BREWING IT RIGHT

If you’re a coffee enthusiast, you have boundless café options at your disposal. After carefully researching the most exciting spots to sip in of New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, we’ve found the following to be assuredly worth your while.



DEMITASSE
135 S. San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, California, cafedemitasse.com
Follow your nose to the Aroma Bar of Demitasse, a suave shop in Little Tokyo, LA. Customers at Demitasse can start with smell at the café’s Aroma Bar, testing various coffee bean scents to help them decide on their next brew. Every month, owner Bobak Roshan features new coffees from El Salvador to Panama to Rwanda. His primary roaster is Equator Coffees, but every so often he highlights other guest roasters from the LA area.

Roshan uses a “ridiculously sexy” halogen siphon bar, which brews sweeter and juicier coffee than the norm. Roshan also uses a Clever Dripper, which combines the French press and filter drip brewing methods. The coffee that results is said to taste full-bodied but lighter than coffee brewed by other methods. As for the iced coffee necessary to cool off in Los Angeles heat, Roshan uses two unique cold brew methods. One of these is the Kyoto of Japan, which involves dripping water onto coffee grounds for approximately 14 hours. He serves the coffee in cold sake bottles to prevent dilution.

Roshan also believes in pairing coffee with chocolate, selling miniature truffles and chocolate bars to tantalize taste buds. As for Demitasse’s hot chocolate, fans have raved about the unique lavender flavor mixed from liquid chocolate and served with a freshly toasted cube of marshmallow that is torched right in front of the lucky recipient. Tea aficionados are also impressed with Demitasse’s quality selection of exotic teas.

The café’s interior is beautiful, sleek and well-lit. It is equipped with complimentary Wi-Fi for the client on the go, and the café even delivers throughout the neighborhood for their more homebound customer. Customers often compliment Demitasse’s great service by their friendly and passionate staff. “It’s not just coffee, it’s an experience,” they exclaimed. Roshan understands the importance of giving to the community, from reducing Demitasse’s footprint to donating day-old foods. Made with such quality and care, a coffee at Demitasse is sure to lift both one’s body and spirit.

SATURDAYS SURF NYC
31 Crosby Street, New York, New York, saturdaysnyc.com
Saturdays Surf is a café for the customer who wants to “get away from it all” for a few hours. This dual café and surf shop on a quiet street in SoHo floats its visitors right up to the shore with its relaxed beachside attitude. The company’s three partners, who are surfers themselves, came up with the idea over a few midsummer beers, having noticed the dearth of surf apparel and equipment options available to the athletes and their fans.
In addition to excellent drip coffee and what fans claim to
be the best cappuccino on the East Coast, Saturdays offers
surfboards, wetsuits, T-shirts, shoes, grooming products, books and even pieces of art. Its owners encourage passersby to have a coffee, peruse the gear and enjoy their spacious garden patio. Surf’s up!

PHILZ COFFEE
3101 24th Street, San Francisco, California, philzcoffee.com
If you ask a San Franciscan about his or her favorite café, an overwhelming amount will reply that Philz is their go-to spot. When you walk into Philz, you won’t see typical coffee drinks on their menu. The café custom blends “one cup at a time” and offers 20 different bean varieties from around the world. For 25 years, owner Phil Jaber has tested hundreds of groundbreaking blends to share with his customers. There are no limits to what Philz baristas can create, and they promise to make a cup exactly to your liking. Jaber has never believed in using machines to make coffee and supports the drip station. Jaber and his son Jacob still work the business every day, and in addition to overseeing the coffee-making, they ensure that everything is running in an eco-friendly manner. For example, they charge customers who bring in their own mugs the price of a small cup, regardless of the cup size they order. Visitors with a green thumb can also take home coffee grounds for their gardens from any of the multiple Philz locations.

TEXT BY Denise Kitt

THE SPRING ISSUE

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