Featured Shop: Intelligentsia Venice

Debut: Introducing Your Intelli-Venice Crew from Intelli LA on Vimeo.

Intelligentia Venice: where extraction science meets art.

Intelligentsia 
Venice Coffeebar
1331 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Venice, California 90291
310.399.1233

Intelli on Flickr  

I would be doing a disservice to the coffee culture everywhere if I didn't feature an Intelli shop first, so, this shop must be talked about.  To say the least, Intelligentsia's Venice coffeebar is an interesting, formidable step into what is coming to the coffee industry.  A problem that most, if not all coffee bars have is a lack of communication between barista and customer--you order from a cashier, he/she passes on that order to a barista, the barista makes the drink.  This may have worked for the fast food industry, but in today's age of customer-tailored individualized drinks, it can be a difficult task to re-create what the customer wanted initially.  I tested this theory five times at five different coffee shops.  What I did was order an Americano with equal parts espresso and water.  At 5 different shops, zero were correctly made, due to a lack of communication (and perhaps proper skill...and zero baristas stopped to ask what I really wanted; they simply made the drink on the ticket.  I thought, "Why can't I just order from the barista?"  The folks at Intelli successfully tackled this issue using baristas who ring you up after they themselves make you your drink.  1 person handles the entire transaction.  Revolutionary.  Thank you for solving years of, "Shit.  This isn't what I ordered." 

And they do things with crazy class, such as their La Marzocco espresso machine, re-paneled with wood, from the original Pike Place Starbucks.  The theme, as proclaimed by certain coffee professionals is "Intelly rising from Starbucks' ashes".  I'd say that sums it up properly.

They feature a single-origin seasonal espresso (when I went, it was pulped natural El Machete Panama), as well as their Black Cat espresso blend, which changes depending on which beans the "coffee scientist-artist" chooses.  As for coffee, they serve only by-the-cup, single-origin, seasonal offerings.  There are usually 2 or 3 to choose from.  And, believe me, they are some of the world's top-rated coffees.

The baristas here are also extraordinarily well-trained.  In order to work there, you have to complete a 17-page test, covering everything from growing conditions of coffee, to what coffee does under pressure at certain temperatures, to processing, to Intelli's own strategies/philosophies.  They also undergo a boot camp of coffee tasting that would scare away even the most attuned coffee pallets.  The barista who helped me, I think his name was Dan, was great, and talked me through the flavors I was processing in the Panama espresso.

Something that I love is that the folks at Intelli want you to appreciate coffee.  They don't leave you hanging if you don't know anything about coffee, they welcome you to coffee tastings and trainings, which are a fairly regular part of the schedule for the shop.  At any level, people appreciate what they are doing here and can benefit greatly from experiencing the artistry of Intelligentsia's latest concept.  

Machines: 5 Espresso Machines, Grinders: 15

4 group La Marzocco GS2, modified.

2 group custom Synesso Syncras, with the ability to set each group to separate temps

2 Clovers