Coffee at the Coffee Commissary on Fairfax in Los Angeles

The last coffee spot that I was able to check out during my few days in Los Angeles is called Coffee Commissary.  I was surprised that this coffee shop was actually the closest place to the hotel I was staying at and I didn't actually make it there until after checking out of the hotel on the last morning.

We parked on the street directly in front of Coffee Commissary and paid the meter then saw a sign that said there was free parking in the rear.  Oh well, next time. :)

The ambiance here felt energetic even though there weren't that many people going through it, but I think it was mostly because the hip hop-ish beat music is played slightly on the louder side here.  If you want to have a quiet conversation, you probably should grab a table on the outdoor patio.  This seemed to be a popular spot for people to stop at while they are walking their dogs.  It was probably in the most sub-urban type of neighborhood of all the coffee spots that I visited this trip.

We had a couple of pastries for breakfast along with our coffees.  I started with the Sightglass Kenya Nyeri AA Washed Process.  It is described as "heavily fruited and floral in its fragrance and aroma. Flavors of fresh strawberry and peach with a lemonade-like sweetness".  I remember recognizing those flavors as I sipped this delicious coffee.  I loved it and was tempted to purchase a bag of it, but since I only saw one bag left on the shelf, I didn't.  I wish I did!

I also got a second cup to go, but I can't remember what it was.  The second coffee also tasted good, but kind of regular.  I  didn't notice any flavors that really popped out.  It also cost less so it made sense that I felt that way.

I'll probably be visiting this coffee shop again since it's so close to the hotel that I will probably be staying at when I am in Los Angeles.  It's probably a reasonable walk since it was only a four minute drive.

Here is my foursquare list of coffee places that I <3: https://foursquare.com/ricknakama/list/coffee-i-3.

Coffee Commissary
801 North Fairfax #106
http://coffeecommissary.com/

http://twitter.com/RickNakama

Picked up Handsome Coffee Roasters coffee at Spring for Coffee, Downtown Los Angeles

Driving into Downtown L.A.

Another favorite spot that I picked up coffee from while in Los Angeles is this LITTLE coffee bar called Spring for Coffee.  They have two locations and I searched for their Los Angeles Street location as we drove through Downtown Los Angeles.  Los Angeles is a big city and Spring for Coffee is really tiny sliver among blocks and blocks of businesses.  I had to drive around the block twice to figure out exactly where I should stop.

Can your spot them?
Spring for Coffee
in the Academy Awards Building.

I almost gave up thinking that nothing in the area was open (yet).  It was about 845AM, but it was December 23rd, a Friday.  As we drove around the area, all the shutters of the store fronts were closed.  I thought Spring for Coffee must have been behind one of those rolled down shutters and wondered if we should move on with our journey to Torrance.  It was a good thing that my co-pilot (not navigator because my Google Navigation was handling that), Kelli, spotted the little chalkboard sign just before we gave up.  You might need to look at the full size of the store front photo to find Spring for Coffee.  It is probably easier to spot that shoe shining chair which is just to the left of the entrance to the building.

When I first walked in, I was a bit surprised... Spring for Coffee serves amazingly delicious coffee out of a coffee bar tucked in the corner of an elevator/stairway lobby of this building.  I did not take any photos of the entire operation (I could have by just stepping back a couple of feet).  I will save it for you to see in person when you visit them for coffee! :)  Oh and by the way, I asked the barista what time the shops on the street would open up and he said that they would all normally be open by that time so everyone probably decided to close for the holiday weekend.

I was pleased to see that they were serving the Handsome Coffee Roaster coffees here.  They had the Don Medardo Honduras that I tried the day before at Paper or Plastik and the Ruthagati AA Kenya.  I tried the Ruthagati AA Kenya and loved it.  Their description of the coffee is "Passion Fruit, Nectarines, Juicy Goodness" and that it was!  Juicy Goodness!  Strangely, I am not much of a passion fruit or nectarine lover, but this coffee was delicious.  I was practically finished with my cup before getting back to the car and was tempted to buy a second cup.  Instead, I bought two 12 ounce bags of Handsome Coffee Roasters coffee.

I purchased a bag of the Don Medardo Honduras and a bag of the Ruthagati AA Kenya to bring back to Honolulu.  I wish I remembered to take pictures of the bags of coffee!  I brought the bags over to Beach Bum Cafe and left them there for some friends to try out when they stop in to enjoy Hawaiian Coffee.  I also left the barista at Spring for Coffee a little bag of Aloha Farms Kona Maragogype beans that I brought to LA with me from Beach Bum Cafe.  I hope he liked it.  I wonder what he thought of it.  Hmmmmm???

When I brought the bags of coffee over to Beach Bum Cafe, I did take one photo of the Don Medardo Honduras.  You can see the variety of beans in the coffee.  Looks like there are some peaberry coffee beans in there too.  Doesn't the bag look "handsome"?  I also thought it was cool that each of their coffees had a Twitter handle to follow.  This bag says, "Follow @HCR_DonMedardo" and the Kenya coffee says, "Follow @HCR_Ruthagati".  Being the tweeter that I am, I followed their suggestion and followed both of those and a whole bunch of others that I found.  Now I just need to find the actual coffees!

This might be a good time to mention that I created a foursquare list of coffee places that I <3.  Of course Spring for Coffee made it on that list!  Here is the link: https://foursquare.com/ricknakama/list/coffee-i-3

Spring for Coffee @ 817 South Los Angeles Street | SpringForCoffee.com

http://www.handsomecoffee.com/

http://twitter.com/RickNakama

Coffee at Paper or Plastik on Pico Boulevard.

Another coffee spot that we were able to experience while in Los Angeles was Paper or Plastik on West Pico Boulevard.  This cafe is known for being an artistic place as well as serving delicious coffee.  I really enjoyed the atmosphere here because it was in a sort of light industrial area, surrounded by automotive repair shops and those types of businesses.  If you don't know, the automotive performance industry is a significant part of my past (and hopefully future... it's just not so much in my present).

Here is one of the custom
metal work tables. Also notice
The custom pipe barrier to designate
their outdoor seating area. :)

The cafe fit in nicely with a lot of industrial decor.  They had custom tables that were crafted from metals and each table had a different design.  It was very cool to just sit, enjoy coffee and look at the unique characteristics of each table.  By the way, certain tables were designated "no laptops computers".

We sat window side, in one of those laptop free tables, but we did use our phones while we were seated there.  I assume that was acceptable.  I hope we weren't offending anyone.

While this cafe is known for serving Intelligentsia coffee, I opted to try the Handsome Coffee Roasters Don Medardo Honduras because this was one that I was hoping to try.  I spotted this coffee while enjoying a cup of Intelligentsia at Tiago.  Tiago wasn't brewing it yet so I couldn't try it there.

Handsome Coffee Roasters
Don Medardo Honduras

I was very happy drinking this Honduras coffee!  I immediately tasted nuttiness and citrus when I had my first sip.  A little later, I went up to take a photo of the coffee selections and saw that the coffee was described as having a "citrus pop with a nutty but sweet aftertaste".  A perfect description for this delicious coffee!  I enjoyed this coffee so much that I purchased a bag of it (at one of my next coffee spots that I will write about later).

If I lived in this area, I can imagine I'd be here everyday to enjoy a morning cup of coffee.  I would probably be sitting at a table that is laptop friendly.  I'm sure I'd find a lot of people around the neighborhood to chat with because of all the automotive shops in the area.  I'll visit this cafe  when I am in Los Angeles again.

Paper or Plastik
5722 W. Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90019

Follow Handsome Coffee Roasters Don Medardo @HCR_DonMedardo

http://twitter.com/RickNakama