Handsome Coffee Roasters Officially Opening Next Month

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Handsome Coffee Roasters's coffee

Handsome Coffee Roasters hoped to open their Downtown coffee bar right before the holidays, but what was supposed to be an early holiday present to coffee fiends is now a Valentine's Day gift to their fellow coffee lovers instead. According to Handsome Coffee's press release, their coffee bar will officially open in February in L.A. -- and New York.

Chris Owens, Michael Phillips, and Tyler Wells all were former high-ranking Intelligentsia employees before departing the company to launch Handsome Coffee. The trio turned an Arts District warehouse once home to a print shop into a makeshift office and headquarters, and built out the space to accommodate their roastery operations and retail coffee bar. Once open, a visit to Handsome Coffee will be a factory tour of sorts: a 13-foot glass and metal wall separating the roastery and coffee bar will give you ample view to drink up all the action.

The shop will have individual seating as well as a communal table for those looking for just the right spot to swap home brewing tips with other home baristas. Or to talk about the game with fellow lifelong Lakers Clippers fans. Whatever suits you.

Handsome Coffee hopes their shop will have a comfortable enough atmosphere so that walking in will not feel like entering a Tower of Babel. That is, no specialized coffee jargon will be needed to communicate the fact that all you want is a simple cup of joe, please; the menu, in fact, will list espresso-based drinks according to their sizes to minimize confusion, on both sides of the coffee bar, about what is being ordered. Brewed coffee will be available at market prices (generally between $4 and $9), though sweeteners will not be: Handsome is quite confident that you'll like their coffee so much you won't even miss the sugar. Pastries will be brought in from Proof Bakery.

The shop will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. For those who can't wait, their coffee beans can be found at several coffee shops in the city, including Coffee Bar.

And as if one opening were not enough, Handsome teamed up with Proprietors LLC and DB Hospitality LLC and will have a small, 400-square foot daytime walk-up coffee bar at New York's Demi Monde space, located a stone's throw from Wall Street. Handsome will start pulling shots for already hyperactive stockbrokers "just days" after its L.A. shop opens next month.