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!
