100 Trips to Intelligentsia…And I Still Know Nothing

#001 of hundreds

LOS ANGELES — So this idea that I’m going to somehow take a picture of every shot I have at this place is flipping ridiculous. So that’s all done with.

Not that I’m even going all that often now. I’m knee deep in the Chemex world, grinding my beans with some grinder that cost as much as a month’s rent in college and some beans roasted within mere days of consumption. But from time to time, I sneak back to the homeland — maybe grab a sandwich from the Cheese Shop next door — and drop a few bucks on the good folks at the Big I. Screw Starbies. This is now the standard. I’m officially hopeless. I think I actually tasted citrus a few times and thought, “A nice citrus there” in my head. Even if it was really tobacco, I’m falling deeper into the clutches of this madness. Fortunately, I still don’t know what I’m talking about…so I’ll always have that.

In the months since I last updated, I’ve had coffee in a bunch of places, plus I’ve brewed a bunch from a bunch of places in my Chemex pot. Huzzah. So in the next weeks, I hope to catch up on all that. But for now…

Here’s a short summary of my May – August whenver I’m in LA…

–Wake up

–Work

–Meet up with Ben/Gaines

–Eat Fish Tacos/Real Tacos

–Pound a shot at Intelligentsia, often chased by another

–Smirk

 

Pushing the Limits: Hot Day, HOTtter Tea…

(Downed: a bunch of black teas, iced Rwandan coffee)

LOS ANGELES — After getting schooled in the craft of home-brew coffee by a roast master, I had not much else to do this week besides run/bike/work-a-smidge and go to Sunset Junction for a fix.

Today (Saturday) marks four days in a row that I’ve been there. Three for shots and coffee, today for a tea tasting with a guy named Steve. Fortunately, I was able to bring the Maggster for a change of pace. It was so flippin’ hot today, I thought about bagging it as I’m flying to the D here in a few hours…but the hell with it. It was fun. I’ll be getting a proper tea pot here pretty soon, I think. Likely before I invest in the grinder.

 

Yuca’s + ‘gents = Los Feliz Sunshine

“I can’t go a day w/o my sunshine(?)”

(Downed: shot, cuppa clover’d Bolivian “Anjilanaka”)

LOS ANGELES — I never planned on going back today.

I’ve never watched “LA Story” from start to finish in any condition to judge it, but I did gather something about highway traffic signs guiding Steve Martin’s life (I’ll look pretty stupid if this isn’t the case.) The cool thing about this town is that, indeed, the state of traffic can change your fate…often for the worse.

In this case, a jam on the 110-N back to Glendale kept me from going home and sent me instead up the 101 toward Hollywood and into the loving arms of the Carrerras (BONUS BUZZ COVERAGE BELOW!!) and their carne asada taco/burrito two-fer. Riding high from this magic, I decided it would be in good taste to scamper over to Intelligentsia’s friendly confines for a shot/cup/cookie. With a quick order from Benji for an iced delivery, the die was cast.

 

Sunset Junction: Intelligentsia Comes Back Like Jordan, Wearin’ the 4-5

The Fresh Life: Reborn?

(downed: shot, cuppa clova “persephone/alchemy”

LOS ANGELES — At a certain point in the life of this coffee blog, it’s going to just be pointless talking about anything I get at this shop. Sometimes, I think I like it more than the employees do (not the case, but the alpha dogs around there aren’t from LA, so they don’t readily “vibe”…i’ll bet you a case of raw almond butter they’ll loosen up by the next time a cloud blows past in mid-to-late September).

While this proper blog gets it’s proper legs, I’ll avoid getting too misty about this place. But I’m not sure how many more on-time espressos I can injest before I’ll just put up a whole page. This place is crushing it. Someday, you might find me at the Source Awards screaming about how “East Coast ain’t got no love for Black Cat? Ain’t got no love for (if I knew the names of two people who worked there, it would be referenced here)?”

To the experiential ratings hotness: