SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COFFEE CATERING

Rugged Coffee is your one stop shop for Specialty Coffee Catering in SoCal. We offer amazing coffee with fast service to your event. Whether you want to provide coffee in your booth at a convention, or you want to treat the folks attending your conference, or you want us to serve coffee at your place of business to your employees, or you have that special wedding day that you want memorable coffee at, no matter the event type or the size, we can cater it all. Coffee catering is what we are best at, so you can be sure that we are going to be bringing the best tasting coffee along with the quickest service out there.

With our Espresso Bar catering, we offer all the normal drinks you could get at a coffee shop, such as, Mocha, Latte, Cappuccino, Macchiato, Americano, Espresso, Hot Brewed French Pressed Coffee, and Cold Brewed Coffee. We also offer you to customize the menu by getting to select the 3 Signature Flavored Latte’s that we serve at your event. We have amazing and unique flavors, such as the Churro Latte, Lavender Honey Latte, Tiramisu Mocha, Pumpkin Pie Latte, Matcha Tea Latte, Genmaicha Tea Latte, Hojicha Tea Latte, and much more.

When booking us with our Espresso Bar, you then get access to our Ice Cream and Affogato Bar at a reduced price, our Tea Bar upgrade, our Artisan Pastries, and our Hot Cocoa Bar. When booking our Affogato and Espresso Bar, you get to have our Made-From-Scratch ice cream and your menu options greatly increase. With the ice cream bar, your guests will have access to combination drinks, like a Cold Brew Float, Mocha Float, Latte Float, and any other type of float that they can think of.

With our Tea Bar, you get access to our elevated Cold Brew Teas and Hot French Pressed loose leaf tea all sourced from the artisan tea purveyor called Rishi Tea. We use the highest quality in all of our ingredients so that you know that you and your guests will be getting the tastiest beverages available anywhere.

COFFEE CATERING NEAR ME

Rugged Coffee is not only the best specialty coffee caterer in Southern California, but we also cater our made-from-scratch ice cream mobile bar, as well! When you want to host an event and you want to showcase the best to your guests, then Rugged Coffee is the business you are looking for. We have over 18 years of experience in the specialty coffee industry, with 8 of those years operating Rugged Coffee while constantly improving every recipe that we have, contentment is not what we strive for in our recipes, but always wanting to improve. Not only do we constantly try to get better in the coffee we serve and how we serve it, but we have also spent the last year and a half perfecting our ice cream recipe. Now you can experience the best ice cream around alongside our espresso bar cart.

Ice Cream is a tricky thing to perfect, easy to make, but hard to know how to get the right recipe down. We are now so sure and confident that you will be satisfied with the ice cream that we serve you and your guests! When looking for an ice cream caterer why would you spend a lot just for ice cream only when you can get the best ice cream with the best coffee and espresso?

Coffee caterers are popping up everywhere that it is hard to really feel confident that you are getting the best that you are able to get. We can assure you that if you go with Rugged Coffee, that you will not find a better coffee provider and a better company that knows the ins and outs of catering that knows how to handle any problem that arise. Let us know what kind of event you are looking to host and we will be sure to help you create that type of event with our Southern California coffee catering!

COFFEE CART FOR WEDDINGS

At Rugged Coffee, we cater all sorts of events, whether it is coffee catering for a corporate event, coffee catering for conferences, coffee catering for conventions, mobile coffee catering for birthday party’s, mobile coffee catering for engagement party’s, or coffee catering for weddings. We come to you to serve you the best coffee you’ve ever had and we know that you’ll hear that statement from every coffee caterer around, but just look at our yelp reviews or google reviews to see what people are saying about our mobile coffee catering bar and drinks that we prepare and serve. We are confident that you will not find better coffee and service around.

Some ways that we can make your wedding truly one of a kind is that we are able to create custom latte flavors just for you. If we are given more than 1 months notice, then we are able to create 1 custom flavored latte of your choice, just for your event or wedding. Some of the custom flavors that we have created and now have on our list to choose from are the Lavender Honey Latte, our Churro Latte, our Chestnut Praline, and our Samoa (just to name a few). Another way that we can make your wedding or event truly special is by customizing our coffee cart. The logo in the front of our cart is removable so we can relace that sign with any other sign you would like to have on there, as long as the sign fits the space and is light enough to be held by velcro. Another way that we can create a customized coffee experience is by serving out of custom cups for you, but you will have to provide those for us to use. Lastly, another way that we can customize your wedding or event is by printing a custom stamp that we can use to leave a design on top of each hot drink that we serve.

With our stamping, we use a nonflavor adding component to imprint the design that you want. This is a very uncommon thing you will get to experience because most caterers that use a stamp to imprint designs on their customers drinks, they often use a powder, such as cocoa powder. The problem with cocoa powder is that it will imart an additional unwanted flavor to each drink, so we have set out to create this way to imprint the custom design on each latte without using an ingredient that will add unwanted flavors that dont belong in most drinks that are served.

Booking us means that you get not only the best coffee service around that your guests will be talking about for years, but also a well thought out and executed catering experience that is rivaled by none.

SPECIALTY COFFEE CATERING

Coffee catering is an industry where companies are plentiful, so it’s easy to find someone catering coffee. The problem with coffee caterers and mobile espresso bars is that most of them dont know what they are doing. They do what most coffee shop owners do, and that is that they get into the industry because they think that it’ll be easy and that all they need to do is get machines and coffee beans, while the rest will handle itself. This is why there are so many bad coffee shops and bad coffee caterers. Rugged Coffee is different though, we have started a coffee catering company because we have catered before and know how to do it so that we are efficient and so that every coffee we serve tastes the amazing.

Specialty Coffee is an industry that is tricky to be involved in, and easy to mess up. The science of coffee is tricky and the variables to keep in mind are plentiful. Things you have to keep in mind are grind size (whether the grind is too coarse or too fine), the water (how much or little water to use or what minerals are in the water), and the brew time (brewing too long will yield bitter tastes and brewing too fast can result in sour and light tasting coffee). Brewing coffee perfectly is hard to do but once you’ve mastered it, then it comes as second nature, but now add another variable into the mix, serving events, and things get complicated again. Treating catering like a coffee shop will result in service that takes far too long, but serving fast without standards will get you back to where we started where the coffee will taste terrible. That is why creating efficient serving standards while keeping coffee quality high is the goal of any coffee caterer. At Rugged Coffee, through the 8 years that we have been in business, we have created many standards to serve fast and coffee quality high.

Try our services out today to find for yourself how we are able to serve your guests fantastic coffee efficiently using our local mobile coffee bar.

INLAND EMPIRE CATERING

Rugged Coffee is a specialty coffee caterer out of the Inland Empire, but travels all over Southern California, from Los Angeles to San Diego and everywhere in between. One place that we especially love is the Inland Empire, where freedom reigns and venues are plentiful. One of those venues is the Ontario Convention Center. Catering coffee at the Ontario Convention Center is such a special place because you get to meet and serve thousands of people all at the same event. A way for you to increase traffic to your booth is by providing coffee at your booth, but not just any coffee, the best coffee a caterer can offer. Instead of the unimpressive bland coffee that most coffee caterers offer, why dont you bring something truly exceptional that will turn your booth into the hub of the event and hire us to cater the best coffee at the Ontario Convention Center.

Another venue that we really love going to is the Riverside Convention Center. This convention center has it all, from smaller rooms for weddings to larger areas for large conventions. We are local to the Riverside Convention Center so bring a coffee caterer there that is familiar with serving massive crowds with our excellent coffee and espresso bar. Since we are very experienced with conventions, we offer a maleable catering experience. We can bring our coffee cart to serve off of in your booth, we can custom brand our coffee cart or we are able to serve off of a counter that you have built out that completes your aesthetic.

Specialty Coffee Catering for Conferences and Conventions is what we really love doing and offering catering in the Inland Empire is even better. Reach out today to see how special and unique we can help to make your next convention the best ever.

WEST COAST VENUES

When looking at venue to host your wedding, event, conference, or convention at, what better place than the Southern California West Coast? With views of San Diego Beach, La Jolla Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad, San Clemente, Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Emerald Bay, Newport Beach, Balboa, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Belmont Shore, Long Beach, and the beautiful Rancho Palos Verdes you can’t go wrong with a west coast venue. Being a caterer in Southern California, we have to be willing to travel and so going to any of these west coast venues or any Southern California venues is what we do.

Some of the most beautiful southern california venues that we have catered at has been the Terranea in Rancho Palos Verdes, the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa in San Diego, Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, the San Diego Convention Center, the Montage in Laguna Beach, Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach, VEA Newport Beach a Marriott Resort and Spa, Balboa Bay Resort, the Resort at Pelican Hill, Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort, The Westin Long Beach, Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles, Palm Springs Wedding Chapel, La Chureya Estate in Palm Springs, and there are so many more beautiful venues all over Southern California that we cant name them all.

Rugged Coffee is a coffee catering company that offers your event a fun and elegant way to please the nonalcoholic drinkers at your event while keeping everyone (including the alcohol drinkers) awake through the entire event. Whether your event or wedding is in the morning or in the evening, we guarantee that we will liven up your guests and your event. No event is too big or too small for us, so let us know how we can help to make your next event or wedding the talk of the town. Click the “Reserve” tab to reach out to us.

DESSERT, PASTRY, & ICE CREAM CATERING

Having top quality desserts after dinner at your wedding or event is a must, which is why we have worked continuously to create a top tiered ice cream that we can be proud to serve at the events that we serve at with our mobile ice cream cart. We have also teamed up with an amazing pastry chef to bring you the most delicious pastries. Gooey Cinnamon Rolls, Decadent Danishes, Flakey Croissants, and more; what more could you ask for in a caterer.

Our ice cream is made-from-scratch so you know that there are no artificial ingredients and since we pride ourselves in the quality of ingredients that we serve in all aspects of our catering, you can rest assured that we make our ice cream with only top tier quality ingredients as well. You get to choose from our list of ice cream flavors for us to freshly make for your wedding, from flavors like our Vanilla, Chocolate, Cookies & Cream, Chocolate Cookies & Cream, Caramel to our more unique flavors of our Lavender and Matcha. Do you want an ice cream flavor that you don’t see? Request it in your initial inquiry and we will try to create that ice cream flavor just for you. When pairing our ice cream bar and our espresso bar together the menu your guests get to choose from dramatically opens up creating options like the Affogato, Mocha Float, Cold Brew Float, Latte Float, any Signature Flavor Latte Float, and anything else that your guests can think of that isn’t already listed.

For our Artisan Mobile Pastry option upgrade we have partnered with one of the best pastry chefs that we have come across ever and because of that, we are able to bring their quality pastries directly to your event so that you can pair that with our decadent coffee beverages. Reach out today to see how our Espresso Catering along with mobile pastries or mobile ice cream bar can make your event truly one to be envied by everyone there.

ICE CREAM AND COFFEE CATERING

What other company offers you the ability to have delicious coffee and ice cream at your wedding that you cant find anywhere else? Since we are a catering company, you wont be able to have our coffee anywhere other than at your event which makes your wedding extremely unique. Most ice cream stores or caterers purchase ice cream from another company that makes it, but we make our ice cream ourselves from scratch, so we know the exact ingredients and make it with the best quality you can find. We offer you the choice of 3 ice cream flavors from our list. Our mobile ice cream cart list includes Chocolate, Vanilla, Cookie & Cream, Lavender Honey, Chocolate Cookies & Cream, Caramel, and Matcha.

When you order our Ice Cream bar upgrade, it comes alongside our Espresso Bar catering which opens the list to a multitude of items that you and your guests can get from us. Our Espresso Bar catering comes with the standard drinks, offered both hot or iced, like the Mocha, Latte, Cappuccino, Macchiato, Americano, Hot French Press Brewed Coffee, Cold Brewed Coffee with our special signature flavors where you get to choose 3 to be on your menu from our extensive list that you can find on the homepage of our website. Pair that mobile coffee bar with our mobile ice cream bar and you get additional items like the Affogato, Mocha Float, Cold Brew Float, Latte Float, and any signature flavor latte float. Some Signature Flavors that we are able to make for your wedding or event that we could add to a float would be the Chestnut Praline, the Samoa, Blueberry Mocha, Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie, Churro, Hazelnut Praline, Eggnog, and much more.

Not only do you have the ability to add ice cream and coffee together to make floats, but even if you dont want to have coffee but still want to try the signature flavors, then you can always get a Signature flavor milk float or just add some syrup to the top of the ice cream. Anyway you get ice cream is the right way so request that with us in your next inquiry to see what sort of ice cream fun we can make for your wedding or event!

COFFEE AND PASTRY CATERING

There are so many people that ask us for pastries to be accompanied with our coffee and espresso catering that we searched all around and found a pastry provider that serves the quality of pastries that we are proud to offer with our exceptional mobile coffee and espresso bar. With our Pastry option, your guests will get the options from a gooey and out-of-this-world cinnamon roll, Cheese Danish, Berry Danish, Delicious Scones, Galettes, Plain Croissants, Chocolate Croissants, & Soft Blueberry Muffins.

What is better than a mobile coffee and pastry cart with quality that will blow your socks off? We have been in that coffee catering industry for over 10 years and in the specialty coffee industry for over 15 years as the owner of Rugged Coffee has started his career in coffee at the age of 18 and is still in it at his age of 35. Throughout those years he has been a Barista, a Lead Barista, a cafe manager, a Coffee Educator, and is now the owner of a prestigious coffee catering company of Rugged Coffee. He has competed in the Brewer’s Cup competition through the Specialty Coffee Association in 2018 where he went from the Preliminaries in Southern California, to the Qualifiers in Kansas City, and to the Nationals in Nashville where he placed 17th out of 26 competitors. He has now used his skills and knowledge to create the greatest coffee catering company in Southern California and beyond.

People have asked for great tasting pastries to be offered with our excellent coffee so we stepped up to that challenge. Now people have requested that we serve a Hazelnut Latte, so we created that flavor and call it our Hazelnut Praline. What better drink to pair with a pastry is there other than a Hazelnut Praline Latte? Request the Hazelnut Praline to be on your menu when you inquire about our coffee and espresso catering with our pastry service!

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WEDDINGS

Weddings in Southern California are the most magical. You’ve got the beautiful beach and the mountains, all within a few hours of each other. From the west coast venues with Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, San Clemente, Dana Point, Oceanside, Carlsbad, La Jolla, San Diego to the mountains with Big Bear, Mountain High, and everywhere in between. With all of that, the choices are vast.

A few of our favorite venues are the Terranea in Rancho Palos Verdes, Venue by 3 Petals, The Pelican Courtyard, The Red Horse Barn, Crystal Court Community, Seven 7 Seven in Laguna Beach, Laguna Village Arts and Flowers, Aliso Viejo by Wedgewood Weddings, Franciscan Gardens San Juan Capistrano, Marbella Country Club, The Casino San Clemente, La Ventura Event Center, Bellagala Events in Oceanside, La Jolla’s Women’s Club, The Loft at UCSD, San Diego Convention Center, Mission Beach Women’s Club, Thr Point in San Diego, The Marriott, and much more. The venues we enjoy in the mountains are Big Bear Lake Convention Center, Knickerbocker Mansion, Big Bear Lake Christian Camp & Conference Center, Miller’s Landing, and more.

Providing Specialty Coffee at your wedding is what can help keep your guests awake and alert while the festivities are going. Coffee is especially needed when you have guests flying in from out of town or venues that takes a long drive to get to or festivities that go late into the night. No matter the reason, coffee is a good choice. We have heard so many great compliments from wedding guests about providing specialty coffee at the wedding they were at and that it helped keep them awake through the night.

Not only are we a great option for you to keep your guests up and alert throughout the night, but we also are able to provide a Made-From-Scratch Ice Cream and Affogato service along with our coffee service, which means that we have got it all to make your wedding complete. Email us today to see how we can help to make your wedding a wedding to remember forever.

SAN DIEGO CONVENTION CENTER

Rugged Coffee is an expert at catering massive crowds. We keep our quality top notch while serving thousands of guests the most delicious coffee they’ve ever had. We have many years of experience serving at the San Diego Convention Center while serving our delicious coffee to an audience of 10,000+ guests for the Hitachi Energy center booth. We have served for large companies like Oakley Corp., Fox Racing Corp., Lincoln, Levi Strauss, Taylormade Golf, Standard Chartered, and we consistently serve backstage at the Honda Center, and the House of Blues Anaheim, as well as, The Terranea Resort. So you can see that we are trusted by some of the most well know companies and brands.

At the Distributech International convention at the San Diego Convention Center, we had a coffee cart set up at the Hitchi Energy booth (which was the main center attraction booth) and we were also set up at the ABB booth serving delicious coffee to the masses out of 2 separate locations of these sister companies. We not only serve amazing coffee, but we also serve amazing flavored lattes, like our Churro Latte, or Chestnut Praline Latte, and even our Reese’s Mocha, plus many more. Because we were at the main booths of the convention, we were busy nonstop all day.

Another convention that we served at was the AFP convention where all of the top banks were at showcasing their companies. At this convention, we were in the Standard Chartered Bank booth which is a massive bank that has locations worldwide. At this convention we weren’t at the center main booth, but after just a little bit of time there, we were serving the guests like we were the main booth because once people find out about how delicious our coffee is, guests will flock to us no matter what.

Catering at Conferences and Conventions in Southern California and Las Vegas Nevada is what we do best, so if you want an excellent coffee provider to come serve your guests joyfully and quickly with the best drinks they’ve ever had while showcasing your brand, then look no further because you found the best.

COFFEE IN EASTVALE

Rugged Coffee is a catering company that is based in Eastvale, CA. We cater all over the Southern California area but love the city that we live in which is why we want to open a cafe or coffee shop in Eastvale, CA someday. Eastvale is a new city started in the earlier 2000’s and is now a thriving city with some of the best restaurants and shops. Eastvale is also building a new center that they are calling Downtown Eastvale, and we would love it and be so appreciative if you would tell the city council of Eastvale that you want Rugged Coffee to be in that location.

Eastvale is part of the Inland Empire, or Riverside County, and we travel all over the Inland Empire and the greater Southern California area. Some of the best events that we serve at are the busiest, like conventions, conferences, or large weddings. Convention Center’s like the Riverside Convention Center, the Big Bear Lake Convention Center, the Pasadena Convention Center, the Anaheim Convention Center, and our favorite the San Diego Convention Center are all great spots to have these larger gatherings. At each of these conventions there are a large number of guests that attend, anywhere from 5,000 guests to 25,000 guests, and we serve coffee at them all. If you want the best coffee catering and mobile espresso bar at your convention or booth, then you have found the best. No matter where we are located in the convention, guests quickly get word about the quality of coffee that we are serving so we then become the busiest coffee station there which will make your booth the busiest booth and driving more potential customers for you.

When you work with the best, then expect the best results, which is what we will give you in Eastvale, CA and beyond. Reach out today to see what we can do for your event.

QUALITY COFFEE CATERING

Finding the right coffee company to cater your event, wedding, conference, or convention can be a bit daunting, not knowing the quality or experience a company has to offer. This is why we post the brand of coffee roaster’s that we work with so you know that we only offer the best. We also has been operating as a catering company for 8 years now and the owner of our company has been in the Specialty Coffee Industry for over 18 years. During those 18 years, he has been a Barista, Shift Lead, Quality Control, and manager at Portola Coffee in Costa Mesa, California, he has also helped open other Specialty Coffee shops in Orange County California. After his coffee shop days, he worked as a coffee educator for a Specialty Coffee Corporate Company where he traveled the nation teaching Michelin Star Chef’s, Restaurants, and resorts how to make excellent coffee, so you can say that he knows a thing or two about coffee science and on how to make coffee taste delicious. Not only did he do all of that for his career, but he also placed 17th in the nation in the 2018 National Brewer’s Cup championship for the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA).

Coffee Catering in Southern California is what we do best. We offer Coffee Catering in San Diego, Coffee Catering in Orange County, Coffee Catering in Riverside County, Coffee Catering in the Inland Empire, and Coffee Catering in parts of Los Angeles. Because we travel so much, and visit so many different venues, we know what to look for and what to prepare for when the unexpected happen and you can only do that through experience. We bring our own extension cords, gaffing tape, menus, and we even like to talk with the Coordinator beforehand to ensure that everything that we need is provided for so there are no interruptions in our service.

With our services and our experience, we offer unparalleled quality and top of the line Professionalism with each catering service that we provide. Reach out today and find out what we can do to help make your event the most special and unique it can be.

ICE CREAM CATERING

Rugged Coffee is a specialty coffee catering company, but we don’t just stop at specialty coffee. We also provide specialty ice cream catering and ice cream coffee mixes. The ice cream that we provide is made from scratch with no artificial ingredients and they are even made with our Signature Flavored syrups. Our ice creams on our ice cream cart come in several different flavor options, such as, Vanilla, Chocolate, Cookies and Cream, Lavender Honey, Chocolate Cookies and Cream, Matcha, and Caramel.

Our ice cream can be combined with any coffee drink to create a float. You can try a Mocha Float, Matcha Float, Chai Latte Float, Vanilla Latte Float, Caramel Latte Float, or the fan favorite the Affogato. Not only can you combine coffee drinks with ice cream, but you can also just add your favorite flavored syrup onto the ice cream to give it that extra delicious flavor. Flavors like Samoa, Big Red, Vanilla, Caramel, Chocolate, Gingerbread, Lavender Honey, Maple Spice, Cinnamint, and the list goes on.

Consolidating your caterers is not only cost effective, but it also makes your planning easier. We offer you customizable options and quality with the ease of planning because you will only need to allocate 1 area for our serving space, instead of 2 different spaces, and you will only need to worry about 1 vendors electricity requirements, instead of 2. Because this is an upgrade, we offer this quality service for a lower price than most other ice cream caterers and, at the same time, this upgrade gives your guests access to a much larger menu than any other ice cream caterer. Ice cream and coffee, sounds like a match made in heaven to us. Inquire today to find out how we can best serve your event or check out our “Packages” page on our website to see more info.

SOCAL SPECIALTY COFFEE

Specialty Coffee in Southern California is an industry that is booming and so no wonder why people want that Specialty Coffee at their event or wedding, but the Specialty Coffee industry was not always booming out here, though. There was the intro to it back in 2011 with Portola Coffee who were all about the quality of the coffee and not so much care for the customer service or experience, then after a few more specialty coffee shops opened, the turn to customer service was starting to be top priority again. Now most specialty coffee shops only care about that and not so much about creating a great coffee beverage or coffee experience anymore. We believe that you don’t have to have a tradeoff of the two, that those two aspects of coffee can work harmoniously together and we showcase that at each event that we serve at. We cater small events to catering very large events, there is no event size too big or small for us.

Being a Southern California catering company has its benefits, such as, the weather is usually pretty great so indoor or outdoor events are pretty much always available to happen, but because of that, the competition is fierce. That is why we make sure that we are on the top of our game and that we are providing the best quality and service in the industry. We provide Specialty Espresso and Coffee Catering all over the Southern California area, from Los Angeles to Orange County to the Inland Empire (or Riverside County) to San Diego County and we even travel to Las Vegas for our catering. Basically anywhere you need coffee in Southern California, we can bring that coffee catering to your event or conference or convention and even weddings. Reach out today and see how we can elevate your event by providing the best coffee and the best service around.

WEDDING CATERER

Having the right people at your wedding can make or break a wedding, but having the right specialty caterers can equally cause the wedding to be stress free or chaotic. That’s why we take our role in every event or wedding that we serve at very seriously because we want to help make your wedding special in a way that you don’t have to worry about anything, because you shouldn’t have to. Southern California Caterers that know what they are doing in a way where they plan for every situation that may occur and therefore ask the wedding coordinator all the right questions beforehand so they can properly prepare.

We have been to many weddings where the SoCal caterers were scrambling, not prepared for any variation in the plans, but that is not us. We make sure that we are ready for every outcome. Checking the weather beforehand, especially if the wedding is outdoors to prepare for rain or other severe weather. Making sure to bring long extension cords in case the electricity supply is far away, and bringing more than enough supplies to ensure that we do our best to not run out of our coffee catering supplies while serving your guests. We do our best to make your experience with us the easiest experience with a coffee caterer ever.

Things to know about us, we will arrive to the Southern California or Las Vegas wedding at least 1 hour and 30 minutes prior to our serving so that we give ourselves enough time to get in the space and setup properly for our coffee bar and espresso catering. We will also take around 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes to close our bar and exit the venue. We take our service very serious and we guarantee that you wont find better quality in a Specialty Southern California Caterer elsewhere.

PORTOLA COFFEE ROASTERS

We love our friendships in the coffee industry, they are who helped us become who we are today. Today we just wanted to highlight a friend in Costa Mesa, a coffee roasting company named Portola Coffee Roasters. Portola Coffee is one of the coffee roasters that we use on our coffee cart and because of our great relationship with them and our expertise in the craft, we also take care of all of Portola Coffee’s catering requests. We have been involved with this company since its birth in 2011, from Skyler helping to open their first store to finding his love for catering while catering events for them. This is where Skyler really started to get his feet wet with specialty coffee.

Photo credit: Kyle Flath; @Kyleflath

When Portola Coffee Roasters emerged, they changed the way Orange County consumes coffee forever. When they first opened, they went all out on finding the perfect cup of coffee by utilizing different manual brew methods, such as, the siphon which heats water until it travels from the bottom chamber to the top chamber where the coffee gets brewed, then after a short brew time, the siphon is taken off the heat and as it cools down the brewed coffee then travels back down through a filter to the bottom chamber. They also utilized a brew machine called the Bunn Trifecta, now this machine is very unique as we haven’t seen anyone else use one of them in any other coffee shop. This machine has 10 different setting within it and each setting have 10 different settings within them as well, from how hot the water temperature is to how much agitation is used to how hard the agitation is to how much water is used to how long the brew time is (and the list goes on), but the really cool thing about this machine is that you can really get the coffee to taste amazing through the different settings and once the settings are figured out, then they are set and everything is automated and quick serve after that. Lastly they utilize the Hario V60 pour over vessels which give a very clean and complex cup of coffee. This brew method utilizes the Baristas skill in pouring the water over the coffee grounds at the right times and the right weight, which means that a timer and a scale are a must for this brew method.

photo cred: @tessaandthelens

Portola Coffee has been always searching for the best cup of coffee, but before they even get to the brewed coffee they have to start their process at the farm where coffee is grown. Portola’s owner, Jeff Duggan, fly’s directly to the farms (which are all around the world), to find the best farm that utilizes the best growing practices that will result in the best coffee. Along his travels, he came across a farm that he had to adopt, a farm that he saw potential in. The farm didn’t have the finances to get themselves the equipment they needed to take their coffee to the level it could be, so out of Jeff’s compassion, he would pay top dollar to this farm to help them get those finances and since he’s done that, their coffee has become one of the best coffees on Portola’s menu.

We see Portola Coffee Roaster’s as one of the best roasters in SoCal which is why we like to use their coffee on our cart. If you haven’t visited one of their shops, then you’re missing out on a great coffee and experience. Their flagship is the cafe in Costa Mesa, but they also have several others scattered all over the OC.

If you want to purchase some of their coffee and help support them, visit: www.PortolaCoffee.com and enter the discount code “RUGGED15” to get 15% off everything online (except “Mocha Bombs”). We hope you enjoy!

LION & LAMB COFFEE ROASTERS

“Good friends are like stars, you don’t always see them, but you know they are there”

We love our friendships in the coffee industry, they are who helped us become who we are today. Today we just wanted to highlight a friend in Costa Mesa, a coffee roasters called Lion & Lamb Coffee Roasters. Lion & Lamb is owned by Rick and Rosie Wheeler who started this company to help the world become a better place for all.

Rick and Rosie have worked in the specialty coffee industry for many years at some of the most prestigious coffee companies where they grew their skills and knowledge of the craft. Now they roast and serve some of the best coffee around where they use their platform to donate 100% of their profits to help people around the world who truly need the help. They work with Trees for the Future, a nonprofit organization that teaches people in impoverished areas around the world how to grow trees and crops to create a sustainable life for themselves and for their community; they work with Water.org, a nonprofit organization that helps people to have access to clean drinking water that otherwise wouldn't have it; and Action Against Hunger, a not-for-profit organization that helps get clean water and food to people around the world that need it.

Lion & Lamb is one of our favorite Coffee Roasters that we work with and we are so fortunate to be able to be apart of what they are doing to help the needy around the world. If you want to purchase some of their coffee, visit: www.LionandLambCoffee.com and enter the discount code “RUGGED” to get 10% off all bean purchases and to be apart of their mission to help those in need.

TOP QUESTIONS BRIDES ASK US: OUR COFFEE & MENU

What is on the menu? Knowing what’s on your coffee menu is essential to having a great catering experience at your wedding and that’s why we love spending time with our Brides and Grooms customizing their menu and getting to know their needs. A few things you may want to ask yourself,

1) Do I have a favorite coffee roaster that I would love to have served at my wedding?

2) What sort of milk needs are important to me?

3) What Flavors do I want to have on my menu?

One thing we pride ourselves in is the fact that the menu that we offer to you is fully customizable. We work with many different specialty coffee roasters and are able to serve you and your guests with a specialty coffee of your choice. When serving you and your guests, we stick with using milks that are of the highest quality, so we like to stick with whole milk and barista oat milk, but if you have any other requests we are able to mold our services to your needs. Your flavor choice is another part of our service that we find joy in getting to curate for you. We make all of our flavors in house, so we are able to fully customize a unique flavor just for you and we also have a large list of Signature Flavors that we have created in the past and are able to use at your choosing.