Flickr/iain

What is it about coffee shops that seem so conducive to getting work done? Is it all that caffeine? Maybe the social aspect of actually having to face other human beings, instead of blogging in your pajamas until two in the morning? Maybe it's just the noise.

Coffitivity is a new beta service that seems to think you might work a little harder from home if you just had some of that ambient coffee shop sound surrounding you. You know; the opening of doors, the clanking of mugs and pots, the general buzz of half-heard chatter. According to the three-person team behind the emerging site Coffitivity.com, all of those bits of aural clutter combine to make you more alert, more focused, and more responsible when it comes to managing your own time.

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T. Nguyen

Latte from Tierra Mia

Because surely you could use a horchata frappe on a warm winter day: Tierra Mia Coffee, the specalty coffee shop and roastery that started in South Gate, is expanding into Echo Park. It will take over Echo Lake Coffee Company's space, so if driving up Alvarado towards the 2 freeway and/or Taco Zone is part of your commute, you can look forward to a new caffeine pit stop in the very near future.

This will be Tierra Mia's second cafe in L.A. proper; the first opened in Downtown just seven months ago.

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Photo: Cafecito Organico

Cafecito Organico in Burbank

It's not too often that a locally-owned, independent coffee roaster manages to take over a space formerly inhabited by a giant corporate franchise, but such was the case when L.A.-based Cafecito Organico opened up its sixth Southern California location Thursday in what used to be a Starbucks in Burbank.

Located on the ground level of ABC Family's emerald-colored tower on Alameda St., the new Cafecito Organico inevitably lacks the mom-and-pop charm of their more neighborhood-y locations in Silver Lake, Malibu and East Hollywood, but the brand's signature skeleton imagery and "Hecho a mano" window decals painted by artist Julio Turuno help make it feel less like a Starbucks and more like the beloved, community-drive coffee chain that it really is.

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R. E. ~ via flickr

Coffee at Demitasse

This just in -- one of our favorite coffeehouses, Demitasse, is expanding to Santa Monica. The new location will be at 1149 Third St., just north of Wilshire. An opening date has not yet been set.

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Photo: Jennifer Swann

Cafeina Galeria from its alleyway entrance on Sunset Blvd.

"This is the story of a cappuccino," says John Ownes, the owner -- as well as the barista -- behind the Spaziale Vivaldi espresso machine at Cafeina Galeria, the new Silver Lake coffee shop that Ownes insists isn't really a coffee shop. "We're a gallery with one bitchin' espresso machine," he says, referring to the small coffee counter and adjacent patio that you might miss if you didn't turn down a narrow alley on a stretch of Sunset Blvd. occupied almost exclusively by auto repair shops.

Once you've figured out how to find the place -- a sandwich board on the sidewalk helps draw in foot traffic, mostly from European tourists with a built-in radar for outdoor patios -- you'll also find an apothecary and a vintage clothing shop. Together, the three mom-and-pop shops are marketing themselves under the name Stopping Station.

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E. Dwass

We love a party where guests get a gift. Tomorrow, that's what's happening at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. In honor of the company's 50th year, three 12 oz. specialty drinks will be sold for 50 cents: English Toffee Latte, English Toffee Ice Blended and Chai Tea Latte. The event will take place from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. at participating locations in California and Arizona.

Coffee Bean is kicking off a year-long celebration of their origins, by showcasing their "heritage" beverages. English Toffee, created in the 1960s, helped introduced the concept of specialty coffee drinks. Chai Tea Latte, one of the chain's most popular beverages, was first served in 1998.

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R.E.~/Flickr

Coffee at Demitasse

With coffee shops opening up in Los Angeles faster than the newest gastropub can fry its Brussels sprouts, it was only a matter of time before a few local coffee professionals decided to go beyond the brew and see about roasting their own coffee. Such is the case with Cafe Demitasse's Bobak Roshan, who is teaming up with Greg Thomas's Trystero Coffee to launch Demitasse Roasting. The new roastery's new coffees will be introduced this Saturday night, Oct. 13, at the cafe.

A partnership like this was not something either Roshan or Thomas anticipated. After all, Demitasse is but one year young, and Roshan though he wouldn't jump into roasting until the cafe was a little more established -- and even then, if then. For his part, Thomas says he "never planned to partner up with anyone." But, given that Trystero Coffee consistently scored highly during the shop's blind taste tests and that both can identify with being what Roshan calls "home coffee geeks turned serious," it was only natural that the two would bond. A roastery was born.

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A. Scattergood

Coffee at Cafecito Organico

A few weeks ago, we suggested a few workshops where you can learn all about coffee -- roasting, brewing, tasting and so on -- and now we have yet one more class to add: This week, Cafecito Organico will host one-hour tasting classes focused specifically on comparing and contrasting several different coffees from Guatemala. For those of you who have ever wondered how beans grown in one part of a country may be wholly distinct from coffee grown in another region of that same country, this is the class for you.

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Flick/rudolf_schuba

Starbucks coffee

A woman with a lot of spare change in her piggy bank claims she lost 85 pounds in two years by eating only at Starbucks, Fox News reports. Guess the "Starbucks Diet" doesn't include a lot of caramel macchiatos.

Christine Hall of Alexandria, Va., 66, said she bought oatmeal and black coffee every day for breakfast. For lunch and dinner, she ate ham and cheese paninis or Bistro Box meals, plastic boxes filled with food ranging from deli meats, cheese and crackers to tuna salad with green beans.

She says she did it of her own volition and was not paid by Starbucks -- unless you count the free Wi-Fi.

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G. Snyder

Hand Pie at C+M

Have you been to LACMA's new Levitated Mass exhibit? Because it's actually far more impressive than a giant rock with a path under it has any right to be. Afterwards you could treat yourself to a milkshake at LACMA's new "chef-driven coffeehouse" C+M (short for Coffee and Milk), which opened a few weeks ago. Technically the milkshake is labeled as a "milk sorbet" at C+M, as its a bit icier and less rich than your typical malt shop creation. And if you subscribe to the philosophy that it's always 5 o'clock somewhere, you could even order a version strengthened with a shot of Branca Menta (think of it as a boozy version of the Shamrock Shake).

Josh Graves, the pastry chef at nearby Ray's (who sports the most awesome mustache we've seen in the kitchen), supplies the baked goods. A long glass display case shows off daily rotating treats -- things like cinnamon-peach hand pies, chocolate sandwich cream pies, strawberry-pistachio tarts, and a super-rich peanut butter-bacon-banana creation called the "Elvis Cake."

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