This adorable boba shop in a train caboose near San Francisco is the perfect post-hike treat

After tackling the pretty quick however generally treacherous Mori Level Loop Path, I knew I deserved a reward. I’d endured slim stretches of rocky path nail-bitingly near the sting of a cliff, had my face mauled by the relentless wind and was out of breath after ascending the steep Bootlegger’s Steps. Positive, it was all extremely lovely, however it was lunchtime, and I’d had sufficient sand pelted at my face — I wanted to be someplace much less windy, ideally with snacks. 

Perhaps it’s my vegetarianism that made me beeline for P-City Espresso and Tea as a substitute of the 2 meatier choices close to the trailhead, however I’m glad I did. At first, the big block-lettered “COFFEE” signal on high of the caboose was what beckoned me, however one other signal under asserting “boba tea,” in addition to a waving model in overalls and a pug flag flapping within the wind (extra on the pug theme later), sealed the deal.

Inside, I used to be instantly overwhelmed by an extended and eclectic boba menu, from Nutella milk tea to chipotle pineapple and mango. P-City seemingly had all the things: bagel sandwiches, pastries, a drool-worthy chocolate macadamia nut latte and even cute earrings on the market. 

The individual in entrance of me ordered the Rainbow Railroad, a really Instagrammable pastel pink and blue beverage made with butterfly pea flower tea, watermelon and cotton sweet. I used to be intrigued however settled on one thing rather less sugar-bomby: the strawberry mango mojito with inexperienced tea, as really helpful to me by very pleasant co-owner Jeremy-Tristahn Bascara Jr. 

Because it seems, my drink was on the “secret menu,” a reference that took me straight again to my short-lived days as a Jamba Juice worker. This secret menu, nevertheless, wasn’t so secret — it was written in chalk on a small blackboard beneath the primary menu on the entrance counter. 

“It’s too laborious to suit all the things on the menu, so this provides a little bit little bit of attract to it, a little bit little bit of  novelty like, ‘Ooh, what is the secret menu?’” defined Bascara. 

The primary sip of my mojito boba, which was nonalcoholic, was heaven after a day spent breaking a sweat outdoors. Refreshingly fruity and never too candy, the pile of recent mint made it really feel a little bit refined. Basking within the solar on the espresso store’s homey outside seating space, I believe I downed it in 5 minutes flat.

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This charming caboose lived many lives earlier than turning into P-City Espresso and Tea — most lately as one other espresso store, and earlier than that as a jewellery retailer. A placard contained in the practice automobile dates it again to 1935, when the earlier house owners believed it was a part of the historic Pacific Coast Railway, which ran from 1882 to 1941 on California’s Central Coast. 

Homeowners Bascara and Ashlee Shelton, a long-time Peet’s Espresso barista, stumbled throughout the caboose on Craigslist after deciding they needed to open their first enterprise collectively. Sadly, their opening day occurred to be March 1, 2020. 

“We did not have any concept what was going to occur 11 days later,” stated Shelton. “… The primary two weeks have been nice, after which it was actually gradual for 2 or three months.”

They used the downtime for analysis and growth on new boba and occasional concoctions, and ultimately, enterprise picked again up. A yr and a half into the pandemic later, they stated they really feel lucky to nonetheless be standing.

“It’s considered one of my favourite locations, so I used to be actually glad that we discovered the place in Pacifica,” stated Shelton. “I’ve all the time needed to stay there.”

When the couple first started relationship in 2018, Shelton was dwelling in San Jose, working two jobs whereas additionally going to high school, and Bascara was dwelling in San Francisco, working 70-hour weeks as an influence line employee. The thought to open a enterprise collectively got here partly from the straightforward need to spend extra time collectively (“Why did I wish to personal a espresso store? The reply, very like myself, will not be very advanced in any respect — I did it for my girlfriend, as a result of it was cheaper than a marriage ring,” jokes Bascara on the espresso store’s web site).

“We’d have at some point each week the place we’d have the ability to get collectively,” defined Bascara. “… As a lot life that we sacrificed the ten years that we have been working six days every week and 14-hour days, with all the cash that we saved up, we might begin one thing on our personal and spend extra time collectively. Sadly, we opened in a loopy time, however fortunately we have been capable of survive.”

Now, the couple has moved to Pacifica along with their 4 pugs, who’re celebrated with an array of pug paraphernalia within the store (even of their emblem, should you look intently). They now spend six days every week collectively working within the comfortable 200-square-foot caboose — a whole 180 from how little time they used to have collectively.. 

“We run into one another loads. In the course of the weekend, it will get tremendous busy — it is like an artwork kind, it is like a dance,” stated Bascara. “It took us some time to get used to one another and work out how every of us prefer to work, however after some time, it is type of like second nature.”

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Whereas Shelton and Bascara inherited a lot of the bagel and occasional menu from the earlier espresso store, the addition of boba was all them. There weren’t many different boba outlets in Pacifica, so it felt like a sensible enterprise resolution — plus, boba “makes for a pleasant reward after you go mountaineering or browsing,” stated Bascara.

They began out with the fundamentals, however then started experimenting with extra distinctive flavors they favored, impressed by all the things from Bascara’s love of Nutella to Shelton’s love of mojitos. 

“After we first began relationship, we’d frequent Dutch Bros loads,” defined Bascara. “So our place is like an homage to Dutch Bros and a boba tea store in San Jose that we favored to go to loads.”

Whereas the caboose’s quirky setting and various boba flavors are tempting sufficient, it’s the house owners’ heat personalities that make P-City Espresso definitely worth the journey out to foggy Pacifica.

“One individual advised me that they might get a frappuccino wherever, however they arrive right here for the pleasant service,” stated Shelton. 

“The place else are you able to get boba and occasional and earrings and pastries and bagels in a single place?” added Bascara. “It’s all the things that we love. It’s mainly our personalities within the retailer … perhaps it’s kind of overwhelming, however we’re simply doing our factor.”