I have been drinking coffee since I was 12. Probably not my best move, but once I tried that magical bean juice I was hooked. I take my coffee iced, with no sugar and a little splash of almond/oat milk. Sometimes I’ll get a cold brew to spice it up every once in a while.

I recently visited almost every coffee shop in San Ramon, and will now offer up my top three favorites.

No. 3: Boba Guys

Along with their famous boba drinks, Boba Guys has quite a few coffee options. I got the oat milk latte, 0 percent sweetness and no toppings for $4.75, and I was a little shocked because it was kind of good. For this coffee tasting I brought my father, Hassan Ally, along because he’s a fellow coffee connoisseur. He ordered the Americano, no cream, no sugar, no toppings for $3.75.

“After Philz, Peet’s, Starbucks, and McDonalds, I’d have this, I guess,” he said.

The service at Boba Guys was great. Everyone was nice and we got our drinks quickly, in about 2-5 minutes. The coffee was very light, but it did not taste watered down. It had a nice subtle flavour. It was definitely not worth the cost of $3.75 and $4.75, but it was not a bad coffee. I was pleasantly surprised by Boba Guys.

No. 2: Peet’s Coffee and Tea

A classic for coffee, Peet’s is my go to coffee place. My usual is the cold brew oat latte for $5.50. The service at Peet’s is incredible. Everytime I go to Peet’s, the employees are so sweet and your drink is ready in two minutes. The atmosphere in Peet’s is really comforting as well. The taste of the coffee was great: it had a really nice balance between acidity and bitterness. The cost was a little high for a cold brew, but I’ll let it slide because the coffee itself was pretty good.

No. 1: Philz Coffee

I have fond memories of driving out to the San Francisco location with my dad and stopping at Philz for some banger coffee. I ordered the Aromatic Arabic coffee, iced with almond milk for $4.60. Philz Coffee had really great service. They made ordering online super easy and my drink was ready within 10-15 minutes. They have such a wide variety of coffee and I have yet to find one distasteful. Their coffee is balanced nicely with the perfect ratio of acidity and flavour. The price was a little high, but the quality of the coffee surpassed the cost of $4.60.