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!

Cheebo - Sunset Blvd

Had lunch/dinner today at Cheebo in Hollywood on Sunset Blvd. Good spot for pizzas, salads and really great breakfast sausage. After a chicken sandwich and veggie chop salad I decided to have a single cappuccino. Our server, who has waited on us several times and is always really cool and attentive, prepared me a single capp in a fairly large cup.
Let the reviewing begin:
My girl and I were talking about this blog and what it's rating system should be. We decided to try rating each category out of 3 stars, with a description for each score.


Coffee
* * 1/2 - nice strong flavor well balanced with the milk and foam
Milk/Foam
* * - foam was right on, could have been a little thicker - flavor was very subtly sweet. I like more sweetness in my milk.
Presentation
* * - good porcelain, nice weight. - cup was def a little big. I prefer the smaller 6 oz. size. Like the "Cafe Cappuccino" imported by Great Infusions.

Overall rating: * * Nice work. Definitely way better than normal swill you get at most places. There was definitely effort and some skill involved in that cup. And that is what we are looking for. I would be more inclined to stop in there and order and coffee than say the chain spot up or down the road. Keep it up Cheebo...oh and buy other sizes for your porcelain.

backstory

- Time for some back story on why this blog exists.
I grew up in a place and during a time when coffee was something that came in a can and usually had 'flavor crystals.' In college I learned a little more about what coffee could taste like, but still really had no idea. It wasn't until after college, when I moved to San Francisco that I discovered how it could be...mmmm...coffee.

- Caffe Trieste -

This place is the shit. period. Great atmosphere and charm. Fantastic coffee and snacks. I discovered the place while exploring North Beach for the first time on my Suzuki SV650 motorcycle. I was riding past and saw a mess of cool and unique looking motorcycles sitting outside and had to stop and check them out. One thing lead to another and POW! I was sitting outside on a perfectly gray SF day having the best cappuccino of my life. That was it. Addiction set in and I was finished.
I ended up working south of Market at an interactive agency and I would hop on my bike for coffee breaks and zip over to Trieste for a quick capp or shot of espresso. So that set the standard. For my remaining years in SF I would try other spots out, but would always end up back at Trieste. My shelter from the fog, cold and work day routine.

I left SF many years later and ventured to Phoenix for a brief stay with my brother. Things looked really bad on the coffee front at first. Well to be honest, things looked bad on ALL fronts. That town really blows, but that could be a whole other blog. So I eventually found a good spot through this wacky-ass girl I met at a Sigur Ros show. Lux is a nice little spot right on Central in the middle of Phoenix proper. Good atmosphere and solid coffee. Nice accomplishment in the middle of the desert of both climate and culture.

After Phoenix I moved to my present home, Los Angeles. Big place. Very spread out and scattered, kinda like the people. So I of course immediately began looking for my new Trieste or Lux...and looking and looking. And in short form that is how we got to here.

As things go along I will define in greater detail what it is about Trieste that makes it the standard, as well as what I think defines coffee perfection.
One quick note for future reference. In this blog I will mostly type the word "coffee" but more often than not I really mean cappuccino or espresso. I really only drink cafe americano in the winer when it is cold or with breakfast at a greasy spoon type place.

ciao for now.

the search begins...

This blog is about coffee and more specifically finding good coffee in Los Angeles. First up is devising some kind of consistent, hopefully objective test for the coffee.
This is what I have so far:
Coffee
- flavor
- temperature
Foam(if applicable)
- flavor
- density
presentation
- cups
- service

The grade will be 1 to 5 beans. So for coffee it would be like this:
1 = ugh...this really sucks. what is this, tea?
2 = standard office coffee. some flavor, but nothing you will enjoy.
3 = good average coffee. most chain coffee joints on a good day.
4 = now we are getting somewhere. distinct flavor, made with some love.
5 = how it should be. great flavor, great consistency, perfect balance of bitterness.

So for foam on capps and such, the scale would be:
1 = none. or at least it might as well be. thin, no flavor, soap sud bubbles.
2 = some. still no flavor really. a mix of bubble sizes.
3 = foam has arrived. some flavor and maybe a bit of sweetness.
4 = density is good. flavor really contributes to the coffee as a whole.
5 = Get out your Spoon! head on the foam. think and creamy. perfect sugar content in the milk.


I need Field Operatives, so if you like coffee and feel like reporting in, use the above test and get to spying agent 69.