A Glimpse Inside Portola

Portola Coffee is known to be Orange County’s most glorified micro-roasting haven.

I wanted to share the intricacies of its eclectic culture while illuminating its recent expansion into new markets.

COSTA MESA, Calif.— Sweet aromas of abuelita’s Yauco Selecto blend tantalized 4-year-old Puerto Rican native Pedro Cruz. One humid morning in 1994, he sat close to abuelita on her tan suede couch to intently observe. From a large ceramic blue tankard, she sipped rich espresso paired with a bite of sharp cheddar cheese and a thin soda cracker. The youngster watched her beam with content and decided to take a sip for himself. He was hooked.

Needless to say the brown-eyed coffee adventurer spent countless years of bean consulting and brewing in quaint Puerto Rican cafes. But at the age of 24, he was ready to pursue a dream that would transpire more than 3,000 miles away, in Orange County’s micro-roasting haven, Portola Coffee Lab. Through word of mouth and his own research, Cruz simply knew he wanted to join the Portola culture: a playground where experimental baristas venture and coffee lovers indulge.

“After a year of working at Portola, I am now the manager at the new Santa Ana location. I had previous experience opening coffeehouses and creating menus in Puerto Rico, but nothing like this,” Cruz said. “Every single Portola employee gets to know the roasters and can learn about the entire roasting process. When customers walk in, they’re interested to learn about flavor notes behind coffee from skilled Portola educators.”

Offering more than 11 different eclectic blends, Portola purchases raw beans rooted within pristine farmlands based in Africa, South America and Central America. Portola thrives on its “At Origin” model, which simply states Portola will always pay, at the very least, 25 percent above the Fair Trade minimum to the grower. Often it exceeds 50 percent. To put this affidavit in simple terms: Portola will always invest in above quality beans, which is why a classic cup of coffee will always taste extraordinarily delicious.

For the mundane coffee drinker who needs that caffeine fix, Cruz recommends his go-to blend, but stresses that coffee is like wine: purely subjective.

“My personal favorite is Portola’s ‘Konga natural’ from Ethiopia. With fruity notes of wild strawberry, fragrant honeysuckle and semi-sweet chocolate, you can’t go wrong,” Cruz said.

For the black coffee habitué, Portola ensures that you will enjoy a beyond-mediocre cup brewed from a specialist. But for the wildly audacious folk, Portola offers Theorem; a six-seat concept bar ran by creative masterminds who can whip up euphoric coffee cocktails within seconds. Creators carefully pour and mix concoctions using vintage brewing machinery and glass siphons--similar to what Jack Nickelson uses in The Bucket List. Theorem is an avant-garde playground for experimentation.

“Here at Theorem, quality is everything. On a typical day, there’s a line out the door,” 26-year-old Theorem Manager Skyler Richter said. “Our menus are very different here since we create them. My ex-girlfriend told me to conceptualize a Harry Potter-themed menu, so I did a little research, played around with ingredients and now it’s the featured menu this month. Everyone’s loving the Butter Beer right now.”

For the daring and bold, a swig of Butter Beer or Poly-Juice Potion from the Harry Potter menu will send a sad Starbucks drink running home in tears. Portola hits another level.

Coffee aficionados and baristas know that Portola is creating a culture that is candidly enticing. It provides a certain type of setting that most coffeehouses can’t trifle with. Imagine sipping on a handcrafted espresso and listening to new-age folksy tunes, while learning about the coffee you consume from well-educated baristas. This is what the Portola community looks like and Orange County residents can’t get enough of it.

College student Daniel Zhehneer comes to Portola every other day and orders a hot cortado; a desirable blend of espresso and gently steamed milk. Steaming the milk at a lukewarm temperature turns the proteins into sugar, which gives the cortado a distinct taste.

“It’s the way they roast their beans that makes me come back. Also the fact that they brew third-wave (high-quality) coffee makes Portola special,” Zhehnner said.

Portola owners Jeff and Christa Duggan know that they have pioneered Orange County’s micro-roasting community with Portola, now recognized as the 2015 Roaster of the Year winner. The successful launch of their Costa Mesa store in 2011 led them to debut three more locations in 2015; Tustin District, Santa Ana’s Fourth Street Market and Old Town Orange. It’s pretty evident that this coffee playground is in full proliferation.

“There are some big plans in place for Portola right now, “ Cruz said “At Portola, we have a mission to create a bright future for baristas with a strong passion for coffee. We hope that it will develop into something greater.”