The Buzz

In Italy or in Spain, you can walk into any corner bar and pretty much be guaranteed a perfect cup of espresso, dark, dense and fragrant, low in both acid and grit. In the United States, at least outside of Seattle, espresso tends to be bad in even the most expensive restaurants, worse in coffeehouses, weak, bitter and without character. It even looks bad. When it comes to espresso, I’m something of a snob.

My friend David, who is so advanced in the art of coffee appreciation that the words espresso and cappuccino are no longer in his vocabulary, having long since been replaced with “E” and “C,” has been known to desert his own dinner parties when the beans run out, making lengthy cross-town runs to Starbucks the way other hosts step out for a fresh case of Bud.

He has developed exacting criteria for crema , the layer of tawny froth that tops any well-made shot of espresso. He throws about terms such as “float” and “mouth-feel” the way that wine guys talk about degrees Brix and volatile acidity. David is a wine nut too, but in my experience he’d rather talk about C than Cab.

One day last week, David and I toured a few of the Westside’s prime caffeine neighborhoods, stopping for a few minutes in most of the coffeehouses and throwing back a jolt of espresso in each one. What I am saying is that we drank 21 cups of espresso in a single long afternoon. And while we each have our own particular taste in espresso--I am fond of the dusky flavor of Illycaffe, the darkest of the imported Italian blends--we pretty much agreed that while good espressos are good in their very own way, bad espresso is all alike: sour, bitter and over-extracted.

We started down in Venice, relaxed but grumpy after a morning without caffeine. At Queen of Cups, a Venice coffeehouse where you can have a psychic reading after you finish your jake, the espresso was slightly gritty and thin, but had a good head of crema and a brisk acidity; a solid cup of joe. The Cow’s End, a comfortable beachside place furnished like a rich guy’s summer house, seemed to specialize in lighter roasts--the espresso had almost a winey taste to it--but was quite drinkable in spite of the individual style. At the Venice branch of Bourgeois Pig, which has the eerie, claustrophobic, all-blue feel of certain parts of the submarine ride at Disneyland, the espresso was sour and awful. The Novel Cafe, just over the border into Santa Monica, is a swell hang--old tables set among the leaning shelves of a pretty good used-book store, ‘50s jazz, chess--with average, watery “E.” By now, we were stoked enough to drive all night.

The area of Santa Monica around the Third Street Promenade is one of the most concentrated “E” ghettos in America, a couple dozen places to buy the buzzy beverage crammed into a few blocks near the sea. Axe (pronounced ah- shay ) is a spare place, as much high modernist cafe as coffeehouse, with a thick, roast-y cup of espresso as well as shaved-Parmesan/arugula salads and stuff like that. “A good, little soldier,” David said, knocking back the dregs of his “E.”

Congo Square is the biggest coffeehouse on the Promenade itself, a cavernous room with big art on the walls, politically correct announcements by the counter, and a clientele that looks as if it realized that bohemianism is only a lifestyle phase, a couple of bongo-filled years before law school or whatever. The espresso is fine, nutty-tasting and low acid, but weakish. The espresso at Mud is unspeakably acrid and over-extracted.

Coffee Nirvana in Santa Monica is to be found at Arrosto, where the beans are roasted fresh daily and the espresso jock has a feather-like touch.

“Check this out,” David said, gently tipping an espresso-spoonful of sugar onto the surface of his drink. “Watch how it floats, consolidates, flips into the coffee, leaving a symmetrical slit in the crema . . . that’s a cup of “E.” And it was: smooth and slightly tart, with a nice, fruity aroma. A damn fine cup of “E.”

Heading over toward the Melrose area, our nervous systems taut and singing with caffeine, we stopped for an awful cup at Graffiti, which seemed to be some kind of teen drop-in center. And for a weak, bitter cup at Lulu’s Alibi, which was crowded with UCLA students grooving on some folk singers, and where the Brazilian snacks didn’t look half bad.

Il Tramezzino, in Beverly Hills, may not be the kind of place you’d want to laze away an afternoon (the clientele leans heavily toward Italian men who wear Armani vests with no shirts underneath), but the espresso is superb: fine, lingering crema ; long float, body thick as cream; lush, low acid flavor; almost an oily mouth feel. Il Tramezzino calls itself the first true espresso bar in Los Angeles, which is not true, but it may be the best place in town to pack in a quick jolt.

For some reason, espresso quality seemed to drop precipitously in the Melrose/La Brea zone, possibly because of the regional preference for a full demitasse of joe. Little Frida’s was over-extracted, the Cinema Cafe’s was over-extracted, ditto for the Living Room, Java and the pretty Cafe Mocha. Maison et Cafe has weak espresso just like you get in Paris, if you’re nostalgic for that sort of thing. Pikme-Up is the grooviest hang in town if you care more about art and rock ‘n’ roll than about espresso. By the time we got to Ministry, where Frank Sinatra plays on the stereo and the room is pleasantly scented with candles, we were so wired that we made sort of babbling animal noises at the espresso jock when she let too much water course through the grounds.

And then we hit Highland Grounds, halfway through a video screening, shoving our way up to the counter through a mellow crowd. “You know,” David said, “this is a very decent shot of ‘E,’ good acidity, full body.”

Though by this time it was difficult to care.

Arrosto, 225 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 451-4551. Espresso $1.25.

Axe, 510 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 458-4414. Espresso $1.

Bourgeois Pig, 1029 Abbot Kinney Road, Venice, (310) 396-9255. Espresso $1.50.

Cafe Mocha, 8205 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 653-6118. Espresso $2.

Cinema Cafe, 7160 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 939-2233. Espresso $1.75.

Congo Square, 1238 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, (310) 395-5606. Espresso $1.25.

Cow’s End, 34 Washington Blvd., Venice, (310) 574-1080. Espresso $1.35.

Graffiti, 1002 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica. No telephone. Espresso $1.50.

Highland Grounds, 742 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood, (213) 466-1507. Espresso $1.50.

Il Tramezzino, 454 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, (310) 273-0501. Espresso $1.50.

Java, 7286 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 931-4943. Espresso $2.

Little Frida’s, 8545 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 854-0757. Espresso $1.75.

Living Room, 110 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 933-2933. Espresso $2.25.

Lulu’s Alibi, 1640 Sawtelle Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 479-6007. Espresso $1.50.

Maison et Cafe, 148 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 935-3157. Espresso $1.25.

Ministry, 524 1/2 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 954-1194. Espresso $2.

Mud, 320 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 319-1683. Espresso $1.50.

Novel Cafe, 212 Pier Ave., Santa Monica, (213) 396-8566. Espresso $1.50.

Pikme-Up, 5437 West 6th St., Los Angeles, (213) 939-9706. Espresso $1.

Queen of Cups, 796 S. Main St., Venice, (310) 392-5569. Espresso $1.25