BARTENDER

One thing that a ton of weddings and events look for are bartenders, but what do you do when a lot of your guests don’t drink or can’t have any alcohol? Coffee is a great alternative to alcohol and it doesn’t have to be an either/or choice, we like to work with the bartenders to make great alcoholic coffee drinks. An espresso martini is an amazing drink that will keep guests awake and in the party mood long into the night. Another drink that I see guests like to have is coffee or cold brew and Bailey’s. We are fun and like to make delicious coffee so that whatever drink that your guests want to make, you know it’s gonna taste good.

Drinks that are an alcohol alternative but still make you feel like you’re drinking a cocktail is a Mocktail. Mocktails are drinks that replicate cocktails, but instead of alcohol in the drink, it is replaced with coffee, such as, espressso or concentrated cold Brew. Some of our favorite mocktails are the Espresso Tonic, made with Tonic Water, simple syrup, and Espresso served over ice. Another favorite of ours is the Coffee Mule, made with Fever Tree Ginger Beer, concentrated cold brew, and lime juice that is served over ice. If you dont have guests that want cocktail replica’s or cocktails themselves, then that is where our Espresso Bar shines making espresso drinks down the board like Mocha’s, Lattes, Cappuccinos, and we even have Signature Flavored Latte’s that you as the host get to choose for us to carry.

If you’re going to have the cocktail bar alongside our Espresso Bar, then we’d recommend getting festive and having our Homemade Eggnog and mixing rum with it or you can get creative and add bourbon to your mocha, or there’s always the classic Espresso Martini. We like to have fun with our service and offerings, so if you’re guests have any other cocktail ideas that they want to mix with coffee, then we are always ready to help them make that drink spectacular.

WEDDING VENUES: HIDDEN OAKS

One thing we like to do is write about venues that we have served at, but we wanted to take a moment and write about a venue that we would like to serve at someday. The Hidden Oaks in Rancho Cucamonga is a beautiful venue located in Riverside County nestled away in the Inland Empire.

This outdoor venue has beautiful landscaping with old adobe brick walls, including their archway with a large bell in the middle. Their abundance of large trees provides this whimsical feeling like you’ve been transported to a place seen in fantasy movies while providing a covering of natural shade. The large reception area is surrounded with more of that adobe brick wall and nicely trimmed bushes. As the sun goes down, lights strung from one archway to the next makes the adobe old timey feels turn into a magical experience. Despite the beauty that this venue has to offer, another thing that we really like about this venue is that it is really affordable.

This venue is a faith-based Christ focused organization and with our coffee catering company being rooted in the love that is only found at the foot of the cross of Christ, this is a perfect match. With this being a Christ focused venue, this means that there is no alcohol permitted, but all the more reason to have a coffee and espresso cart pumping out some of the best coffee drinks you’ve had at your wedding. Day or night, our beautifully rustic coffee cart would really flow well with the magical aesthetic feels of this venue.

As a coffee catering company that is based in the Inland Empire, we feel it is our duty to provide excellent Specialty Coffee to weddings happening in our hometown. Having Specialty Coffee, or third wave coffee, at your wedding creates a unique experience you cant replicate with anything else.

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!