The best of what LA coffee culture offers is the avoidance of the obvious. The city is filled with notable chains and social-media darling cafes, yet the best cups of coffee come from Southern California roasters who take sourcing, roasting, and brewing seriously. Their coffees are more than just options to the well-known national names. They are what makes Greater Los Angeles unique.
Cafe Demitasse's reputation began in Little Tokyo with Kyotostyle iced coffee and lattes that were smooth to the point of being glass-like. They have since expanded to Santa Monica, Beverly, Hollywood, and Little Tokyo, while keeping a focus on seasonal beans. The owner roasts at his Hollywood location on a daily basis and personally trains all of his baristas. As a result, they get polished coffee without the rapid expansion impersonality of Starbucks.
Suites & Knives is a much smaller operation in Downtown LA's Fashion District. Its proprietor, Miyazaki, has moved from professional bartending into roasting, bringing with him a craftsman's mindset. The Japanese style of slow roasting makes for a rich and dark cup of coffee. Because the process is quite time consuming, the beans produced are fairly limited and are also sold through some of the cafes in Chinatown. This coffee is not for those that want to be trendy.
In Culver City, Bar Nine stands out from the neighborhood with its industrial and spacious food-lab aesthetics, and its minimalist “9” sign. The interior space fosters a creatively free environment that elevates the artistic vibe of the area and offers more than the typical espresso drinks. The spacious food-lab aesthetic gives way to a menu that is ever evolving.
The establishment of Culver City as an LA coffee contributor would not be possible without Cognoscenti Coffee. When it opened in 2012, situated in the location that is now home to the Arch District Coffee Co. and the Fine Arts Coffee Company, it was run by former architecture-office owner Yeekai Lim and he chose to work with small local specialty roasters. Since 2016 he has been working with his own beans. His coffees are predominantly floral and fruity with an almond croissant, a cup of his coffee is a great reason to not rush.
Copa Vida opened in 2013 in old town Pasadena and quickly established a loyal clientele that its coffee was so good it prompted the opening of several locations in Pasadena as well as San Diego. It is always nice to see a local company grow based on repeat business.
In Orange County, there is Portola Coffee Lab. It has a unique approach with a farm-to-cup model and follows a coffee’s journey from growing the coffee beans to roasting. They train their baristas, and the espresso drinks are more bitter and overpowering than what you would find at more fruity and gentle cafes. That’s the intention: Portola is perfect for an extreme wake up call.
At Alana's Coffee Roasters, coffee is viewed as more of an art form rather than a science. The founder’s background is in music and she has developed a roasting style that is more craft focused from years of working with coffee vendors at LA’s farmers markets. That style is reflected in the menu with market inspired herb infused drinks. It demonstrates a creative spirit in the herb and orange peel matcha, but with that pricing it is more of an indulgence than a consistent drink.
Of the major specialty coffee brands, Blue Bottle is one of the more notable. They have opened a number of locations across LA in more design oriented areas like downtown’s arts district, over on beverly blvd, and culver city’s platform and abbot kinney. While their clean, wooden interiors are appealing and the coffee smells great, they do feel less exclusive with their accessibility.
Intelligentsia, especially the one at abbot kinney, has a much bolder atmosphere. The interior is modern and the music has a punk energy that makes it feel more alive than the minimalist competitors. If the weather is cool, their hot brewed coffee is perfect, otherwise their iced latte is great for a hot venice day.
Verve has come to be one of the best competitors in California, bringing unique beans to the market at what seem to be friendlier prices than some of its more popular competitors. The Kenya coffee stands out for its flavors of peach, watermelon, and a light candy-like sweetness. The butterscotch latte, on the other hand, is a more controversial drink as the syrupy sweetness can overwhelm the coffee instead of enhancing it.
Another option located throughout Los Angeles is Stumptown. Established in 1999, they have now become extremely accessible due to the scale that comes with maturity. There is nothing ostentatiously unique about Stumptown, but they do offer a slight upgrade in quality than what a chain coffee would offer. Their Arts District location has an inviting ambience and offers Prominent coffee aromas, but however not every unique idea of theirs is a good one. Their canned lemon coffee is a clear example that some unique ideas could lead to an undesirable result.
One Sasquatch-themed café has a different type of charm. It’s award-winning design is clean and cheerful as it brings an urban forest to life with deep green watercolour style walls, custom white furnishings, rounded tables and playful imagery of forest critters. The coffee is made from high quality beans and is very rich, although the drinks can be more dependable than unforgettable which means the atmosphere is the main reason to visit.
There is a lesson here. LA doesn't have to copy the coffee capitals of the Pacific Northwest. Its independent cafés showcase the city’s strengths: design, experimentation, multicultural influences, and a healthy defiance of the ordinary. Avoiding the chain and going with a local roaster is perhaps the most gratifying way to experience the city, one meticulously brewed cup at a time.
