell the chai as we walked by, which is how we ended up walking inside. We found out they only served chai and tea, choosing to be specialized and serve a niche market. They specialize in full-body caffeine through tea, rather than the caffeine effects of espresso and coffee.