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Yet another coffee bar that began as a kiosk operation. Owners/brothers Jerad and Justin Morrison have years of experience that includes roasting at Blue Bottle and the opening of Four Barrel, and they gradually built out this space to the spacious warehouse coffeehouse and roaster it is today - located in a 1924-built, 4,000-sq-ft space with a vast ceiling. And yet there's still almost no seating here. The brothers are slaves to coffee brand name fads, and thus were early adopters of the Slayer and the La Marzocco Strada (which they still use today). These machines replaced their original novelty: a refurbished two-group La Marzocco GS2 espresso machine - straight out of the 1970s, and a sister to the one just installed at Intelligentsia's fabled Venice Beach location. Not surprisingly, the changing of the machine guard has not improved their espresso any. Once they established their own roasting operations in 2010, they were able to offer their own coffees in place of their previous Verve supplies. The resulting shot now has a medium brown crema that strains to coat the cup - not atypical for shops that love super-bright coffee. And bright it is (they typically use their signature Owl's Howl blend): citrus, some malt, and virtually no sweetness to its metallic finish. Cappuccinos look pretty, but don't hold up to the milk - we suggest avoiding unless you like bland. Served in classic brown ACF cups.
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