Caffeine Combat

Science, Sweets, and Coffee Beans To Unite at Downtown’s Demitasse

Photo: Tatiana Arbogast

Bobak Roshan, the president of Demitasse, the new coffee concept coming to Downtown, fills us in on some more details about the shop. The cafe is going to have a bit of a science lab atmosphere, Roshan says, with some unusual technical equipment to back it up. There will be one of those pricey halogen siphon bars to make the coffee and large Kyoto iced-coffee machines (eat your heart out, Blue Bottle). Roshan tells us he’d even like to find a way to incorporate dry-ice into a coffee drink. Each coffee order will be ground on the spot and made in a single-cup brew, while every coffee bean will have a corresponding piece of chocolate that comes with each order, intended to accentuate the flavors in each.

Other sweet edibles are coming from Jin Patisserie, Compartes Chocolatier, FarmShop, and Batch from Scratch (Roshan also tells us Batch proprietor Esther Kang, a former law school classmate of his, is due to appear on Masterchef in the coming weeks).

Tea will be served in self-steeping glass teapots, which come to each customer with a glass and a pre-set timer to let drinkers know when the steeping stops and the sipping starts. The cafe will also have a liquid chocolate infused with flavors like lemongrass and lavendar that is going to be drizzled over giant marshmallows given a brush of a torch before being served.

So far, it sounds like a strong direction that could distinguish the coffee shop from the rest of the new wave. Like many in this genre, Demitasse plans to eschew syrups, blenders, and silly drinks, with truffles, fun, and calculated connoisseurship taking their place. Currently, owners are looking towards a tentative opening date in the second week of June.

Demitasse, 135 S. San Pedro St. Downtown.

Science, Sweets, and Coffee Beans To Unite at Downtown’s Demitasse