portola coffee lab

this place has excellent options for your innercoffeesnob, from hand pours to a flat white, to a flat brown to a powerful cold immersion. it's a little pricey, but you get what you pay for. the original location in the oc mix is a great open space to work from, with free wifi and plenty of seating options. it's a great place i hope makes its way south to san diego!

this has truly become the place to try incredible coffee! however: i can only speak of the seemingly seasonalcoffeebean experienced thru the following 4 brew methods, trifecta, siphon, v60 or kyoto!!! i believe if you come here for a traditional coffee(latte etc) you are truly missing out on an incrediblecoffeeexperience - it would be like going to an incredible sushi restaurant and ordering a california roll!!! lol
my girlfriend is not acoffeedrinker and was amazed trying my blackcoffeev60 brewed. yes, a noncoffeedrinker liked my black coffee!:-) i have always found the staff helpful and yes (true to most artisancoffeeshops i've been too) some of the staff have that mentally dark and tortured personality and seem to live on the fringe of life! lol
btw my gf had the hot chocolate which i have to say was amazing, incredible chocolate flavor without that artificial sickly sweetness too often found in hot chocolate. the veggie burrito was very good, the pop pies are great but some of the other pastries are kind of bland. however, this truly is the place to try and discover coffee. 4.5 out of 5 stars


-----24 dec, 2012-----

round 2, second visit! now made a favorite this place is awesome: i luv a place that takes its coffees seriously! got the siphon style the first time, then the same blend trifecta this time. definitely and difference in taste and so far i'm a fan of the siphon: seems lighter, the trifecta is bolder (note these are the samecoffeeblack just brewed differently. had the pastrami sandwich,very good as well . this is a must visit if you are acoffeebuff! 4 out of 5 stars


-----22 dec, 2012-----

great place! i love the concept: to extract the optimum flavor of acoffeeground, there is a optimum balance of steeping, temperature and water saturation: this places offers the implantation of those theories in a hip fun lab setting! can't wait to come back!
3.2 of 5 stars

goodcoffeebad service. i love thecoffeethere is one of the most deliciouscoffeecups i've ever had unfortunately i don't go there as often as i would like to cause the people that work there are a real stiffs and when you ask any questions related to the menu they are condescending and almost like they are the ones doing you a favor. socoffeegood snobby condescending hipsters are in the way of it, so that's to bad cause it could be good. bad atmosphere(not friendly at all)