Here’s a riddle for you: When is coffee like wine? Before I offer you the answer, take a moment to consider what kind of coffee drinker you are. Are you:

• The Commuter: You pick up your cuppa from your preferred franchise, make a beeline for your destination, then stare at the empty cup in amazement. Did you really drink all that coffee or did it evaporate along the way? The answer is lost to the fog of commuting on auto-pilot. At least you’re awake to wonder where the coffee went.
• The Adjectival Drinker: It’s not coffee if it doesn’t come with at least half a dozen adjectives or qualifiers, with bonus points awarded for non-English words. Hence, the premium frothy non-dairy muy muy grande caffe mocha cinnamon-sprinkled latte imperiale with almond milk, shaken not stirred, and served in a reusable branded ceramic mug. It’s as tasty as it is fun to pronounce, but it’s a miracle if a coffee flavor makes it through the dictionary add-ons. Ignore the barista’s dirty looks.
• The Jitterbug: Coffee don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got caffeine. It’s definitely death before decaf, baby, and you take your espresso intravenously. Anything less isn’t worth getting out of bed for.
• The Tortoise: You don’t just know the fable, you live it. Slow and steady. Why not? By gosh, if you’re going to pay half a month’s salary for that cup of coffee, it had better go the distance. Just don’t let anybody see you trying to lick the bottom of the cup for that last precious drop.
• The Cashmere Drinker: You like your coffee like you like your sweaters: unfussy, comfortable, familiar. No big adventures for you, you casual caffeinator (or decaffeinator, as the case may be). You’re staying home where it’s a nice and cozy. So put those chemistry sets away, barista. This coffee drinker just wants some down-to-earth, ol’ fashioned percolating.

Me? I’m typically with the sweater set. But I recently came to reconsider how I drink coffee  – amd you might too – thanks to a new “coffee concept” founded by two enterprising young bucks, Zayde Naquib and Jereme Pitts. Nestled in an industrial building off Helms Avenue (near the intersection with National Boulevard, just beyond the edge of Culver City’s Hayden Tract), you’d be excused for driving right by Bar Nine Collective. Don’t blink, and you’ll see the entrance to a minimalist yet generous space defined by a wooden bar and the large Probat coffee roaster that leaves no doubt that this space is hallowed (coffee) ground.

[img]2533|right|||no_popup[/img]You can buy coffee in retail packages if you like, but the real experience comes from ordering coffee from Mitchell, Peter, or Peter – Bar Nine’s friendly and expert baristas. The barons of baristas, if you will. A temperature-controlled water system – one of only three in the nation, including a demonstration model – linked to built-in taps lets baristas deliver precise recipes of drip-style coffees tailored to the unique qualities of a particular bean. The result is served in drinking bowls not unlike the ones you would find at Le Pain Quotidien. It’s a most civilized way to drink. And, as it turns out, an ideal way to treat the coffee with respect. No shlugging from cups here; sipping and savouring is the order of the day.

I admit that when I first tried a bowl from Bar Nine, my first reaction was skeptical. I wasn’t sure I actually liked what I was tasting. The coffee seemed thinner in consistency than what I was used to. But then something magical happened. The clouds parted. A ray of sunlight beamed into the space directly onto my bowl. A choir of angels started singing from who-knows-where. World peace was spontaneously declared, and the Middle East was filled with the sound of Kumbaya.

Ok, maybe not quite that. But when I gave the coffee a chance, I came to appreciate just how much more interesting and complex the flavor was. That’s right, I liked it. I really liked it! This led to discussions with the barons that led to realizing that I had unwittingly stepped into a wine bar. Because that’s how good the coffee is; worth thinking about, much like one would think about wine. It’s obvious how much care and attention the Bar Nine folk put into responsibly sourcing, roasting, and preparing their beans. The result is easily on par with L.A.’s best coffee houses, such as Intelligentsia and L.A. Mill. The good news is that the coffee experience isn’t confined to the shop, but available on the go as well, thanks to reusable glass jars on sale for a $1.

To learn a bit more about Culver City’s newest gem, I emailed over a few quick questions to Zayde.

What's the story behind Bar Nine Collective?

Bar Nine is a concept I have been developing over the past two years.  About a year and a half ago I formed a business partnership with Jereme Pitts.  We met because he was building his house next door to mine.  After connecting over both coffee and wine, we moved forward with plans to make Bar Nine a reality.  We knew we wanted to roast, have a space where the community could gather, and push coffee concepts forward.  For a little background, I have been in the coffee business for the past five years, working in various roles from barista to manager. Most recently I was barista at Espresso Cielo in Santa Monica.  Jereme has a history of developing companies from the ground up, including Accordent, a software company he founded in the late ‘90s and grew into a multimillion-dollar business.

What do you think people take for granted about coffee? And what do you hope people will take away from Bar Nine?

Coffee is one of the most wonderful delicacies in the world. For its price, it is one of the most accessible.  Terroir exists in the coffee world at least as strongly as the wine world, and has many subspecies within Arabica that have their own unique flavor characteristics. The supply chain is really interesting and not often thought about, from the producers at the farm level (farmers, pickers, and processing facilities) to importers to roasters to retailers and finally consumers. So much care is being put into this product, and we want to curate an experience where that is celebrated.

In an era of Starbucks, and I don't think there's anything wrong with Starbucks per se given what it is, what hope do you see for independent coffee cognoscenti?

As an independent, we exist to offer an alternative to mainstream selections.  Without a corporate coffee culture, there could be no interesting specialty subculture.  Our goals are simply to present as beautiful a product as we are capable of, while providing an opportunity to explore the many facets of the industry.
  
Where do you hope Bar Nine will be five years from now?

I hope we are continuing to grow out of inspiration.  Whether this means more projects (my term for locations), a greater roasting presence, endeavors into food, or something else entirely, I'm not sure.  As long as we are engaged by what we are doing, I think we'll thrive.

[img]2532|left|||no_popup[/img]There you have it. We might just have to create a new type of coffee drinker, the cool connoisseur who delights in the flavor of a well-crafted coffee.

Though the official opening is yet to be announced, Bar Nine Collective is hosting their opening party tonight, from 6 to 10 o’clock. They promise “Food served by Korean BBQ fusion amazingness Kogi Truck, the delectable ice cream sandwiches from Cool Haus Truck, fresh and beautiful raw-pressed juice from Red Truck Juice Co., beer generously provided by Angel City Brewery, complementary coffee beverages, great music, and community.”

The address:
3515 Helms Ave.
Culver City 90232
http://barninecollective.com/