Unlike many new entrepreneurs and coffee drinkers, David Feng projects an air of confidence and calm. Snowbird Coffee, the shop he manages and owns with partner Eugene Kim, is about to enter its third month of operation, and things are going well.
"It’s been a pretty warm reception from the neighborhood," Feng told us. "I’m really grateful. It’s good to be here."
Despite a plethora of coffee spots in the Inner Sunset, Feng said the shop is not having trouble attracting new customers.“We’re a neighborhood spot," he said. "We get a lot of regulars who come in, and we try to maintain a conversation with them. It almost feels like being with family."
Before Snowbird Coffee, DRIP’D Coffee Lab, an artisan coffee bar that launched via Kickstarter, occupied the space for several months, closing earlier this year. Inside the cozy space, there’s now seating for at least 16 customers and a pour-over station that was custom-built by Feng using lead-free brass and a hardwood commonly used for guitars.
Snowbird Coffee also shares space with Green 11, a separate business that sells soaps, lotions and other items in refillable containers. In the rear, shelves lined with large jugs provide Green 11’s customers with bulk refills on personal care and cleaning products.
“Even recycled plastic creates a great deal of waste,” said Feng. “You bring in your own bottles for soap or laundry detergent and get a better deal, and hopefully, remove a lot of trash from the environment.”
Before opening Snowbird Coffee, Feng did freelance work creating motion graphics and visual effects, and Kim worked as a filmmaker. “We thought about doing a coffee shop and the opportunity presented itself, so we thought, ‘there’s no time like the present,’” said Feng.
Well-established cafes like Arizmendi, The Beanery, Starbucks and La Boulange are within shouting distance, but Feng had no reservations about bringing another coffee shop to the Inner Sunset. “We never really did the research, we just felt like there could be room for this style of coffee. Something that’s not corporate, a little more intimate in terms of the vibe. It was a calculated risk, I guess.”
When it comes to Snowbird's coffee selection, there are different blends available, but Feng said their specialty is a South Korean-style blend called “bahn bann,” made by blending light roast and dark-roasted beans. (The name is a play on Korean for “half and half.”)
As for the name, co-founder Kim told Sprudge that it comes from the term for people living in cold climates that escape to warmer climates during the winter. "We figured it’d be a perfect name for a coffee shop if we ever opened one (which happened sooner than we thought)."
“At the end of the day, it’s unpretentious coffee,” Feng told us. “We like to serve good coffee, but we don’t like the idea of telling you how to drink it. We just want to create an environment where you can come out and hang with your friends, make new friends and just have good conversation.”
Snowbird Coffee is located at 1352a 9th Ave. between Judah and Irving, and is open six days a week (closed on Tuesdays).
