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Chocolate with house spices and espresso, served hot or cold.
Pão de Queijo (3)
Pão de queijo, the Brazilian cheese bread, three pieces to an order.
Curator’s note
In 2018 Alex Kipling opened this bar as SPLA, for São Paulo and Los Angeles, after weekends on Brazilian farms left him asking why coffees that good were not reaching the US. Otávio Shih, raised in Uberaba in Minas Gerais coffee country, walked in as a customer and became co-owner in February 2021, and the shop took the name Aquarela after the samba standards Aquarela do Brasil and Aquarela Brasileira.
The Coffee
Sample roasts happen here every week on a half-pound Korean Boca Boca, and the partner farms run from Fazenda Capucho in Chapada de Minas to Fazenda Caieira, a Cup of Excellence winner in Matas de Minas. The board is built on espresso, with a cafezinho, the Batida and the Chatinha among its Brazilian drinks.
- Amilton Peixoto - Red Catuaí, "Lona" Fermentation
Brazil, Campo dos Vertentes, Minas Gerais
- Varietals
- Red Catuaí
- Process
- "Lona" fermentation (wrapped with tarp for days, slow aerobic fermentation, cherry pulp removed after)
- Producer
- Amilton Peixoto
chocolate · melon · yellow and red fruits · creamy and clean body
- The Peixoto Family - Mundo Novo, Natural
Brazil, Minas Gerais
- Varietals
- Mundo Novo
- Process
- Natural
- Producer
- Neide Peixoto, her daughter Lauriel, and brother-in-law Joaquim
Tootsie Roll · cinnamon/cardamom · yellow raisin · pecan-pie sweetness
- Tudo de Bom - Espresso and Filter Blend
Brazil
- Process
- Natural, pulped, and anaerobic (blend)
milk chocolate · cherry · molasses · sweet
The Vibe
The Figueroa room is set near the 110, between Chinatown and downtown, its interior in cool industrial whites and grays after São Paulo. Outside, the storefront goes the other way in pink, green and neon drawn from Brazilian culture, with seats on the sidewalk.
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