Stereoscope Coffee

Matcha and single origins share the board at Stereoscope Coffee, a Long Beach café run by a roasting company founded in 2013 by baristas and Q-graders. The beans are house-roasted and named by farm rather than by blend: a Peñas Blancas Ombligon from Colombia and a La Fortaleza from Honduras have both been on the shelf.

A roastery brand behind a neighbourhood counter

Stereoscope's stated interest is depth and simplicity, and it ties sourcing and roasting to seasonal crop cycles and farmer relationships rather than a fixed year-round list. That gives the Long Beach shop more context than a drink counter: it is the retail face of a roaster that sells its coffee by origin.

The brand also has a design story. Its identity and packaging come from the Oslo studio OlssønBarbieri and have been recognised internationally, with a 2024 D&AD shortlisting, a 2023 European Design Award gold, first place at the 2023 Dieline Awards and a 2023 ADC Gold Cube.

Big windows and a counter rhythm

The room reads calm and thoughtfully designed, which matches the packaging. Big windows do most of the work, and shelves of mugs, tumblers and small retail goods line the space, so the shop functions as a shopfront for the roastery as well as a place to drink. Bags of the company's own coffee sit on those shelves, which makes taking one home the obvious extension of a visit.

Service runs from the counter, with pastries visible around the till. Some people settle in with a book and are not hurried; others use it as a social stop or a quick one. The result is a stylish neighbourhood café that absorbs several different uses across a day.

Order the matcha latte before branching out

Start with matcha. It is made with minimal honey and comes out smooth and balanced, and it is the drink most often singled out here, which is unusual for a shop with this much roasting behind it.

From there the range covers Stereoscope's own roasted coffee, teas, flavoured iced coffee, hot chocolate and seasonal drinks. The coffee is origin-forward rather than generic, shaped by the Q-grader and barista background of the people who built the company, with releases such as the Peñas Blancas Ombligon from Colombia and the La Fortaleza from Honduras. Pastries are available alongside the drinks and are the simplest thing to add to any of them.