What other options besides Intelligentsia do I have in LA area for high end beans??

The Supreme Bean
City Bean
Graffeo
Kean Coffee
Klatch

The Coffee Roaster in Sherman Oaks

If you have a GPS, filter coffee roaster

Intelli and Klatch (as already mentioned) are my two favorite roasters in the area. LAMill is a good option too.

I live in Long Beach and my problem is that most of the best roasters are all in a different part of the county than I am. I don't know what part of LA you're in but in Long Beach we have Polly's Gourmet Coffee. Now Polly's can be very good, but some of their roasts are a little too dark for me and the selection doesn't really change. A particular favorite of mine is their roast of La Minita Estate. If you're in this part of the county they are worth trying but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

Here in Long Beach there is also True Beans Coffee. I'm less familiar with them because they are only open Monday - Friday during the day but on a day off I did make it over there for a pound of Ethiopian Yirg which was very good. True Beans is kind of hidden, it's off the 710 in downtown LB by the SCAA offices and the Catalina Express.

Caffecito Organico
They are on the Farmersmarket in Silverlake on saturday and on the Selma Street Farmersmarket in La on sunday morning. they have a store on 534 N. Hoover Street and now also on 710 N.Heliotrope Drive.
At the Farmersmarket they use an Astoria lever machine.

Adam, I am actually in SP so I go to pollys every now and again. I got a LB of there espresso blend but it was way too oily. Did you find the La Minita Estate to be oily as well or dry?? thanks again for the info...

Check Iota Coffee _ it's Eton Tsuno, who uses to be with Groundwork. He is now running the coffee operation for Haus Dessert Cafe in Koreatown at 3826 W 6th St, and doing roasting there on site. He's been working with some very interesting micro-lots and high end coffees. Not sure what he has at the moment for retail sale but I tried both a Panama Hartmann and some Rusty's Hawaiian when I visited there. He may have beans that are not on the drink menu for the cafe - don't hesitate to ask. Eton is a terrific guy - totally focused on coffee and always looking to innovate.

Jones Roasters in Pasadena.

javacrazed wrote:Adam, I am actually in SP so I go to pollys every now and again. I got a LB of there espresso blend but it was way too oily. Did you find the La Minita Estate to be oily as well or dry?? thanks again for the info...

Their espresso blend is too dark roasted for me too. From what I remember it's a three bean blend and they include some of their french roast as part of the blend which is not how I like my espresso. The La Minita is a lighter roast of theirs, no oil on the beans. All of their coffees are displayed in the store, you can get a pretty good idea of the roast levels by looking at their display.

LaMill in Silverlake over by the reservoir also occasionally has some great beans.

Other than our own beans I'm a long time fan of the Supreme Bean, I used to live within a bike ride of their roastery so would stop by there all the time.

Eton has an excellent reputation but I haven't sampled his beans yet.

And the Jones folks are awesome as are their beans. It's the only place I go to in Pasadena even with Intelligentsia there now.