Eat Out. Black & Black at LaMill [Thirsty Thursdays!].

Coffee and alcohol. Two such wonderful vices, and yet they unfortunately only rarely ever get paired with one another. This, however, has changed, thanks to LaMill.

The hip coffee and fine grub spot in Silver Lake just recently received its beer, wine and sake license, which is definitely a sign of good things to come. Among some fancier and foreign choices, LaMill has also concocted a few specials: the Tea Champagne and the Black & Black. The former, as obvious, mixes bubbly with pomegranate tea; the latter pairs stout with the beloved LaMill coffee.

It was definitely a beer night, so my date and I only sampled the Black & Black. For having only ordered two beverages, the service took a while, but our waiter finally showed up with a pint in one hand and a bottle in the other. The pint was already half-filled with the dark liquid of the aromatic coffee, and the server then made the elaborate display of pouring the Old Rasputin Imperial Russian stout in (and I guess since there was no resulting foam, it was impressive).

And black and black it was indeed. Maybe it was the darkness of the liquid that made it seem misleading, but it was strange to sip the drink and have it not be full or dense, in the way beer can taste at times. It wasn't ice cold, either, and I'm not too sure if that was a good or bad thing. But overall, the mixture presented an intriguing, rich and complex flavor with bitter--but not unpleasant--aftertastes. It's definitely a drink to experience slowly and appreciated over time. I tried the stout on its own (since only half was used in the drink), and it had coffee undertones that really seem to make it a great drink on its own too.

Worth a try? Probably, for the curious. But you can probably just opt for the Rasputin by itself too.

LaMill is located at 1636 Silver Lake Blvd. in Silver Lake.

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: theBEAT