Thai iced coffee
If you like to cook Thai food, you’ve probably beaten a wellworn path to LAX-C, the impressive Thai warehouse market in an industrial quadrant of Chinatown, just north of downtown L.A., about equidistant from Philippe the Original, Chego and the Men’s Central Jail. After you finish shopping, or maybe before, head around the corner to Chimney Coffee for some caffeine, because you will likely need it. Chimney, opened by owner Amnaj Bholsangngam in 2011, is an unexpected oasis (free parking, WiFi), a lofty space front-loaded with a snazzy red La Marzocco espresso machine, and it makes a mean Bangkok iced coffee. Your barista will orchestrate this drink from beans that are roasted in Chino Hills, then brewed via an 18-hour drip process, steeped in chicory and plenty of cardamom, and finally blended with evaporated condensed milk before being poured over ice into your cup. While you wait for this small act of magic, you can check out shelves filled with Hario pots and drippers, Kalita kettles and Pok Pok drinking vinegars, and a menu featuring brick toast and larb burgers. The coffee is marvelous, very strong, deeply fragrant of cardamom, enriched and sweetened just enough with the condensed milk — a street drink recalibrated to fit the small-batch machinery. It’s cold enough to suit the recent spike in temperature and provides spice and jolt. Because sometimes you need to be properly caffeinated when you shop for frozen curry leaves and Double Chicken hot sauce, don’t you?