Portola Coffee Lab
3313 Hyland Ave.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
http://www.portolacoffeelab.com/
After being inspired and getting hooked on coffee again (courtesy of my Philz Coffee experience in SF), I decided I like coffee again and realized LA/OC HAS to have something like this. We don’t seriously think Starbucks or Coffee Bean is the best down here do we?? Yes, there’s Urthe Cafe, which I love, but I wondered if there was some other place that is not well known … yet. And it would be nice to find one near my house so I don’t have to drive to the Art District in Downtown LA or Santa Monica for a cup of Joe. A few minutes on the internet and I found my solution! Portola Coffee Lab, where they take coffee to a whole new level.
If Philz Coffee in San Francisco makes coffee brewing look like an art, Portola Coffee Lab makes coffee brewing look like a science. The Barristas actually where lab coats too. (If you think about it, it’s very SF and OC, respectively) It is located in the SOCO Collection plaza, inside the OC Mart Mix (a cool area btw, they have happy hour inside the OC Mart Mix with live DJ, drinks, grill).
Unlike Philz Coffee, Portola offers three different brewing methods that you can choose from. First, you choose the beans by region that they roast every day. Second, you choose the brewing method.
Brewing methods:
- The Hario V-60 cone dripper
- Trifecta
- Siphon
I’m not going to even act like I know alot about coffee, so you can read up about it via their blog: http://portolacoffeelab.wordpress.com/
I usually choose the Hario. Just cuz it’s strong but not bitter.
So if you haven’t figured out yet, they brew by the cup. As soon as you order, they start grinding the beans for your cup. They measure exactly how much coffee ground goes in, the temperature of the water, how long it brews for. They take their coffee seriously and looks almost like a science experiment with all the glass siphons, measurer, and stop watches.
The only drink you cannot choose the beans for is the Iced Coffee. (Specifically the Hario poured over Ice coffee) I have yet to try the Kyoto Iced Coffee. (it runs out real quick from what I hear. I went at 10AM and it was already sold out) Anyways, back to the beans. What one of the barristas told me was that they don’t think all beans are good also as iced coffee so they predetermine the bean that will be best for iced coffee.
If you want good coffee and you’re a serious coffee drinker. (NO, if you drink starbucks everyday that does not make you a serious coffee drinker.) For those of you who are reading the Yelp reviews for this place. Please just ignore some of the people who say it’s the worst coffee they’ve ever had. Be warned, it’s brew by the cup. They grind and they brew one cup at a time. So please don’t say some bull about slow service. This is not a coffee on the go place. You come here to enjoy a nice cup of coffee. And if you think the coffee is not “strong” enough.. Go drink your mud coffee at home please. Or try vietnamese coffee.. WITHOUT the condensed milk or ice.
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