No longer must neighborhoods make due with one specialty coffee bar. Quality coffee has proliferated to the point where we’re seeing variety of size, scope, and design. West Hollywood now has room for larger, more stylized concepts like Verve Coffee Roasters and Alfred Coffee, plus more intimate venues like Smith & Tait, which debuted in November 2016.

This tiny coffee bar from Lauren Hogarth (Tait) and Alex Morton (Smith) is tucked away on a side street next to the original Pinkberry space, previously housing a sewing shop for an upstairs leather store. A white facade insists, “Life’s too short for bad coffee.” Two wood benches give way to a glass-fronted space featuring (fōnuts) and Yeastie Boys bagel schmears. Hogarth’s father ran Tim Horton’s coffee and donut shops in Toronto, and Morton was previously a barista in Austin. Smith & Tait brews Ritual coffee using an aqua two-group La Marzocco espresso machine, drip, and cold brew methods, yielding “damn fine coffee.”

A secret menu includes ginger cold brew soda and turmeric spice latte ($5.75) boosted with house-made turmeric honey syrup, dusted with cinnamon, and garnished with candied ginger.