When I was sitting in Cafe Demitasse in Santa Monica, two peculiar things happened. The first was that a man was complaining about his Gibraltar not being perfect. For coffee nerds, one should think that it's quite silly outside of a Blue Bottle to order a "Gibraltar" considering one of Blue Bottle's first baristas randomly coined the name. The other peculiar thing that happened made me respect the baristas at Cafe Demitasse to no end. A man came in acting all high and mighty, asking for a lemon rind in his espresso. A WHAT? YES, HE ASKED FOR A LEMON RIND IN HIS ESPRESSO. Shocked and offended at such a silly request, I made eye contact with the barista who happened to be smirking and politely refused the man his lemon rind. Thank goodness. Anyways, enough with the shenanigans. As I've clearly shown, Cafe Demitasse stays true to their coffee. My most recent visit was to their second location in Santa Monica (newly opened in early May) while the original is in LIttle Tokyo, close to Cafe Dulce. They roast their own coffee locally and you can tell that all their baristas are full-on coffee geeks. Siphons, pour-overs--you name it, they know it. During my past visit I ordered a single-origin espresso from Tanzania and it was fantastic--grapefruity sweet and yet a little bitter. Even better, the new shop was relatively empty, pristine, and quiet. The Little Tokyo location is equally cool and coffee-centric. There is even a bar around the siphons to sit and watch all of the magic happen. Overall, both locations are great for coffee nerds or even a quick cup of lemon rind-free espresso.

Recommend: Talk to the baristas about any of your coffee questions! They're quite knowledgable. 

Note: Don't ask for a lemon rind like you are speaking to bartenders. You will look silly and also be refused. 

Price: $$

Vibe: Coffee nerd, quiet, clean

Espresso Rating: 8.5/10

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Hours: Little Tokyo, Mon-Thurs 7-10, Sat-Sun 8-10; Santa Monica, Mon-Wed 7-8, Thurs-Fri 7-10, Saturday 8-10, Sunday 8-8

Website: http://cafedemitasse.com/