Portola Coffee Lab

Hi folks! I mean...Hi Everybody! Ugh...I'm going to level with you. I'm tired. It's late at night as I'm writing this and, odds are, my jokes might be a little lame this time around. Sorry in advance. Anyway, a friend at work named Lindsey turned me on to this coffee shop in Costa Mesa. So...here it is!

That last paragraph was bad. Sorry. Anyhoo....Lindsey told me that they make really good coffee, but, it's littered with hipsters. Ewww....hipsters are gross! And they smell like incense and urine! Yuck!!! I was going to make a few more hipster jokes, but I just saw something on the late news show that had me laughing almost to the point of tears. Oddly enough, it was a little related to these wonderful hipsters.

The news article I saw was about disillusioned twenty-somethings who have a miserable outlook on their future. My first thoughts were this:

1.  HAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!
2.  Really???
3.  HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!
4.  Quit bitching, do your FUCKING JOB and SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!

For real, these little pansies were depressed because they weren't billionaires by the age of 25. How sad is that??? The thoughts of these pathetic bastards must go something like this:

"My life is such..a..epic..fail! I'm 23, went to college for 4 years, and what do I have to show for it? Nothing! All I have is my Prius and vegan girlfriend! My job is horrible and my boss is a Nazi! All the time he is telling me 'You can't wear sandals to work!' or 'Why can't you show up to work on time?'. Do you know how hard it is to wake up for work at 9 in the morning? It's fucking unbearable! Plus, this nazi wants me to shave my beard! No way bro! This beard is a part of me. This beard represents so much of me. I swear, if I don't make it big in the next 3 years, I'm just going to say 'fuck it, bro!' and walk away from it all!"

Sad...Very sad.

Back to the coffee!

So, this place has all the baristas in lab coats and a bunch of different ways to brew coffee. Ok, I think it's more like three ways to brew the beans, but, whatever. I'm tired.

One of their brewing techniques is done by using a siphon. Sounded cool to me, so I tried that one. When I ordered it, the guy working there gave me a description of how it worked and that it would be best to drink it without cream or sugar. I like strong coffee, so no problem there. He also said it would take 8-9 minutes for the order. That's cool too. I don't mind waiting for something freshly made.

Since I was going to be waiting for a few minutes, I ordered a cookie sandwich called the "Big O". It was made with mexican chocolate and had a buttercream center. While I didn't show my O-face after taking a bite, it was tasty and well made.

I walked around to the other side of the coffee stand to see my drink being made. Cool Stuff! I took the picture before he added the beans, but it's still cool looking.

When I got my drink, I got it on a fancy little tray. I was warned that the temp of the coffee was close to that of the sun, so I should take my time. I was also informed that I should just add a bit more coffee to the cup as it starts to cool. No problem there, either.

As a coffee lover, I would have to say that this is like the fine wine of coffees. While the overall strength of the coffee is on the lighter side, it makes up for it by having almost no bitterness. Without that bitterness, you are able to get all the little flavor nuances you wouldn't normally be able to get. It was a really unique and special experience.

While the coffee was very good, it did come at a price. It's not cheap at all. If you search for reviews of this place, that's one of the biggest gripes about it. Personally, I couldn't afford to drink their coffee everyday. But, I wouldn't mind treating myself to a cup every so often.

I almost forgot to mention that the place has a pretty cool vibe. Very upbeat with a wide variety of music being played over the speakers. I heard everything from Ice Cube to The White Stripes.

If you love coffee and don't mind a few stinky hipsters, I definitely recommend this place. In fact, I was planning on going there in the morning.

In other news, this is my 96th post! I know, it's not that special. It does mean that I'm creeping up on post 100, and I have something special planned for that one. I've been sitting on a post since last year that I've wanted to share, but I've been waiting for that right time. Plus, after post 100, I've got something up my sleeve that will have you checking back at all hours of the night! You'll have to come back to find out what's in store!

Here's some info on PCL:

Portola Coffee Lab

3313 Hyland Ave.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(949) 284-0596

Thanks for telling me about this one Lindsey!

I'm out!