Drift, Issue 11 – Los Angeles

Coffee sits in the background of some of the most important moments in our lives: the first time we told new friends we’d like to get to know them better, a second date, a business meeting, a passion project completed, a time we caught up with long-lost loved ones after years apart. More than anything else, coffee is tied to a sense of place and a sense of community.
Drift is about coffee, the people who drink it, and the cities they inhabit. Our collection of writers and photographers, alongside coffee shop owners, baristas, streetcart vendors, and patrons, capture a glimpse of what it’s like to drink coffee in a city at the time the magazine is printed. Each issue highlights a different city.

It’s about wandering the streets aimlessly, cup of coffee in hand, and learning more about what a place has to offer, whether you’ve been there for 25 minutes or 25 years. Coffee helps us chart the geography of our cities. It’s about seeing those cities with fresh eyes, as visitors or long-time residents, and trying to understand what makes them tick.

In this issue:

Drift Volume 11 washes up on the sunny coast of Southern California, home to one of America’s most vibrant cities. From the beach volleyball courts of Santa Monica to the ever-changing neighborhoods of its urban core, the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles is home to a wide range of communities. Whether it’s specialty Colombian coffee at Andrés Piñeros’s coffee shop in the “surfurbia” of Redondo Beach, or Jonathan Yang’s Cantonese-inspired drinks at Thank You Coffee in Chinatown, L.A. has something for everyone. But as the coffee pioneers of the city’s Westside, like Menotti’s in Venice Beach, or the emerging Black-owned coffee shops, like Bloom & Plume Coffee in Filipinotown, demonstrate, beneath the glossy patina of the city’s celebrity glamor is an incredibly diverse coffee culture that—like Saugus Cafe, which was founded in 1888—is steeped in history, and offers unique perspectives that make Los Angeles a dynamic place to live, visit, and drink coffee.

Drift Volume 11 includes:

• From puppuccinos for four-legged friends to macadamia milk for those seeking dairy alternatives, Los Angelenos are finding a quickly diversifying coffee culture.
• Old Hollywood, new Hollywood, old Chinatown, new Chinatown: we visit old favorites and newcomers.
• From surfing to volleyball, the sandy beach communities of Los Angeles’s South Bay have created a unique coffee culture for Olympic athletes and recreationalists alike.
• High in the Santa Barbara hills and beyond, a budding coffee farm hopes to bring coffee closer to Southern California and create a new ecosystem.
• And more…

DETAILS 176 pages, offset-printed and perfect bound, full color on uncoated paper. Carbon neutral printing. No ads.