When Reel Life Clashes with the Real World

The bearded barista in the background served my coffee.

I've watched several episodes of Jerry Seinfeld's web series, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. The interview that captured my attention is the one with Jay Leno since they drove to Jones Coffee Roasters, in Pasadena, to drink the world's most exotic coffee. If you can spare 93 seconds then watch a clip of this episode starting at the 10:00 mark. (You'll have to endure the embedded advertisement, first.)

The coffee is called kopi luwak, better known as civet coffee. If you don't know how it's made then you probably shouldn't ask.

The happy bride and groom.

Last weekend I traveled to L.A. for the wedding of my closest high school classmate, Andy. The wedding and reception were at the beautiful Langham Huntington Hotel, a few minutes drive from Jones Coffee Roasters. I figured this was a perfect opportunity to try a cup of this "crap." It turns out I was wrong.

The Tisa Adamson band.

I bellied up to the counter and asked about the civet coffee I saw Leno and Seinfeld drink. The barista told me they don't stock it or sell it. The owner, Chuck Jones, brought in his personal stash of civet coffee for the Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee episode. That was a bit of a bummer, but not a total loss since a cup would probably sell for at least $25. Their regular, cold brew, coffee was good – it was strong – but still good.

This cafe had a lot of character and the live band, Tisa Adamson, sounded great. I even saw one of the baristas from the episode, but, alas, no civet coffee. Sometimes... actually, most of the time... the reel world just isn't the real world.