Ages ago the owner of La Colombe, Todd Carmichael had a show on tv called Dangerous Grounds, where he traveled the world buying beans from hole in the wall country farms. Came off a bit like the old Bear Grylls show, with Carmichael always finding himself in shady situations trespassing onto peoples’ farms to broker a deal. But it was wildly fascinating. Think it only aired one season.
Great outcome for La Colombe! The quality of their cafes in Philly have been going downhill for a while and this move won't halt that. But if there's one thing we have enough of here it's coffee shops.
would've thought they were already bought out and enshittified once they moved to mass produced canned lattes.
What's wrong with mass produced canned lattes? It takes a lot of skill to produce a consistent product at scale.
Their canned lattes are also great
It's the one halfway decent place within walking distance of the DC conference center, sadly...
There's much more detail in the FastCompany article here:
La Colombe is great, and well priced when not purchasing at a La Colombe cafe. Probably a touch less tasty than super premium brands, and priced lower than Pret.
My favorite coffee. Philly's finest.
Didn't know it was from Philly. I used to pick one up ever time I was in whole foods.
Yeah they have a bunch of physical cafes in Philly. Their original location in Fishtown also sells some liquor like a coffee infused rum they make.
I'm really hoping this means they add Chobani ice cream stand like yogurt mixes at my local La Colombe cafe.