Historical Beer

Sacks of Pale Ale Malt

Founder and sole employee Adam Lamoreaux explaining the beer.

Dimpled beer kettle

Linden Street Brewery, founded in 2009, is located in an 1890 warehouse in Port of Oakland. Founder Adam Lamoreaux makes beer inside in the 1890 style! He wanted to make the type of beer that Jack London would have been drinking at Heinhold's Last Chance so he researched and learned that Oakland beer in 1890 would have been steam beer, which, he explained, "is a lager made like an ale." Adam makes two varieties of beer, Burning Oak Black Lager and Urban People's Common Lager. He's working on a new beer, Town Lager, that will be zero emissions, meaning it will only be available in places Adam can ride his bike to deliver it, mostly Jack London Square and Old Oakland. He has a custom 2 keg delivery bike he already uses to deliver to his neighbor clients. I am happy to report that Linden Street Brewery will open a tasting room soon. Right now, the only way to taste their beer is at a restaurant or bar that serves it. I sampled both varieties at the brewery and they were both excellent!

Cold Storage

Dreisbach is my neighbor. When I moved in, my landlord told me that they provided cold storage and that, even on the hottest of days, we would see men coming out of the factory in huge coats. What I notice a lot more than the men in the big coats is the mack trucks that idle in front of my house around the clock, while using my short street to turn around and back up to the warehouse. On moving day, my moving truck wasn't able to get to my house because 2 trucks were blocking the street. I asked my neighbor if this was normal and he smiled and said, "Oh yeah! You'll hear trucks right here at 3 in the morning! All the time!" I was scared, very scared.

As it turns out, Dreisbach hasn't been such a bad neighbor. The trucks come at 4am, they idle, they block my driveway in the morning when I'm trying to leave for work. But, all in all, the drivers are courteous when I need to leave, and its kind of exciting having this kind of industry going on right here. The steel manufacturer directly across the street from my house is a story for another day...

I learned from the tour of Dreisbach that they are a 3rd generation family business established right here in 1900, and that they have locations in Pajaro and Watsonville, near where I grew up, where they freeze fruits and vegetable straight from the farm for packaging. They also use the train tracks and rail spur directly behind their factory to load and unload merchandise. They store foods on their way to Asia (eg. "Chicken Paws" [feet!] heading for China pictured above) and foods just arrived from all over the world, on their way to the American market.

Nuts for nuts

Artisana Premier Organics in East Oakland makes nut butters out of mostly raw nuts. They make macadamia, cashew, raw cacao, almond, and coconut butters. They provided tons of samples to taste and then to take home. I must say that I am converted. The nut butters I've been putting on my toast are superb. Its great to know that these healthy exotic products are made right here in Oakland. The nuts come from across the globe to be ground in this factory.

Artisana Premier Organics Sampling Table

Artisana started in the old Sunshine Biscuits factory, but have moved across the street.

Changing Perceptons

"Most of us spend our lives viewing our environment through a haze, but if we work hard enough, the haze lifts and the view becomes limitless." -- Ishmael Reed in Blues City: A Walk in Oakland

Veronica Foods

Cubes of Vinegar

Veronica Foods, near the waterfront of Jingletown, Oakland, receives train cars full of olive oil and vinegar on their own set of train tracks located right outside the back door of their factory. In a year, they import over a million gallons of olive oil from all over the world. Veronica and Michael Bradley run the business. Veronica is the granddaughter of the founder of the company. Their daughter makes countless varieties of flavored vinegars, including violet and espresso flavors.

Olive Oil vat

Veronica and Michael taught us how to taste olive oil from a cup. Step 1. Slurp, Step 2. coat your tongue, Step 3. Feel the burn on the back of your throat. They also taught us that the number one criteria for good olive oil is freshness. All olive oil should be eaten within one year of production.

Stacks of Olive Oil

Veronica Foods

6,000 pound olive oil sack

They took a hint from the wine industry on how to ship their oil. These 6,000 lb. vacuum sealed sacks never allow air to touch the oil. They travel the world forming relationships with their farmers. They also established a mill in Tunisia to produce their own oils.

Exotic Teas of Oakland

Numi Tea is located in part of the historic California Cotton Mills in Oakland. The tea that started it all for the brother and sister that run the company is a dry desert lime tea that their mother served them as children. They couldn't find the tea as adults and decided to solve that problem. They've since expanded to many exotic teas from all over the world. Numi Tea is organic and they form relationships with their tea farmers in order to ensure the highest quality.

Scenic Historic Cotton Mills Warehouse

Bulk Teas in the "tea garden"

Visitors to the tea garden can sample Numi Teas and nibble on snacks, such as cookies flavored with Numi Tea.

Blue Bottle Coffee (aka torture stop)

The third stop on Oakland's Food Industry Tour was at Blue Bottle Coffee in Jack London Square. To be fair, the owner, James Freeman, said he doesn't like that name and calls it the produce district. The rest of the world still calls the area Jack London. In fact, Blue Bottle's factory was a long-time produce warehouse and quite a few produce wholesalers continue to do business in the area. Why did I title this the 'torture stop'? Because we didn't have time to drink coffee! The smells were intoxicating in themselves. I learned that all their coffee is organic and that they cook their delightful pastries on sight. Mr. Freeman is married to the pastry chef. He showed us raw coffee beans, that kind of look like kids teeth after they fall out.

Blue Bottle's Oakland Factory

If you would like to taste the glory that is Blue Bottle Coffee, they host free and open to the public cuppings on Tuesdays and Sundays at 2pm each week.