Intelligensia Coffee & Tea

05/10/07

Best coffee roasted east of Portland

by marzoccomadness at Citysearch

Intelly is awesome in about any regard you can think of - corp. ethics, roasting skills, barista training, coffeehouse environs, industry commitment to excellence, etc. We use their retail beans most of the time and always stop at one or more of their shops when in town.

Unfortunately address is for the roasting plant where you're not going to find a cup you can buy and relax with. There are three retail coffeehouses: Broadway (3123 N. Broadway), Millenium Park area (53-55 E. Randolph), and in the Monadnock Bldg.(53 W. Jackson). All currently using triple baskets and 21g of their famous Black Cat espresso blend for superb richness and mouthfeel. Latte art on pretty much everything. Also getting more sophisticated with their tea offerings. It doesn't get any better than this - Chicago is extremely lucky to have them in town. Metropolis ain't bad either, but Intelly is King Kong on every level.

• Pros: everything
• Cons: they're not in my town