Beverages

Turkish Caffè Latte at Kéan Coffee

ProfessorSalt.comTustin barista Brien Flanagan shows off latte art​It's not the silt-rich cup of mud that is real Turkish coffee, brought to a simmer several times in a traditional ibrik. Kéan Coffee's twist on caffè latte is nonetheless my favorite OC coffee drink of the moment.

Where Good Apples Go When They Die: Baba au Calvados

Flickr user jo-h​If you're a regular reader of Fork, you've probably noticed I haven't been around much lately. This is because I am stuffing myself silly doing research on regional French food and drink. While I love Paris, get out into the countryside and French food becomes more approachable, c ... More >>

Menagetini at K'ya Street Fare

Jessica Ford ​The menu at K'ya Street Fare in Anaheim features dishes you'd find from street carts around the world, but the cocktails are far from something you would be able to find on the street. The restaurant is located inside Hotel Menage and the signature drink is the Menagetini--a co ... More >>

Mojitos at The Rooftop Lounge

Tim SeidenMango Mojito​It's not every day you can sip on mojitos and munch on guava barbecue meatballs while watching a sunset--unless you are at The Rooftop Lounge in Laguna Beach, of course.

Your Essential OC Happy Hour Guide

Where to go for the best deals and drinks

Jeff Duggan of Portola Coffee, Part Three

John Gilhooley​Yesterday, we called Jeff Duggan a coffee geek. This, it turns out, was not 100% accurate; he is really more of a coffee mad scientist, the Dr. Emmett Brown of java, except, you know, with better hair. On the Line usually features a recipe from the featured chef on the third day; si ... More >>

Jeff Duggan of Portola Coffee, Part One

John Gilhooley​Head into Irvine's Layer Cake Bakery on a Saturday and your senses will be assaulted as soon as you enter. The man responsible for this attack on your nasal passages is Jeff Duggan, proprietor of Portola Coffee. While "On The Line" usually features restaurant chefs, it's not e ... More >>

Self-Caffeination As It Was Meant To Be Done

Our coffee culture, sadly, tends to run toward Starbucks and drive-through at It's A Grind. Largely missing from la naranja is the local, artisanal small-batch roaster whose singular focus on the product raises the coffee bar. Sure, we have Martin Diedrich, and the lines out the door at his two coff ... More >>

Fourth of July Cocktails

Cherry Bomb​Celebrating Independence Day comes down to three simple things: fireworks, barbecues and booze. And since I can only help you with the last one, continue on for two Fourth of July-inspired cocktail recipes.

Fiddlehead Cellars Sauvignon Blancs

Chris A. Michaels/ / CC BY 2.0Santa Barbara Vines​If there was a moment for California wine--one in which it went from being something that only came from Napa and Sonoma or was just two buck chuck--and became something relevant in pop culture, it was the release of Sideways.

Wheat Beer Showdown

cogdog / CC BY 2.0Mothership Wit​With the masses of craft beers now widely available--many coming out of our southerly neighbors in San Diego County--American beer doesn't have quite the same stigma as it once did. There is certainly still the watery, cheap swill to uphold that stereotype, but wit ... More >>

Drunk at Dinner: Paso Robles White Wines

Willy BlackmoreStephanie Anglim at Anglim Winery ​White wine is certainly worth drinking year round, but with the heat making its way back to Orange County, a cold, crisp bottle has become evermore tempting in the past weeks. We've tasted some wines from nearby Temecula in previous editions of Due ... More >>

Tranquil's Bodacious Tea

The proprietors of Tranquil Tea Lounge in Fullerton do it all for the love of the leaf

Drunk After Work: Bar Louie

Dave Lieberman​One day last week, our editor-in-chief came out of his Editors of the Roundtable discussion with a proclamation."Verily, go thou out into the shire and imbibe, that all may be shewn the way of the publican.""Um, what?""Go find happy hours, then write about them.""Did you just tell u ... More >>

Dueling Dishes: Real Sugar Soda vs. HFCS Soda

Dave Lieberman​As we posted at the end of last year, PepsiCo bottlers are making limited-edition "Throwback" versions of Pepsi and Mountain Dew. These are made the old-fashioned way, with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). While OC is no stranger to sugar soda (a lot, but not all, o ... More >>

Dueling Dishes: Temecula Sunrise Edition

Living in California and drinking locally, alcohol-wise, is by no means difficult. From the world-famous wine regions in Northern California to the craft beer Mecca of San Diego County and a few other noteworthy sources of wine, beer and booze (SF's Anchor Distilling makes thoroughly interesting and ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Wine Tasting at Total Wine

Jessica Ford Will Templin pouring a red blend at Total Wine in Tustin.​To honor the new year, things are changing for this edition of Drink of the Week. Instead of "order this drink at such-and-such bar," we recommend you take advantage of Total Wine's inexpensive wine tasting. At onl ... More >>

Real-Sugar Pepsi and Mountain Dew To Hit Store Shelves

bevreview.com​Jason Arango at the Daily Fork posted yesterday about Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback, versions of the popular soft drinks that are made with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup, sold in the usual plastic bottles with retro labels.Not to be outdone, the Dr Pepper Sna ... More >>

Recipe: Mulled Wine

marcoveringa @ flickr.com CC BY-NC-ND 2.0​Because the farmers' markets are mostly closed this week, here is an extra recipe for you all. Drink enough of this and you won't care that you can't get your Chinese long beans or grass-fed bison.

Dueling Dishes: Walking the Plonk

Dave Lieberman​Remember two weeks ago, when I posted mockingly about 7-Eleven's move into the ultra-budget wine world? I made a snarky comment about not doing one's research about specialty retailers that might also have a decent chunk of the market share for really, really cheap wine, and I threw ... More >>

Meet Winemakers of Bodegas M.

Wine Lab Newport

Free Wine Tastings at Resort at Pelican Hill From Tonight!

​It's not often that you'll see "free" and "Pelican Hill" in the same sentence, so grab the chance while you can. From this evening, OC residents can enjoy Vertical Ladder Wine Tastings plus hors d'oeuvres in the resort's Great Room. What on earth is a Vertical Ladder Wine Tasting, you ask? Weeell ... More >>

Two Upcoming Wine Events (One Tomorrow)

 First up, Saturday July 25, is the monthly 50 for 50 event at the Next Vintage Wine Shop next to Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale's, South Coast Plaza. From 3 to 5.30 p.m., around 30 top wines and champagnes will be sold off for half their original price. Expect some stunners among the bargains. ... More >>

UPDATE: Not A John Lennon Latte In Sight...But Javatinis Still Impresses

Good independent cafés are few and far between, so I count myself lucky that one of them, Javatinis, is right on my doorstep. Admittedly, the setting isn't the nicest, set in a lackluster strip mall on what feels like the edge of the world. The drinks list is familiar (including frozen drinks with ... More >>

Stars Of Santa Barbara--And Other Upcoming South Coast Plaza Wine Events

Charlie Palmer's monthly 50 for 50 sell-off, with bargains aplenty, has come around again. It's this Saturday, June 13, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm, in the Next Vintage Wine Shop.Antonello Ristorante has started a "wine mixer" once a month, featuring eight wines for $30 per person, followed by a sale of w ... More >>

Reminder: 50 for 50 Event at Charlie Palmer on Saturday

If you're celebrating Memorial Day at home but need some top-class booze to liven up your dinner, head down to South Coast Plaza between 3:00pm and 5:30pm this Saturday, May 23, for the second of four scheduled sales at the Next Vintage Wine Shop, inside the Charlie Palmer restaurant in Bloomingdal ... More >>

In The Battle Of The Beans, Starbucks Should Be Worried

Just as the new ads for Starbucks are lazy, the ones for McDonald's new coffees are horrendously grating, not to mention lowbrow. "McCafé Your Day" is bad enough, but how about "A Better Day is Possiblé"? Huh?. Or  "It's All About The Accent Mark"? Accent mark???.So I naturally assumed that t ... More >>

Angels & Demons, Food & Wine

For those Dan Brown fans who can't wait till Friday to see Angels & Demons, which surely has to be an improvement on The DaVinci Code, fear not: an advance screening is being held on Thursday night in conjunction with Fleming's Steakhouse in Newport Beach.  Oka ... More >>

Tippling Treats This Weekend (And Beyond)

Now that Lent is but a distant memory, we can take to the bottle again without fear of recrimination.Tomorrow, Saturday April 25, sees two wine events taking place locally: The first is at WineStyles in Irvine (Portola Parkway) from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, where you can taste up to six wines for just $5. ... More >>

Martin Diedrich on Surviving Starbucks And Thriving With Kéan

When I visited Kéan Coffee's new Tustin location last Sunday, it had only been open six days and already the lines were out the door. While that may have been due in part to staff still getting up to speed, it was definitely pulling in the punters. For good reason, it seems.The drinks menu is ... More >>

Booze News: Next Vintage Wine Shop's 50 For 50 Events

I'm not advocating that we all reach for the bottle during these stressful times (if a recent study is to be believed, even one small glass of wine a day can increase a woman's cancer risk), but for those of us who like an occasional top-quality tipple but who balk at the high prices, there's good n ... More >>

Midastee Brews A Mighty Fine Cuppa In Brea

I'm always in favor of the underdog, or at least giving them a shot, and, when it comes to eating out, that basically means anything that's not a chain.That's why it was nice to discover a new tea shop in Brea. The nearby Starbucks had closed anyways (it's about to be replaced by a branch of Yogurtl ... More >>

California-Wine-History Saga 'Bottle Shock' Isn't Quite Ripe

Shout Wipes!

Summer Food and Wine Festival

Fast Food Reviews: New Mountain Dew Flavors

As you can see, I'm not fundamentalist in my definition of fast food. All mass-produced snack product is fair game, as perhaps could be noted by the fact that the first one I did involved the Dave & Busters menu. On a late night beer run, I espied a display at the 7-11 with three new kinds of Mount ... More >>

Afternoon Tea at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point Means Making Your Friends Envious

Wine & Ice Cream Tasting

When I first heard about the unusual pairing of wine and ice cream, honestly it sounded like a stomach ache waiting to happen. Then again, I'm one of those people who likes to try weird and possibly gross food, so I decided to check it out. The four-course tasting was held at the Wine Gallery in ... More >>

Skunk As a Drunk

How to stay hammered until 2007

This Hole-in-the-Wall Life

That's a-yummy: Barolo Cafe

Coffee. Talk.

No. 9: Kean Coffee keeps it real in this mixed-up, crazy corporate world

'Back to Square One'

Martin Diedrich celebrates the death of his familys coffee chain

Silly Ladies

Enjoying the pairings at the HB Hyatt Regency

There Stands the Glass

Its always beer oclock at the Abbey

Newport Hipsters Paralyzed

Yes, it's true. Even Balboa Peninsula's ultimate ennui establishment has been forced to close its doors. Alta Coffee, home of stunning baristas, live music, freshly brewed coffee and - as written about in Best of OC 2005 - a damn fine vanilla soy chai latte, is closed this hazy Monday. What could ... More >>

'Definitely Not Vintage'

Blind tasting five choice selections

This Week in Great Scot Whisky

Whisky Tasting on the Queen Mary

Star-bucker

Xtine Hanson takes on corporate coffee with Delocator.net

In Vino Veritastic

Don Katz serves the goods at Symposium Wine Bar

Hey, You!

Late Latte

Steaming Art

Tea, Korea-style, at 419 Cafe Veronese