BEYOND LATTE | SIPPING
Serious (yay!)
about coffee

In a town of a grillion coffeehouses, there aren't many that do it right. Here are the best places for a stellar cup.

Southern California is used to the spotlight, but when it comes to independent coffeehouses, we're still in the rain shadow of the Pacific Northwest. Maybe this is because Angelenos don't have to endure the lurking damp and early darkness that send so many Seattleites running to the comfort of their neighborhood coffee bars. Or maybe it's because we've historically liked the ice-blended drinks that play so much better at the beach (It's really hard to carry a demitasse of espresso in flip-flops over the sand).

Although there are hundreds of places to get a cup of coffee -- or a soy decaf triple latte -- in this town, it's surprisingly difficult to find a really good one. Between over-roasted beans, drinks with a proportion of mik more suited to a milkshake than a latte, anemic shots of espresso and flat-out terrible brew, it's harder than you think to get a satisfying caffeine fix. Fortunately for those of us who take coffee seriously -- and in ceramic cups, straight, instead of under a mountain of whipped cream -- this is finally changing.

Check out some of these neighborhood haunts for a serious dose of quality joe.