Ipsento 606 Has the Perfect Setup. The Coffee Hasn't Been Perfect.

The location alone should make this place a slam dunk. Ipsento 606 sits right at the Wicker Park and Bucktown border, at the onramp to the 606 trail, next to an open park. Big windows, natural light, a large mural covering the outside of the building. The space is beautiful and modern and exactly where you want a coffee shop to be on a good morning when you're about to walk or bike the trail.

And then the coffee arrives.

Ipsento roasts their own beans and has full control over the process from roast to cup, which should be an advantage. They describe their approach as roasting precise to bring out natural flavors. What I got across multiple visits was over-extracted and too hot, which is a frustrating combination because it means the problem could be the roast, the barista, or both, and there is no way to know without more variables than I'm willing to test. I could take home a bag, but haven't had the confidence to invest the money. What I do know is that it happened consistently enough to not be an outlier.

The pastries and breakfast sandwiches are fine. Nothing that sticks with you. The cafe runs all day and serves cocktails in the evening, which broadens the use case if coffee isn't the draw. As a place to sit and get work done it's serviceable, though it runs noisy and sceney enough that sustained focus can be a challenge.

This is a place I want to like more than I do. The bones are excellent. The trail access is unbeatable. I hope the coffee catches up to everything surrounding it, because when it does this becomes an easy Solid.