Intelligentsia Coffee may be Chicago based, but founder David Latourell thinks of his beans as a national commodity that can be customized for different cities. In an interview with Flavorwire today, Latourell does a psychological profile of the coffee cultures of Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. San Francisco, home of the original Peet’s, takes its coffee as seriously as it takes food. While Chicago is curious about its coffee’s origins and fair-trade sourcing, Intelligentsia stores appeal to business customers and “emphasize serving the coffee well and efficiently.” In Los Angeles, the customer is involved in the coffee-making process — a planned store in Venice Beach will be “very open, very much something where you can wheel the machine around, bring the person in, show the person what you’re doing on the machine.” There’s no dedicated Intelligentsia café in New York yet, but there’s room. “The coffee consciousness of New York seriously lags behind the marvelous food culture, says Latourelle.” Guess he hasn’t heard about NYC’s obsession with Stumptown.
The Kool-Aid’s in the Coffee [Flavorwire]
