Tea

Seventh Tea Bar Debuts Steampunk Brewing Tomorrow With Twitter Giveaway

While folks are hardcore about their lattes, we mildly obsess over Seventh Tea Bar's newest contraption: Alpha Dominche's Steampunk 4.0. It's got brains and beauty, like many of our Weekly counterparts.Admittedly, some of the terminology is over our heads. Owner/Mad ScientistJeff Duggan got all Alto ... More >>

Checking In To Tea Service At Seventh Tea Bar at the OC Mix

More often than not, when we think holidays, we think FEAST. Overindulging, eyes bigger than your stomach, "Where's the Aperol?" feasting. But what if your family is a single parent (or comparable mini-family) who wants peace and quality over quantity? Our holiday alternative to the big brunch resid ... More >>

Newport Beach School Officials Try to Suspend Student for Bringing Kombucha to School

I am not a fan of kombucha, the fermented drink that health nuts swear by, but that doesn't mean I'm going to impose my beliefs on others. If people want to drink that fizzy stuff, then God bless them. If a mom wants her child to drink some, awesome. But woe is the idiotic school official who catche ... More >>

McDonald's Introduces Bubble Tea Drink in Germany; Some Call The Ad Racist

The news fluttering about the blogosphere isn't that McDonald's in Germany is selling bubble tea (also known as boba, those drinks with the chewy, starchy balls made from tapioca), it's that a few sites are questioning whether the ad they've developed to market the product is racially insensitive.Th ... More >>

Jack's Tea Room

Harvelle's

"That's What She Said" at CUCINA enoteca, Our Drink of the Week!

There are drinks you order because it's your usual. There are drinks you order to get drunk in as few sips as possible. But then there are those drinks you order because the name made you laugh, and also, made everyone else at the table laugh. The "That's What She Said" is that kind of drink.

Strickland's Ice Cream's Way of Celebrating St. Paddy's Day

​While we're on the subject of St. Paddy's Day specials, check out what Strickland's Ice Cream in Irvine will be churning out of their machines on St. Patrick's Saturday: Green Pistachio, Green Mint Chocolate Chip, and Green Green Tea.

Holiday Gift Guide: 7 Presents For Tea Snobs

Etsy seller KeepCalmShop​Beneath the frenetic cult of coffee addicts sits a quieter community of tea drinkers, those who know to use steaming, not boiling water, and will always choose free-swirling leaves if they can help it. Here are some gifts to make them happy sippers. 

5 Funny & Sexy Food Commercials from Thailand

​Pick a random country and there will be TV commercials employing humor and sex to sell food. Here's a few of the best from Thailand in what I hope to be an ongoing series of similar posts (YouTube search, don't fail me now!)

Holiday Tea

Ritz Carlton

Seventh Home Coffee and Tea House Shows There's No Place Like It

This teahouse caters to Korean chicks, but you should go, too

Stricklands Ice Cream Introduces New Flavor Tomorrow: Thai Ice Tea!

Edwin GoeiA classic: Cookies And Cream!​I've been to Strickland's Ice Cream in Irvine this summer more than I care to admit. I've lost count actually, but I can tell you that since May, I've cashed in about three stamp cards. When I tell you that each stamp card has nine slots and entitles me to t ... More >>

Why Aren't There Any Hong Kong-Style Cafes in Orange County?

Flickr User Roland​The question came from a reader on my personal blog who simply asked: "During my stay in the OC I have not been able to locate any Hong Kong cafes or restaurants. Do you perhaps know of any?"Which made realize, no I don't. It got me thinking that the last Hong Kong-style cafe to ... More >>

Starbucks' Trenta in Real Life

My unsweetened iced green tea, all 31 ounces of it. ​The verdict: It's big. (But it still fits in a cup holder. Win.)

Starbucks Introduces Its Biggest Drink Size Yet

Starbucks has announced that it is introducing a new size of coffee called the Trenta cup. As "Venti" means "twenty", "Trenta" means "thirty"; but observant caffeine-junkies will notice that the new container is actually a 31-ouncer.  Conspiracy-theorists might wish this was Spinal Tap refer ... More >>

LA Water Cocktail

Jorge Negreros​When it comes to the battle of OC versus LA, at least we don't have a cocktail named after our murky drinking water. 

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. 

Ethnic Eating 101: Chinese, Part 6

Despite the fact that we could go on for years about the variations and nuances of Chinese cuisine, we are going to close this week with a visit to Taiwan, because after Cantonese, the single most available regional cuisine in the Southland is Taiwanese, due in part to the great number of Taiwanese ... More >>

Chinese, Part 2

Arguably the most familiar Chinese regional cuisine in the United States, Cantonese food got its start with the first Chinese immigrants to San Francisco. At that point they had to make do with what ingredients were available to them. Cantonese food in the US isn't like that anymore.tracyhunter @ fl ... More >>

Tranquil's Bodacious Tea

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

This Friday: Free Drink At The Coffee & Tea Leaf

​Free stuff, even if it's just a cup of tea, is still free stuff. And that's exactly what participating Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf locations are giving away this Friday, February 12, from 4-7 p.m. Except for locations inside Ralphs, campus, casino, and airport locations, you can get a 12 ounce c ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Southern Pear Tea at Memphis Cafe

Jessica Ford Southern Pear Tea​You can't experience the South without having a glass of sweet tea, and Memphis Cafe in Costa Mesa is taking the Southern staple and adding what any bar should--alcohol. Memphis' Southern Pear Tea is the Drink of the Week because it actually tastes like rea ... More >>

Teas To (Allegedly) Cure Just About Everything That Ails You

Edwin Goei​Simple things make me chuckle. Like this display that I came across while hunting for Wacky Snacks at the Bodega R Ranch Market in Tustin, for example. It's just a rack of herbal teas. But look at it! It's teas especially formulated to cure a litany of ailments! Going through men ... More >>

Life on the Veg: Noorani Halal Tandoori in Garden Grove

Dal Urad​Noorani's Halal Tandoori Restaurant is a hole-in-the-wall type establishment that is pretty easy to overlook, particularly amid the clusterfuck that is Little Saigon's urban design. If you do notice, chances are you'll experience a moment of severe disorientation when you realize you're l ... More >>

The Sushi's The Real Deal At Wasa, But The Entrées Are Dull

Had a great meal at Wasa Sushi at the Bluffs, Newport Beach, on Saturday night. The mall location is pretty uninspiring, as is the shouty 'WE'RE OPEN' sign in the window, but once you're inside the diminutive space it's a different story.The sushi excels, but the main courses lack inspiration. Put i ... More >>

OC Punk Rock Picnic

Tickets for the OC Punk Rock Picnic 2 are on sale now. The lineup includes the Adolescents, Cadillac Tramps, SiX, Franki's Broken Toys, Noise Attack, Terezodu and lots of other bands I've never heard of. The event goes down Saturday at Irvine Lake.   While I'm in favor of this, the idea of a pu ... 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 >>

Gustavo's Top Five Drinks of 2008

Hint to restaurants: you'll get in my better graces if you offer great, non-alcoholic drinks. Beverages rank high on my palate, and I'll never forget the banana soda offered by a long-gone Honduran restaurant. Here, then, were my favorite drinks of the year.1. Maker's Mark, neat, at Memphis at the S ... More >>

New Ice Cream Flavors: I Like Where This is Going

On the Chowhound boards a few years ago, I remember someone asking for tips on where to find green tea ice cream.  We pointed him to the frozen dessert section of 99 Ranch or Mitsuwa. This weekend, I found it green tea ice cream at Vons.  Let me repeat:  AT VONS!!! What's even more amazing was ... More >>

H-Mart and Guppy Tea House Open at Diamond Jamboree

When it rains it pours. Last Friday saw at least three stores opening at Diamond Jamboree Center. On the weekend, it was H-Mart, -- the anchor (and only) supermarket -- and Guppy Tea House. Either that or they both just won the Kentucky Derby. There were wreaths of flowers, balloons, the works. ... More >>

Diamond Jamboree = More Asian Eateries = More Fun

Good things do happen in Irvine, even if it's going to make traffic even more hellish. It's called Diamond Jamboree Center, a sprawling shopping complex you might have seen being built on the corner of Alton and Jamboree Rd. So far, just the signs are up. Finishing touches are still being made. ... More >>

Bunny Love

Mother-Daughter Beatrix Potter-Themed Tea

New Flavor at Beard Papa's in Costa Mesa

Unless you follow foodie bulletin boards and blogs, chances are you haven't heard of or had a Beard Papa's cream puff. That goes double if you don't normally venture out of Orange County, where there are only two outlets of this Osaka-based chain. There's one at Santa Ana's MainPlace Mall, and a ... More >>

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

Mmm . . . Vittles

Hardtack, biscuits & gravy, salt pork, beef jerky, burritos, falafel, & banh mi—you know, cowboy  food

Pinkies Up

Holiday Tea

The Sweet Art

At Cafe Blanc, Tomi Harase makes desserts worthy of a gallery

Morning cream

Score! Japanese pastry chain Beard Papa's is opening its first OC "Sweet Cafe" in Santa Ana this morning. This place is a cream puff haven - one I first stepped into in the Philippines and was delighted to see in West L.A. last year. And now, right down the street? Oh ho ho. Just when I thought you ... More >>

Grub Guide

This Week in Numbers

Steaming Art

Tea, Korea-style, at 419 Cafe Veronese

Tea and a Bit of Joe

Tea and A

Enjoying the beautiful ambience, ass conversations at the Tea House on Los Rios

Cha, Cha, Cha

Tea bar brews superlative stuff

Summer-Rama!

39 of the best things about the next 104 days

Is That a Badge in Your Pocket? Or are you just happy to see me?

Are OC's cops a little too excited about busting men for gay sex?