Intelligentsia Coffee is an American

coffee roasting Roasting coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of Coffee processing, green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process produces the characteristic flavor of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to change ...

company and retailer based in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Founded in 1995 by Doug Zell and Emily Mange, Intelligentsia is considered a major representative of third-wave coffee in the United States. In 2015, Peet's Coffee & Tea (itself part of

JAB Holding Company JAB Holding Company S.à r.l. (JAB or Joh. A. Benckiser) is a German conglomerate, headquartered in Luxembourg, that includes investments in companies operating in the areas of consumer goods, coffee, luxury fashion, animal health, and fast food, ...

) acquired a majority stake in the company.

History and locations

Intelligentsia is headquartered at 1850 W. Fulton Street, Chicago, IL and has several cafe retail locations throughout the Chicago area. They supply coffee to various Chicago-area cafes and restaurants, as well as other locations in the US and Canada."Hot" Chicago Restaurants get custom blends from Intelligentsia.
Intelligentsia in LA

/ref> They generally buy their beans directly from growers in Central America, South America, East Africa, and Ethiopia.Shernoff, Leon, "Intelligentsia, more Cedars, Come to Co-op", ''ever Green'', March 2007, Vol. 60, #3. Coffee roasting is done with gas-powered Ideal Rapid Gothot Roasters. Two 90-kilo roasters and a 23-kilo are used in Chicago and a 40 kilo in Los Angeles. The machines date from the 1950s and were handcrafted from cast-iron and steel in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, Germany. On August 17, 2007, Intelligentsia opened its first store outside of Chicago at

Sunset Junction Sunset Junction is an informal name for a portion of the Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, Silver Lake district of Los Angeles, California. It was home to the Sunset Junction Street Fair from 1980 through 2010. It is in the southwestern part ...

in Silver Lake, a district east of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

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.Scattergood, Amy, "A Lucky Break For Drip Coffee", ''LA Times'', March 14, 2007 Intelligentsia has opened two additional stores in the Los Angeles area, in Venice and Pasadena. In 2013, Intelligentsia opened its first store in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

inside The High Line Hotel. The second New York City location opened in June 2014, inside the

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland, the United Arab Em ...

store in Herald Square. This is the first location to offer a full food menu. They also have 2 stores in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and one in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. A 2008 decision to stop serving 20-ounce coffee and

espresso Espresso (, ) is a concentrated form of coffee produced by forcing hot water under high pressure through finely ground coffee beans. Originating in Italy, espresso has become one of the most popular coffee-brewing methods worldwide. It is cha ...

beverages in stores was met with controversy. Zell stated that the proportions are altered at such large quantities and certain drinks become watered-down, arguing that 20-ounce drinks end up "masking and adulterating the pure, intense flavors we work hard to source, roast and produce. We don't want this to just be a

caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine chemical classification, class and is the most commonly consumed Psychoactive drug, psychoactive substance globally. It is mainly used for its eugeroic (wakefulness pr ...

delivery device." In 2009 Intelligentsia acquired Ecco Caffè of

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city in and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay A ...

, and has retained the brand. In October 2015, it was announced that Peet's Coffee & Tea would buy a majority stake in Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea by the end of the year, as part of an expansion of Peet's into third wave coffee that also involved the acquisition of

Stumptown Coffee Roasters Stumptown Coffee Roasters is a coffee roaster and retailer based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The chain's first location opened in 1999. Three other cafes, a roastery and a tasting annex have since opened in Portland, as well as location ...

. Intelligentsia was expected to continue operating independently, with founders Zell and Mange retaining a role in the company. The announcement came weeks after Intelligentsia had made known that it was seeking a private equity buy-out over $100 million. In May 2022 employees working in Intelligentsia's Chicago locations and Roasting Works warehouse filed a petition for union representation. In August 2022, employees voted to unionize, and ratified their first

collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

in December 2022. They are represented by IBEW 1220, the same branch of IBEW that represents Colectivo Coffee Roasters.

Honors

In 2006, Intelligentsia was included on several local#2 in Chicago Citysearch Best Coffee category 2006
/ref> and national

',

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

, March 3, 2006. best-of lists. One of their baristas also won national and international honors. It has been winning local best of list recognition from 2000 to 2005. In 2005, the local recognition extended to national recognition. In 2006, Intelligentsia was included on several local and nationalRoast Magazine - Roaster of the Year for 2007
"best" lists.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea JDE Peet's Food and drink companies based in Chicago Coffeehouses and cafés in Illinois Retail companies established in 1995 Restaurants established in 1995 Coffee brands 1995 establishments in Illinois 2015 mergers and acquisitions Coffeehouses and cafés in the United States

History and locations

Honors

See also

References

External links