The one and only café experience – Philz

A post by Leila FAN, MSc student in Digital Marketing @KEDGE Business School.

The other day one of my friends posted this on we chat “God please bring Philz to China; I swear to you guys once you’ve tasted Philz’s coffee you would never step in Starbucks again”.

I stared at my screen and asked myself “Well, it’s a coffee shop, what’s the fuss about it?”

After that, I started to dig in, I found that this coffee shop is indeed one of a kind. Coffee shops are just like mushrooms in the rainforests: they rise and fall in big cities and you can easily find a bunch of them in any neighborhood. But there are some things that made Philz stand out. Well, by “standing out” I meant Philz was the coffee provider of Mark Zuckerberg’s wedding.

When you walk into Philz, it gives you mixed feelings: you can see a variety of people hanging out in there: hipster, Silicon Valley elites, mums and maybe some constructions workers. Somehow, this cafe brings everyone together. So what exactly does Philz do to make itself one of a kind?

• The devastating menu and their hand filtered cafe. Anyway, a cafe is a cafe, the product itself plays an essential role in the game. According to Philz’s founder, Phil Jaber, he has spent 7 bloody years in researching the best coffee. From choosing the beans, working the baking process and designing those fancy coffee favors. For example, one of my buddy’s favorites, “the Greater Alarm”, there are Nuts berry and pineapple in it— seriously ? !

The greatest stuff. Well they’re not going to call your name when the coffee is ready like they do in Starbucks. Philz’s stuff are genius in a different way: they will make your very own special coffee according to your preference and they’ll casually talk to you while they pull the 96 degree hot water into the filter. Your personal coffee is made in front of your eyes. And this exchange between the coffee maker and the client really makes the experience more intimate and personal.

• Casual ambiance & decorations. When you first walk into the Philz in San Francisco, you will probably feel like walking in somebody’s home. You can find pictures of the owners’ families on the wall, casual coffee makers who are not even wearing uniforms, smiling and small talks between them and the customers… Everything feels so intimate. This particular ambiance almost makes it feel like a communist community… remember we talked about plumbers and techies just talking like there’s no big deal?

However some might say that, all these elements are not really “unique” among cafes, but success is chemical instead of physical, don’t you guys think?

Leila FAN