Coffee

Azul Café, Valle de Guadalupe: Southern Mexico's Coffee Without Leaving Baja

In the center of the wine and olive oil laboratory known as La Escuelita (but officially as la Estación de Oficios de El Porvenir) stands a wooden building with mattress springs for walls. Inside is a brown clutter of detritus: a Christmas tree made of upturned wine bottles stands anachronistically ... More >>

Dave Reviews OC Yelp Reviews, Part 11

First of all, let's provide this paper's coverage of the much-maligned Reviewer Card, which you can hand to restaurant staff in order to inform them that they are under review by DouchebagNoshingDeliciously.blogspot.com or whatever your 7-pageviews-a-day food blog is called:If you get one of these c ... More >>

5 Ways To Caffeinate For Free (Or Cheap) On National Coffee Day This Saturday

As if we needed another reason to load up on caffeine, it's National Coffee Day this Saturday. (It just happens to come the day after National Drink Beer Day--thank you, calendar gods!) A handful of chains are offering coffee freebies (and cheepies). Here's where to go to score a cup of joe.   ... More >>

Theorem: Portola's Specialty Concept Bar For The Ultimate Coffee Nerd

For a little over a year, Portola Coffee Lab has been educating, surprising and inspiring the caffeine-deficient in OC and beyond, prompting java lovers to hang up their Starbucks mugs for good. The Costa Mesa shop has surely won us over with its specialty beans and unique brewing processes--check o ... More >>

New Fiat Has An In-Car Espresso Machine

In an age of multitasking and NEVER ENOUGH TIME! comes this new development from Fiat. The Italian car manufacturer announced that its 500L model will be "the first standard-production car in the world to offer a true espresso coffee machine." Who wants to wait in line at Starbucks with the commoner ... More >>

Starbucks Introduces New Fruity Energy Drinks Made From Unroasted Coffee Beans; Free Samples This Friday

It was early last month that Starbucks announced it was buying a San Francisco bakery in an effort to improve its food offerings. It was late last month that it said it was opening a standalone store dedicated to serving its Tazo brand of tea. This month Schultz and Co. is getting into the energy dr ... More >>

On the Line: Alexandra LittleJohn of Green Bliss/Cafecito Organico, Part One

We're doing our job when Alexandra LittleJohn tells a friend that our questionnaire, "...is worse than filling out the eHarmony dating website" [Awesome!]. Our Sunday morning is spent in a hidden outdoor seating area of Kean's Newport alongside Nacho, her pup with "big dog syndrome." While we have y ... More >>

Does Starbucks Have a Secret Menu?

Starbucks, according to several sources, may have a secret menu where one can conceivably order items with code names such as "Captain Crunch" and "Oreo Frappuccino." These drinks don't necessarily contain those ingredients, and are often just rejiggered recipes of their normal drinks with a few of ... More >>

Lost Boys of Summer Say Major League Baseball Gulped A Bitter Cup of Coffee Before Acting

​The first response to "The Lost Boys of Summer" came in an email from Douglas J. Gladstone, who wrote the book on the issues the feature explored, 2010's A Bitter Cup of Coffee: How MLB and the Players Association Threw 874 Retirees a Curve: "You are to be complimented big-time! (Now brace yourse ... More >>

Six Ways to Stop Being a Douchebag at Starbucks

​You probably don't know it, but every time you go to a Starbucks, 14 people behind you in line are shooting daggers at you and trying to kill you by modulating their alpha waves . . . and yes, it's your fault. You're the inconsiderate, self-absorbed douchebag, and you infest every coffee shop in ... More >>

Portola Coffee Lab Gets Into The Holiday Spirit

Portola Coffee Lab​Not only do they brew the best coffee around, Portola Coffee Lab baristas can turn a cup of Joe into a cup of Van Gogh. How they do it: "The colors are a result of an overwhelming amount of Christmas spirit! (and food coloring)," according to the shop's Facebook page. &nbs ... More >>

Ten Great OC Coffeeshops

​We're sometimes accused of being too North County-centric around here. We can't help it; even leaving aside the snark about Laguna Engabachada, the fact is the population's up here in the 714, and choice in restaurants tends to follow the population.Coffee, however, is a different story. There's ... More >>

Portola Coffee Lab Is OC's Temple of Caffeine

[Hole In the Wall] This Costa Mesa coffeehouse can convert anyone into the cult of coffee

Dueling Dishes: Battle High-End Espresso

​Martin Diedrich. The father of the coffee revolution in Orange County, owner of the first coffee shop to make an unapologetic, small, truly Italian cappuccino, as well as the first to introduce la naranja to the idea that coffee needn't be roasted to dust in order to taste like something.Jeff Dug ... More >>

Starbucks "Secret Menu": The Key Lime Pie Frappuccino

Daniel Tomita​So it's no secret that there are all sorts of crazy personalized concoctions people foist upon their local Starbucks baristas, but this is the first time we heard of this one. OC Weekly Twitter follower @RikiYamada (follow us on Twitter at @OCWeekly and @OCWeeklyFood) was kind enough ... More >>

Dueling Dishes: Battle Cappuccino

Dave LiebermanKean Coffee's Italian cappuccino​As hard as it may be to believe, I am not a die-hard coffee snob. I do not care to memorize the names of coffee estates as though they were domaines in Bordeaux, I don't trust any place that gives me a palate cleanser before my espresso, and I'm not y ... More >>

Drown Your Sorrows: Affogato at Cafe Lucca

Flickr user nicoleleeNot Cafe Lucca's affogato; just a general idea.​Cafe Lucca in Old Town Orange--which is not to be confused with Lucca Cafe, a Cal-Italian restaurant in Irvine's Quail Hill--was our pick for Best Gelato in OC Weekly's Best of 2009. The prices haven't changed, and the gelato is ... More >>

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.

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 >>

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Offering Free Iced Drinks This Afternoon!

Flickr user egor.gribanov​Coffee snootists look away! The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is offering an array of free 12 oz. iced drinks today. 

Two-fer at Panera Bread Tuesday, September 29, In Honor of National Coffee Day

​Ask to 'Pay it Forward' and you'll get a free cup of the chain's Café Blend coffee. OK, it's not like you're getting a pumpkin spice latte or a caffè mocha, but, given the surprising lack of freebies up for grabs tomorrow, we'll take it. A free cup of coffee is a free cup of coffee, after all, ... More >>

McDonald's Coffee Update--And "Free Mocha Mondays"

Every Monday from July 13 through August 3, participating McDonald's will be handing out one complimentary reduced-size cup of hot or iced mocha per person as part of a "nationwide sampling". An estimated 10 million cups will be served over the four weeks.As for whether or not McD's attempt at corne ... More >>

The Benefits Of Social Networks: Free Ice Cream For Your Friends

Starbucks is giving away a total of 20,000 complimentary pints of its own-brand ice cream from now until July 19 (that's around 800 an hour). The catch? You have to be on Facebook, and you have to nominate a "Friend" to receive the coupon (redeemable at local grocery stores).I've not tried the froze ... 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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

This Hole-In-the-Wall Life

There Goes the Neighborhood

Meet the New Music Boss

Not the same as the old music boss

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

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 >>

Star-bucker

Xtine Hanson takes on corporate coffee with Delocator.net

Hey, You!

Late Latte

Hey, You!

Baffled barista

Spilt Coffee

Better Than Health Insurance

Staying alive with Blue Nile Cafe

Espresso Your Love

Remembering paninis and the Italian boy who got away at Kaffa

Iron Barista

Competitors test their beans

Coffee Crusade

The great Little Saigon coffee inquiry

A Reality Shrine for a Wired World

The year in coffeehouse founder Carl Diedrich

Villa Park

Beat it . . . please.

Tustin

Not full of hot air

Ingratuity

A guide to our Advertisers

Guide to Our Advertisers

The Starbucks Solution

Mike Sheldrake figured he was dead when Starbucks opened two stores near his indie coffeehouse. Now his business is up 40 percent.

Don't Panic, Drink Organic

Yo Quiero Mocha Java