Shandi Jones works her magic at Spring for Coffee.

Shandi Jones works her magic at Spring for Coffee. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

July 14, 2011
Description: Chicago-based company that has inserted itself seamlessly into three L.A. neighborhoods. Single-origin and fair-trade coffees light-roasted at its Glassel Park roasting facility.


Locations: 3922 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 663-6173; 1331 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, (310) 399-1233; 55 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 578-1270; http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com.

Kéan Coffee

Description: Orange County cafes owned and operated by Martin Diedrich, who light-roasts a global selection of single-origin, fair-trade, organic coffees in a roaster designed by his brother.

Location: 2043 Westcliff Drive, Newport Beach, (949) 642-5326; 13681 Newport Ave., Suite 14, Tustin, (714) 838-5326; keancoffee.com.

LAMill

Description: Elegant Silver Lake restaurant and cafe, outgrowth of a family-owned roasting facility in Alhambra. Proprietor Craig Min medium-roasts single-origin coffees with a global reach.

Location: 1636 Silver Lake Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 663-4441, lamillcoffee.com.

Paper or Plastik Cafe

Description: Bright bustling cafe in Pico Village — with a working dance studio attached — brewing Intelligentsia beans.

Location: 5772 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 935-0268, paperorplastikcafe.com.

Proof Bakery/Cognoscenti Coffee

Description: Small Atwater Village bakery in which Cognoscenti, a one-man company manned by former architect turned pop-up barista Yeekai Lim, has set up a coffee bar using beans from Four Barrel (San Francisco).

Location: 3156 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 644-8633, twitter.com/@cogcoffee.

Spring for Coffee

Description: Two tiny high-volume downtown cafés, specializing in Blue Bottle beans (San Francisco).

548 S. Spring St., Suite 106, Los Angeles; 817 S. Los Angeles St., Los Angeles; no phone; springforcoffee.com.

— Patrick Comiskey