As good or better than Intelligentsia Black Cat

[alliebear]

Hey espresso lovers. I'm trying to find espresso for a Christmas gift. I know the recipient likes the Intelligentsia Black Cat espresso beans, but I'm wondering where I can find something as good or better. I want to introduce her to something different and possibly better, but I have no idea where to start.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[keepon]

There are so many great coffee bean choices in LA now, why limited yourself to Intelligentsia?

For something local, try Handsome Coffee Roasters.
The guys were ex-Intelligentsia folks who roasted up amazing coffee.
http://www.handsomecoffee.com/

For something special, head over to the newly opened Cognoscenti Coffee shop in Culver City. They carried amazing, hard to find beans from Phil & Sebastian (Canada), Wrecking Ball (SF) & Counter Culture, all are my favorite roasters.

[cls]

While I am not the biggest fan of Handsome, it's quality coffee and a cool place, so I agree with keepon on both of these recommendations.

Coffee Bar on Spring downtown also has a good selection of beans for sale, and I think Proof in Atwater still sells beans both from Handsome and Cognoscenti as well as some others.

[sel]

Handsome Coffee is currently my favorite local roaster. Their 'Dandy' is an excellent choice for espresso and espresso based beverages.
The Cognoscenti pop-up at Proof Bakery, a phenomenal bakery, is still up and running and they sell a rotating selection of beans from several excellent roasters. They do not roast themselves but are masters of preparation! Their new shop is up and running, across from EK Valley Restaurant.

[A5 KOBE]

I absolutely love Caffe Vergnano. I am not sure where you can get it here in LA since I bought it in NY. But they do have it on amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Caffe-Vergnano-...

[mugen]

Since you're in LA, you could try having some beans posted overnight from some of the San Francisco roasters:

http://coffeeratings.com/

From memory, my favourite was Four Barrel, but Blue Bottle and Ritual are highly recommended.