Intelligentsia Roasting Works & Offices

Good grace! Holy holy holy! My savior be ashamed by the fowl heated brown water served at this fowl joint! The minute I ordered my coffee, I felt the malevolent piercing stare of the crooked crooked barista. She filled my precious heart with grief and unending misery. I fell it is necessary to convey that their coffee tastes of fowl and eggs in union upon the plazas of business heaven! Farewell friends!

This is expensive stuff. So when I purchase Black Cat Espresso and the beans in the bag are light brown and barely roasted, and I contact them about it and get no reply, I wonder if there is anyone there who is concerned about quality.

Generally I love Intelligentsia… I’m strictly commenting on how I wish they offered a retail window or were open for all the businesses on Fulton and in the entire Fulton Market area. I work in the building on Fulton and Ashland and we’re always lamenting the lack of GOOD coffee options in the area and nothing within walking distance for a midday pick me up. I think it’s a missed opportunity. :(

Just took the tour. I was left with the impression that Intellegentsia is «working» out the kinks.
Pros
Ppl are knowledgeable and friendly.
All the fresh «pour over» coffee u can drink.
Excellent slide show of the process from purchase to packaging.
Behind the scenes access to training, quality control and roasting facility.
So happy we got to see the roasting of the beans.
Cons
Entrance to the facility is not marked well. Had to ring a buzzer for admittance and was not informed prior to which would b so easy!
Paid $ 30 per person. A little pricey for the tour and 12oz bag of Kurimi roast.
Facilitator needed assistance. Someone needs to lead the group to location and someone needs to follow to catch stragglers.
Group was rather large.
It was noisy in the roasting area so we could not hear what the QC guy was saying. I wanted a recap and a thank you but everyone just splintered.
I did get a last cup of coffee tho. A girls gotta have priorities!

The Black Cat espresso product is pretty darn tasty. A bit of creaminess and sweetness that you dont generally see in espressos. I do however wish it were just a tad more bitter and strong but then I grew up on classic French Roast which is on the borderline of burnt when done correctly. However it’s still a tasty product and Id take it over your average coffee any day

The tour is excellent. Very informative, lots of coffee to drink and you get a small bag at the end of the tour! Some of Chicago’s best coffee!

The tour here is awesome. If you want a crash course on the origins of the bean and roasting, do it and bring your friends. Intelligentsia is THE best, in more ways than just the quality in the cup.

I’d been looking forward to attending the Intelligentsia Roasting Tour for years, so was very excited to finally attend this past weekend! I brought my parents, and because I don’t have a car, we took the Green Line to the Ashland stop and then walked the half mile to the roasting facility. It didn’t seem like the safest place in town to be walking around but we arrived just fine.
After buzzing at the unmarked, unaddressed door we were admitted entry. We milled about for a while with the other patrons, drinking coffee prepared in chemex brewers by their staff and reviewing coffee production documentation while awaiting the tour start. Once the tour started the group of about 50 were gathered to hear some company history and introductory information about the tour, then were walked through the sourcing, production, roasting, cupping/​testing and brewing processes, as well as info about their barista classes and awards they’ve won. Our main tour guide was highly enthusiastic about the company and product, and presented the information in a clear fashion. The second presenter also did a fine job although he experienced problems with his mic throughout much of his presentation. During the tour participants were free to break away at any time to use the restroom, walk around, or gather more coffee. After the tour we each received a ½ pound of the coffee that was roasted during the presentation and were offered other coffee and products at a discounted rate. We all enjoyed the tour and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys coffee, old machinery, fair trade, or just understanding how things work.
Here are our suggestions for improvements:
1. Add signage outside the facility to indicate where to enter for the tour.
2. There was a considerable amount of standing during much of the tour. Chairs could be set up for the sourcing and brewing sessions for those who could use a seat.
3. The main tour guide carried a tablet PC during the tour and displayed some pictures from a slideshow. Maybe present a shortened version of the slideshow during the sourcing part of the tour — it looks like it may have been interesting!
4. The sessions went out of order from sourcing to cupping/​testing to roasting. These should be in order, and a little more background info would have been helpful about the cupping process.
5. Ensure the mics are working before the tour start. It may have been hard to hear parts of the presentation for those who weren’t standing adjacent to the speaker and/​or have hearing challenges.
Overall great job and I would recommend! Tour info here:

This is about the espresso: best cup I ever had. Went on a Friday at 5 ish when the weather had turned cold for memorial day weekend, and it was packed and the bussing wasn’t happening so well, but the coffee was worth the hassle. Had two the first one was so danged good. These guys know coffee.

SO SWEET! Went to the Roasting Works tour on a Saturday. Show up 10 — 15 minutes early. Baristas are on hand brewing several in-​season coffees for sampling/​drinking. It’s available throughout the tour, but I liked taking my time and reading about them, too. You will learn about how coffee is prepared, starting from the ground and ending in your cup. You’ll get to see where baristas are trained and where «cupping» occurs. You will see how the beans that come to the Roasting Works are roasted. Fun! In the end, you take home a half pound of those same beans that you watched be roasted. You can also buy products at a discount.

A great place to take out of town guests for a tour and a half pound bag of coffee. Our second time with guests in tow, my wife sat out the upstairs portion only to be totally engaged by one of the roasters. Came downstairs, joined the discussion about why they don’t have Sumatra (my fav) or buy Kona and Intelligentsia’s philosophy of working with communites (versus Fair Trade). I love a company where the employees are the best spokes people and the coffee is great– In the end the guy gave me an extra bag of coffee to try. Way to make a loyal consumer of me.

Intelligentsia is one of the premier roasters in the country. A tour of their roasting works will show you why. The give tours on the first Saturday of the month for $ 10. It is well worth it to see their operation and learn about coffee and coffee roasting. If you are a home espresso enthusiast their Espresso Enthusiast Class is worth the price. They also offer public tastings that are a great opportunity to sample coffees from around the world.

Intellegensia Coffee does a monthly tour of their warehouse/​factory. It sounds boring but it was enjoyable and something different to do on a Saturday afternoon that the usual. You get a tutorial on coffee basics and the background of Intellegensia. The workers were both knowledgeable and passionate. They were also very willing to answer any questions.(Unfortunatley, we had a guy on our tour that wouldn’t stop asking questions!)
I left the factory with a great respect for Intellegensia and their strive to provide us with the perfect product. The best part of the tour – a free half pound bag of coffee. Woo Hoo! After taking the tour I have found myself purchasing their product.
I think anyone who has an interest in coffee would definitley enjoy taking this tour.

The design of this space so well serves the Company it is not a surprise the Company does so well.

Intelligensia Coffee offers tours on the first Saturday of each month at their factory/​warehouse on Fulton St. The tour is very informative and includes a free half-​pound of coffee that is roasted while you watch. Additionally, you can enjoy as much freshly brewed Intelligensia coffee as you wish during the tour. It was after the tour that I began drinking my coffee black, as to truly appreciate the flavor of the coffee bean. Highly recommended to anyone who likes coffee/​factory tours.

My love affair with Intelligentsia continues… after paying only 10 dollars I was given another chance to enjoy some sweet Intelly lovin’.
Upon finding the obscure building, I was greeted with at least five (plus) types of freshly made coffee and an iced tea. The two «tour guides» were really friendly, excited, and helpful. They showed us around the lower floor of the roasting equipment, answering questions, and then upstairs to the cupping/​testing area. Mmm, La Marzocco espresso machines and trophies!
At the end you receive a half pound bag of coffee (normally retails around $ 7) that was just freshly roasted in front of you! They’ll even grind it for your with their jazzy grinders. If you must, you can purchase an Intelligentsia t-​shirt or mug.
The tour is well worth the time and money. Not only a great introduction on coffee but also showcases the great lengths Intelligentsia goes for its product.

The tour was excellent. I’d recommend it to anyone who has any interest in coffee (I am by no means a connoisseur). And you take home a ½ lb bag of the beans that were roasted right before your very eyes.

I came to the roasting location last year for a tour of their facilities as I was writing a paper on them for my operations mgmt class. I was late and the tour was nearly over but the nice gentleman who opened the door was so incredibly helpful. He offered to show me around and answer my questions about their operations so I would have the info for my paper. Fantastic!
Their operations are really quite interesting, well designed, and they appear to function as a ‘family’ with the goal of producing wonderful coffee.
Their coffee is simply fantastic– we love it and go out of our way to buy their beans. Online ordering is simple and if you go to their retail locations they have a great atmosphere with true baristas. Really a local gem.

This isn’t a retail location; it’s where they roast and grind their beans (and their main office).
Good coffee is one of my few remaining vices I’ve been able to hold on to — more or less. As we seem to have gotten a foot of snow every other day, I’ve been soured on driving to get my bean fix. I decided to try ordering online from Intelligentsia and I’m quite pleased by the result.
Intelligentsia has a good online operation going. Their website descriptions are helpful, esp. to someone like me who sort of knows what she wants. The site lists each brand’s flavor, acidity and finish, in addition to tasting notes. For those who are clueless, the right lower corner of the home page displays the Top Picks of the Week, which is usually a good place to start.
With that, may I recommend heartily the Kenya, Kangocho Auction Lot. The black currant flavor intrigued me; the tasting notes sold the deal. «This is one of those coffees that can leave one speechless with wonder… the sweetness is abundant and omnipresent… It all ends with a shadow of sweet currant lingering a few moments before disappearing cleanly and leaving a silly grin of pleasure.»
Even in my half-​awake state this a.m., I knew it was a damn good cup of coffee. When I’m fully awake, I’m sure I’ll appreciate it even more. It was $ 15/​pound, plus $ 6 for shipping. As someone craving excellent coffee, it was worth every penny.
The order shipped promptly (ordered Tuesday, arrived Thursday), and Intelligentsia was good about sending email notices about the shipping status. I’ll be looking to order from them again, soon.