Dark Matter began in 2007 at Star Lounge Coffee Bar on Chicago’s West Side, with a simple directive: to make people happy. It buys directly from farmers in Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and Mexico, and its partners in El Salvador and Guatemala have worked with it for more than a decade; some of the lots it buys it has followed from seed to maturity. The same team roasts, packages and serves the coffee. Dark Matter experiments with fermentation, barrel ageing and its roasting, and sorts its coffees by process: Agua for washed, Aire for honey, Tierra for natural and Fuego for experimental lots fermented with brewing yeasts, hops or fruit.

Each Dark Matter café is conceived as an album, a concept for a new era. There are eight in Chicago, from The Mothership in Ukrainian Village and the original Star Lounge in West Town to Osmium in Lakeview, Meddle in the West Loop, Electric Mud in Bucktown, Caravanserai in Avondale, Soft Parade in West Town and Sleep Walk Chocolateria in Pilsen, which shares its name with Dark Matter’s bean-to-bar chocolate. ¡Adios Amigos! in the East Village is its café in New York. The shared menu runs from pour-over and press pot to an agave latte, a barrel mocha made with barrel-aged espresso, and the Cafe Miel, sweetened with honey from Dark Matter’s coffee partners in San Jeronimo Miramar, Guatemala. Chocolate City is its flagship cold coffee.

Dark Matter also runs a record label. Press Pot Recordings has released records and mixtapes since 2016, including a live session Jon Langford & His Fancy Men recorded upstairs at Star Lounge in 2021 and a mixtape made with RJD2 alongside a custom espresso blend. Bowery Beat, a roast made with Marky Ramone, gives part of its proceeds to music programmes in New York City public schools.

Locations

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  1. The Mothership738 N Western Ave, Chicago, ILUkrainian VillageOpen in Google Maps
  2. Star Lounge2521 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, ILWest TownOpen in Google Maps
  3. Osmium1117 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, ILLakeviewOpen in Google Maps
  4. Meddle601 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, ILWest LoopOpen in Google Maps
  5. Electric Mud1856 N Western Ave, Chicago, ILBucktownOpen in Google Maps
  6. Caravanserai2910 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, ILAvondaleOpen in Google Maps
  7. Sleep Walk Chocolateria1844 S Blue Island Ave, Chicago, ILPilsenOpen in Google Maps
  8. Soft Parade2015 W Grand Ave, Chicago, ILWest TownOpen in Google Maps

Elsewhere

  1. ¡Adios Amigos!1 E First St, New York, NYEast Village, New YorkOpen in Google Maps

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Dark Matter Coffee