Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Jody Lamb, manager at the French Roast, servers up a latte.

Coffee-shop owners take the bean scene seriously

By Suzanne Cristallo

Since the world's first coffeehouse opened in Constantinople in 1475, coffee drinkers through the centuries have cherished their moments with the cup of hot stuff.

It wasn't until 1683 that a Viennese named Kolschitzky added cinnamon and sugar to create the first cappuccino. And to go with the flavored hot drink, as though anticipating 20th-century tastes instead of celebrating the retreat of the Ottoman Turks, he also persuaded his local baker to turn his conventional round rolls into crescents.

Today, one can enjoy this historically portentous combination at French Roast in Saratoga. French Roast is a simple coffeehouse. Its owners, Michael and Cindy Wampler, believe simplicity is the key to success. "Having too many things takes away from what you're all about," Michael says. He serves coffee and pastries, and that's it. "I've seen too many businesses try to do too much. They're not around any more."

What Wampler does serve has been chosen after careful research, a habit he developed while in college. A graduate of the University of Idaho in environmental biology, he decided to open a coffeehouse for a very basic reason: "I wanted to learn about beans."

For three months, he and Cindy visited more than 30 local coffeehouses, drinking 100 cups of coffee. When they tasted something they liked, they found out what beans were in it. They spent another three months learning how and where the beans were grown, how they were roasted and who supplied them.

The results became public when the Wamplers opened their store on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road in 1994. Customers are treated to gourmet coffee made from arabica beans, which come from plants grown in Costa Rica. Each arabica plant yields only one to two pounds of coffee annually, resulting in a total yield comprising just 30 percent of the coffee market. This compares to the 70 percent market share of robusta beans, the Brazilian and Colombian beans, with yields up to five pounds per plant each year.

Wampler says there are no blending standards in the coffee business, so many coffee makers blend the more common robusta beans with arabica and call it gourmet. Coffee tastes better--and is more expensive--when more arabica beans are used.

Roasting must be done for just the right length of time--the longer the roast, the darker the bean. Roast too long, and the coffee has a burned taste. Wampler's signature brew--the French roast--is dark and rich, the result of a long roast.

One of the most important elements in coffeemaking is water. "Saratoga water is very conducive to good coffee," Wampler says, noting that water from the same supplier makes coffee taste mysteriously different in other areas.

The Wamplers' foray into business started right after college in 1978, when they moved from the Fresno area to San Jose to run a ski shop. Three years later, they bought the shop. Because of the seasonal aspect of business, Michael, now 42, thought having a coffeehouse next door would be a good hobby as well as a good business venture. Eventually, they moved the ski shop, but the popularity of their coffeehouse with locals and commuters kept it a going concern.

Customers can get their coffee hot or iced, as latté, mocha, espresso or cappuccino, laced with Italian syrups in maple, hazelnut, vanilla cream or Irish cream flavors. Pastries come in all shapes and sizes.

French Roast, 12241 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd., Saratoga. Open Mon.-Fri., 6 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat. and Sun., 7 a.m.-6 p.m. 996-1616.

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