Masterpiece Coffee

roasting your own beans changes everything about the equation. most shops are buying from someone else's vision of what coffee should taste like, but when you control the roast, you control the result from start to finish. that's what masterpiece coffee on san pablo ave is actually doing, and regulars in berkeley have clearly noticed. san pablo runs through a working, unglamorous stretch of the city, which feels right for a place that doesn't spend energy on performance. you get the sense that the priorities are in order here, that the coffee is the whole point and not the backdrop for something else. if you're in the neighborhood on a weekday morning, a straight espresso is probably the move.