Check-ins
Come here for
San-Mi house espresso
Two Ethiopian lots, one washed and one natural, roasted separately and blended for citrus and tea notes against berry sweetness, built for drip or espresso.
Monami Matcha, Kagoshima
Matcha from Kagoshima, one of Japan's leading tencha-producing regions, made with the Saemidori and Yutakamidori cultivars.
Chocolate croissant
From Sugarbloom Bakery, Maru's current pastry vendor: a pain au chocolat filled with 55% dark chocolate.
Curator’s note
Jacob Park and Joonmo Kim met working at a coffee shop, spent about three years planning, and opened Maru on Hillhurst in late September 2016. The name comes from the Korean phrase San Ma Ru, meaning mountaintop, their shorthand for the idea that the best coffee comes from high elevation, and the standard they were trying to hit.
The Coffee
Maru roasts its own coffee now, out of a facility in Glassell Park, a shift from the rotating guest-roaster program (Coava, Sweet Bloom, Stereoscope) they ran when Los Feliz first opened. The house blend, Sanmi, is built from Grade 1 Ethiopian lots only, tasted down from dozens each harvest, roasted as two separate coffees (one natural, one washed) then blended.
- Costa Rica Finca Los Angeles (Perla Negra)
Costa Rica, Las Lajas
- Process
- Natural
- Producer
- Oscar and Francisca Chacón
blueberry · brown sugar · Assam tea
- Ethiopia Yabitu Koba
Ethiopia, Yabitu Haro Lebetu kebele
- Process
- Washed
- Producer
- Smallholder farmers, Gogogu washing station
blackberry · honeysuckle · golden raisin
- Kenya Kamagogo
Kenya
- Process
- Washed, raised-bed dried
- Producer
- Kamagogo Coffee Factory (Kiru Farmers Cooperative Society)
tomato · grapefruit · cola
- Guatemala Finca La Esperanza
Guatemala
- Producer
- Finca La Esperanza, Francisco Morales
apricot · grape · honey
- Sanmi Blend
Ethiopia
- Process
- Natural and washed lots roasted separately, then blended
floral · strawberry · maple · citrus · tea · berry
- Kemi Blend
Colombia and Ethiopia
- Roast
- Medium
caramel · bright fruit
- Santo Blend
Colombia and Guatemala
- Roast
- Medium-dark
dark chocolate · orange · hazelnut · vanilla
The Vibe
A narrow Hillhurst room the founders designed and built themselves. Jacob Park and Joonmo Kim have no design training and hired no designer, working, in their words, from intuition. Light birch accents, maple stools and a communal sycamore table they made themselves, off-white walls, a few plants, and open shelving of beans and cups behind a bar that makes the coffee program feel exposed rather than decorative. Spare and minimalist, with limited seating; built for one precise drink and a short pause, not a long sit. Notary Ceramics in Portland made custom ceramic pieces for the bar: mugs, matcha prep bowls, and tea bowls.
Photos
Add a photoSomewhere to Work
People
- Guest wifi
- Pet friendly
- Wheelchair accessible
- Locally owned
- Reusable-cup discount
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