Melissa Spolar, the creator of the Highland Park Coffee Passport, described it as a booklet meant to highlight the unique features of certain local coffee shops and to support the community. According to the website, all participating coffee shops offer a discount or have a special offer for customers through the passport.
Spolar said some of her decisions about which coffee shops to include came down to her personal experience from visiting the shops.
“What comes to mind [is] that I know [the coffee shops] consistently have good quality, kind staff [and] a good space,” Spolar said.
Alexandro Morales, the owner of Civil Coffee, partnered with Spolar for the coffee passport. Morales said he enjoys the idea of coffee shops being traditional spaces where people can connect, and the coffee shops on the passport are a good alternative space for people of all ages to gather, especially for those who don’t drink.
“The idea was to create a space where there was approachability in mind,” Morales said. “Hence the name civil: to be courteous, to be kind, to be hospitable.”
According to Spolar, she lived alone for most of her 20s and would go to coffee shops once or twice a week to get out and be with others, leading friends to describe her as a coffee shop encyclopedia.
“Even though it’s not like I was making friends left and right, it was just nice to go be around other people,” Spolar said. “That’s where I really started to fall in love with not just the drink itself, but the coffee community around LA.”
Morales said when Spolar approached him, she was very flexible with options for how Civil Coffee could be involved with the passport: they could offer discounts, have fun offers and more.
“Cafés have been institutions where folks have gathered for community, for conversation, for philosophy, for discussion, for art, for creativity, and I think they still continue to be in play of that culture,” Morales said. “Today, it’s spaces where folks can feel comfortable to explore.”
Spolar said she started the passport in the Pasadena area last year, but this year decided to create one for Highland Park. According to Spolar, the Highland Park coffee scene is influenced partly by the gentrification within the area.
“You have the clash of people that have lived there for years, and they just want a decent cup of coffee, and then you have all of these hip and trendy people that want all the coolest new drinks and ceremonial grade matcha,” Spolar said.
Angelica Solis, a barista and former intern at Rosebud Coffee, said the passport emphasizes human interactions rather than technological ones.
“You can get a good cup of joe at any of these places, but it is nice to talk to a real person and not a tablet,” Solis said.
According to Spolar, the walkability of Highland Park means many of the coffee shops on the passport are within walking distance of each other. Spolar said she enjoys seeing people come together over something physical: a passport you can lend to a friend, exploring its offerings as a group activity.
Morales said that the passport allows for different coffee shops to highlight their main offerings.
“I think it’s really beautiful and exciting to see people continue to be interested in coffee, and its different iterations, and I love to see entrepreneurs and other business owners step into the coffee scene and give it their own spin,” Morales said.
Contact Emma Williams at ewilliams4@oxy.edu
