Coffee Intelligentsia - Sunset Junction

Intelligentsia Sunset Junction
3922 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029

...and so we arrive at the opening of the much anticipated Coffee Intelligentsia location here in Los Angeles.
The big opening party was last night and the turn out was fantastic. Lines of people waiting for their first tastes of the Coffee New Wave. There was gelato from a certain place I have reviewed across the street, there was a DJ spinning mostly old school grooves, and of course wine and beer. It was a good party and everyone enjoyed themselves.

I met various members of the Intelli-team, including Kyle, the man in charge of the local operation. Very cool people, very coffee-committed people. One woman in particular, Jules, helped me select a new coffee to try in my press at home. This young lady is very serious about coffee and probably well represents for the Intelli-team in terms of training and mindset. She had a long coffee background and plenty of 411 on the different coffees, where they came from and what intelli's Direct Trade program was all about. As I listened to her explain and inform, a thought began to form in my head. America is about many things to many people, but one trait in particular comes to mind.
Bigger, better, faster, more productive. We take things very seriously. We may be perceived by some as rednecks to the world or dramatic cowboys, but what we really know well is how to "improve" on something. In this case take the Italians, our contemporaries and inspiration for the coffee elite. These folks are seriously chill in comparison. They like coffee and take it seriously, but I cannot imagine having any of the conversations I had last night at Caffe Trieste. In America, we take something that is based on tradition and derives its mystique from the aesthetic and standards to which it is created, and we science the hell out of it. you could almost say we are the science to the rest of the worlds religion or faith. Explaining every aspect of something that never needed explaining before. Now I am as much a geek (or more) than the next guy, but this thought did come to mind during the course of my coffee-intensive evening.
To now concluded this aside and get to the review...Chill out America! Look around at your neighbors on the planet and calm the fuck down. This is NOT a race and if it were, we might be in first, but we are definitely not winning. Know the details, fine. Research the shit outta whatever you want. Ok. But remember that there is always a bigger picture and often it is the appreciation of that, which matters most.

- Review -

- Coffee -
***
Flavor of the coffee is perfectly balanced with the milk/foam. Good consistency and the temperature was perfect. I did not ask which of their coffees they were using for the espressos, but I am guessing is was their Black Cat (which was not available for purchase last night).


- Foam -
***
The way it should be. Thick and smooth with just a hint of sweetness from the milk. Again, well balanced with the coffee flavor. I believe they were using whole milk, or it looked like something of that weight and fat content.

- Presentation -
***
Saucer and spoon set out first...tension builds...the cup is set on the counter...she pours the frothed milk in very carefully and you see the magic of a cappuccino being to take shape. As she concludes the pour and nice little heart shape appears at the finish. Viola!
Nice porcelain from everyone's favorite ACF.

- Overall -
***
Jeff, your competition or comrades, depending on how you look at it, have arrived. We now have two locations on the east side for a real coffee experience. Thank you to the Shoguns of Coffee Intelligentsia in Chicago for sending trendy, lost and misguided little LA and beacon of hope and taste. Now the real challenge begins...teaching the numb and mislead people of LA that THIS is what it is supposed to taste like, not that crap you have been drinking everywhere else.
Oh yeah and Intelli-Team, go easy. Chill a little. It IS coffee and you and I take it probably too seriously most of the time. Next time you interact with the rest of the world, think of some super cool, laid back, old Italian guy in loafers and pressed pants serving up a coffee, right before he hops on his scooter and zips off to his lover, mid-afternoon, waving as he disappears into the sun...Ciao!