BUT FIRST, COFFEE

“Hot town, summer in the city Back of my neck gettin’ dirt and gritty” - The Lovin’ Spoonful, “Summer in the City”

I’m back once again to bring you a “Lovin’ Spoonful” of coffee! Hugging the border between Wicker Park and Bucktown, on Milwaukee Ave. is where you will find “Ipsento 606.” A hip shop that puts an artistic and philosophical spin on their coffee and nosh. As I walked into the shop, the first thing I noticed was the aesthetic—it nicely straddles the line between “rustic,” and “minimalist.” Though the shop’s physical space is somewhat narrow due to the building being a typical Chicago building (long and narrow), both seating and the shop overall are set up in such a way that there is still a sense of spaciousness. At the same time, Ipsento achieves an airy feeling without sacrificing any of the coziness that one hopes to find at their neighborhood coffee shop. Throughout the entire space, the ceiling is covered in copper tiles with Elizabethan designs, giving the shop’s aesthetic a splash of European flavor. The brilliant natural light, houseplants on shelves and in planters add to the chic profile of the store. Additionally, throughout the shop you will find pen and ink art pieces done by local artist Jordan W.

Now that we’ve had our “amuse bouche,” let’s have the main course—the drinks! Once again, I order a regular drip coffee while my girlfriend orders something a bit more exciting—an iced Nutella latte, one of Ipsento’s signature drinks. The Nutella latte is sweet, of course, and has a nice mouthfeel. The notes of espresso both cut through the sweetness and combine nicely with the nutty notes from the Nutella. Overall, it is a wellbalanced drink and it is easy to see why it is one of their signature drinks.

My coffee is not a pour over, it is nothing fancy. Over the past five or so years there has been a shift in Third Wave coffee shops—many that either used to,

or would have, exclusively brewed via pour over or press-pot (French press) have adopted serving the once dreaded drip-brewed coffee. The reasons for this shift are two-fold. First, you can imagine how hard it is to keep up with demand if you are manually brewing every single cup of coffee and second, the technology to brew good tasting coffee on drip makers has vastly improved. The cup of coffee has a well-rounded flavor and though this is purely personal preference, I would prefer a slightly altered coffee-to-water ratio and stronger cup of coffee. As I tend to consume my beverages slowly, I continue to drink my cup of coffee even as it becomes lukewarm and even cold—and this is where the quality of a coffee is showcased. The hallmark of a well roasted and brewed coffee is that it still tastes good after it has gone cold—this is on account of taste receptors in the human mouth not being able to register bitterness or sour notes when a cup of coffee is piping hot. This can also help explain why so many folks have disdain for hot coffee that has gone cold—because if they’re brewing things like Folgers, etc. It’s simply inferior and therefore tastes awful once it has gone cold.

We will once again finish with a little background on the shop in discussion. Founded in 2006, this shop is unique in that their name is taken from the Latin roots of two words: “ipse” for self, and “sentio” for to discover. The story behind the name is rooted in the owner’s belief that we are all on a journey of selfdiscovery. Their overarching goal is for their coffee and snacks, crafted with quality, to be an experiential part of each patron’s self-exploration and discovery. As I found myself appreciating the aesthetic, the coffee, and service this is a shop I can recommend with confidence.

WRITTEN BY GABE NYE PHOTOGRAPHY BY HEX HERNANDEZ

FIND IPSENTO 606

1813 N Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, IL 60647 www.ipsento.square.site

SUPERKNOVA

In her own words, Ellie (Superknova), discusses her music and how she uses it as activism and awareness.

Ellie, give me a snapshot of what your relationship with music was when you were younger. What was your relationship to music before you actually started to learn an instrument.

Honestly, I really don’t remember. I honestly can’t remember my life before I started playing music. I feel like my life started when I started playing music. And also because I started so young. I think I started piano when I was like seven or eight. And, then I think I started guitar when I was like 10 or around that time. So I really honestly don’t remember. Music is just something that’s always been in my life and playing music has always just been such an integral part of who I am and what I do in one way, shape or form. So yeah it’s, I honestly don’t remember.

When you first started music, did you have a longterm goal? If so, what was it, did it change along the way?

When I first started playing music the first love I had was with playing guitar and I just loved playing guitar so much. I just wanted to play in bands. I was enamored by the concept of bands, of playing in a band, of being a guitarist. And it doesn’t even matter what style, like I loved playing guitar so much like I love playing guitar in rock music and blues and jazz, you know so many styles and that’s also why I played in so many bands between like, you know as young as grade school to college. I played in so many different genres again from pop to rock to blues to jazz, to meddle too, you know electronic stuff. Because, I just loved music and I just love playing guitar no matter what form it took. I think eventually my goal was, you know, it would be awesome if I didn’t have to have a job and be able to do this for a living in some way, shape or form. And I’m actually getting pretty close to that, which is very exciting. But also I really learned the opposite of selfsufficiency and being able to play my own music and right songs and be my own band.

I found is like, even more exciting, with the power of MIDI, the modern technology we have today to be able to program my own drums or play my own drums and write my own songs and lyrics and hooks and play the piano and play the all the other instruments and arrange it and mix it and master it even, which is what I do. I, you know, I do pretty much everything, it’s kind of that same love for music has never changed and same love for all the different styles, but what I can do as a solo artist, that has kind of changed has been really exciting. And finally, also just really recognizing just the power that music has for social justice and change and to influence people’s emotions and things. you know, I’m really blessed to make queer pop music and get messages from people on how much you know, my music has been able to possibly impact their lives and help them to their own transitions just as music did for me when I was going through transitions and when I was younger, you know, in the way that inspired me. that’s just like another new goal that I realized of how I can use music to help other people in addition to myself in addition to just making good music and having a good time, it can be something even bigger and more powerful again as it was for me when I was growing up and for key moments in my life as well.