LOCATIONS: RIVERSIDE

One of the great things about catering is that we get to serve all over the place and aren’t just stuck to one location or one area. Riverside is an amazing city and county to serve in. This area in Southern California is one of the fastest growing communities in California and even in the entire country. This area offers beautiful weather in the spring, the fall, while temperatures get a little more extreme in the winter and the summer. Riverside offers amazing scenery for beautiful photos for weddings and for rugged, rustic corporate events.

Having your event in Riverside gives you the option to go out into your secluded area in places like Palm Springs, or you can go have your wedding or event at some of the best winery’s in places like Temecula and Jurupa Valley. If you like a more city like event but want to easily tuck away into quiet and secluded alone time afterwards, Corona or Rancho Cucamonga is the place for you.

There are plenty of places where you can hold your business conferences in Riverside like Riverside Convention Center, or the University of Riverside, or the Four Points by Sheraton in Ontario/ Rancho Cucamonga. Each of these locations can host a large audience for your conferences, lessons, and speeches and can have us set up right outside to caffeinate your coffee thirsty crowd. In the past, we have served at many conferences and each time we experience a nonstop flow of people hungry for coffee because of the early morning lessons or breakout rooms and the late night of gatherings or parties, as the attendees of these conferences tend to do.

Whether you hold an event, wedding, or conference, we are the ones that can serve your guests with some of the best coffee they've ever had making your gathering one that they can look forward to and have great memories of.

LOCATIONS: SAN DIEGO

One of the great things about catering is that we get to serve all over the place and aren’t just stuck to one location or one area. San Diego is a place that we really enjoy serving at as they have beautiful weather and plenty of conferences. The last event we served at in San Diego was at SDSU (San Diego State University) where we got to serve alongside of Levi Strauss as they were having a promo weekend for their new store in Fashion Valley. The students at SDSU were super thirsty for some free delicious coffee, so our line was bustling for all 8 hours of our service both days, which was super fun but also a little bit tiring.

Other services that we have down in San Diego are the conference for corporate events. Conferences are fun because, like the Levi Strauss event, we are serving coffee non-stop from the time we open to the time we close and often times these conferences last a couple of days. Serving is what we love to do, getting to see the expression on peoples faces as they take that first sip of amazing coffee and getting to hear their reaction is what makes our job so rewarding.

Serving at conferences is fun, but there’s also those corporate smaller events that we love doing as well. Serving at places like Taylormade Golf and Addidas Golf in Carlsbad is so nice and quaint, especially when they have us come back several times and we get to know their staff and the drinks they order. Places we look forward to serving at Rancho Carlsbad Golf Course, Callaway Golf Company, Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa, Hilton Grand Vacations Club, Grand Pacific Palisades Resort, Legoland California Hotel, and Ocean Palms Beach Resort and Hotel.

COFFEE ROASTERS: TOP 3

PORTOLA COFFEE ROASTERS:

Portola Coffee is a coffee company that helped lead the way with the Orange County specialty coffee scene. Starting in 2011, Portola Coffee baristas took things seriously and to show how serious they were, they all wore lab coats as a sign to show that coffee was more than a drink, it was a science. Starting in Costa Mesa, California, Portola Coffee was ambitious and got started with opening many more locations throughout Orange County, coffee shops in Mission Viejo, Tustin, Long Beach, Huntington Beach, Irvine. Since opening, they have closed down a few of their stores, but only to revamp their coffee shop approach, so dont fear as their original location is still active and they have plans to open more in the future. Portola Coffee sources and roasts some of the best coffee around, so its no wonder why we like to use their coffee so often.

LION & LAMB COFFEE ROASTERS:

Lion and Lamb Coffee Roasters is a coffee company in Costa Mesa, Orange County, California. The owner of Lion and Lamb is an ex-Barista from Portola Coffee, so it’s no wonder why they are on our top 3 list and why they roast such great coffee. Lion and Lamb is a coffee shop on the side of Watermark Church and has the most beautiful interior decorations and wall murals. This coffee shop has all the latest and greatest in coffee equipment, from the new Slayer Espresso Machine to the Mahlkonig E-85 grinders to the EK43 coffee grinder. These machines really help the Baristas there to create some of the best coffee drinks that you will try. Lion and Lamb have some of the most unique seasonal coffee drinks and they donate all of their profits to charity. Go get your morning coffee there and know that your purchases help to make the world a better place for all. We love knowing that the coffee beans we purchase help charities across the world.

LAMILL COFFEE ROASTERS:

Just recently opening a brand-new coffee shop in Anaheim, California, this Los Angeles coffee company emerged in the Orange County coffee scene and has made a large impression. From the elegance of the interior to the machinery they use, this coffee shop screams class. With countertops and tables made of granite, a brass chandelier, and booth seating, this coffee shop sets itself apart from others. The machinery they are using has some of the most technological software in it, from the La Marzocco KB90 to the Simonelli Mythos espresso grinders, to the Mahlkonig EK43s, to the Poursteady that is a machine that makes a phenomenal pour over Hario V60. Not only do they have and make great coffee, they also have some of the best food around as LAMILL is known in the food industry by working with some of the top Michelin star chefs around. We only use top shelf coffee beans for our service so it is no wonder why we like to use their coffee beans for our services.

WEDDING VENUE: COTO VALLEY COUNTRY CLUB

Coto Valley Country Club is one of the most gorgeous and secluded wedding venues that we have served at in Orange County. This venue is tucked away near the Saddleback Mountain in the gated community of Coto De Caza; Coto De Caza is a community located near Rancho Santa Margarita and Foothill Ranch. The community is surrounded by the Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park which is known as a wildlife and plant sanctuary. The gated community was created originally as a hunting lodge, but now is one of the oldest and most expensive master planned communities.

When we got the chance to serve there, we were greeted by several of their employees that were willing to lend a helping hand, which got us to our serving area quickly. The space was large and open with plenty of electrical outlets for us to plug our equipment into. Setting up was a breeze, so everything was prepared perfectly for service, which means that there were no delays on opening our service. When service was over, packing up was a breeze, so pushing our equipment outside to load up was just a straight line.

We saw some of the happiest guests there, and a very happy Bride and Groom. This venue had everything planned to a T, which made everything relaxed and calm because we all knew that everything was planned perfectly. When the venue and the planner have everything planned out, it makes our service run extremely smooth because they have everything we need for our service. We have had many bad experiences with planners who didn’t come prepared or didn’t know what we needed for our service because they didn’t read our requirements, but this venue and their planners were not one of those unprepared planners. We would highly recommend this venue along with their planners for anyone looking to have a happy, smooth and comfortable wedding celebration.

WEDDING VENUES: TOP 5

LAS MARIPOSAS:

Nestled away in the hillcountry of Fallbrook, in San Diego, this beautiful wedding venue is set on top of a tall hill that gives way for an amazing few, especially at night. This outdoor venue is cute and intimate, but still has everything that you need for a comfortable wedding. The venue has multiple tiers that give you a different atmosphere and different experience that makes the venue feel large. Surrounded by trees, the ceremony tier has a magical feel that makes you feel like you’re no longer in Southern California, while the reception and top tier makes you feel on top of the world. Seeing the entire city with all its light at the dance floor is something you can only dream of. The venue also has a grooms dressing room and a bridal suite, so really it has everything you need for your wedding. This venue also has plenty of onsite parking at the lower tier, so you never have to see any cars while at your wedding.

COTO DE CAZA COUNTRY CLUB

This venue is located inside of a gated community, Coto De Caza, so it is secluded and quie. This Orange County venue itself is an indoors venue with some relax areas that are outdoors. The venue has some of the nicest and most prepared staff there, so the weddings go on with no worries. As a vendor, serving there was so easy as they had everything planned out and had plenty of people there willing to help, if need be. A really awesome part about this venue is that they have a list of preferred vendors that they work with, so if they cant provide a specific service for you, they know trustworthy vendors who can.

THE GREENHOUSE AT PNOC

This is another outdoor venue located in the Trabuco Canyon of Orange County that is also a greenhouse. When they aren’t selling plants during the weekdays, they are hosting weddings on the weekends. Since this is a greenhouse, it has plenty of beautiful shade trees and gorgeous and colorful flowers decorated around. This is one venue that does the bridal suite right, but also the only venue that we’ve seen that has a “Man Cave”. The man cave really caters to the men with leather couches, manly objects hung on the walls, and with wooden cabin feels. Once the ceremony is over, the guests walk over to the reception area located inside of the wide open and spacious greenhouse. The decor is beautiful all around and has everything you need for your special day.

VENUE BY THREE PETALS

This venue is located in the beach area of Orange County of Huntington Beach. The venue inside is spacious with its large and open wedding space. This venue is completely indoors with some of the most classy and dazzling wedding decorations that I’ve seen. The wedding space is split into two large rooms. The ceremony area, which is located in the area that is right inside the doors, then the ceremony is located in a separate room. These two areas give way to two completely different sections that make you feel like you’re not even in the same building. This venue has the staff and the space you will need for any successful wedding.

THE WESTIN ANAHEIM RESORT

This indoor wedding venue is located right across the street from Disneyland in Anaheim, Orange County. This is a really upscale hotel and venue and they are your one stop shop for everything that you need for your wedding. You can have your wedding there and not even have to travel anywhere for your nights stay; they can provide your dinner, dessert, and your bar drinks. With the staff ready and willing to help at any moment’s notice, you can be sure that not only will all your needs be taken care of, but also everything is thought out well in advance so the venue can run with no hiccups. This is a great venue that we recommend for anyone with the desire for a very fancy wedding.

CHRISTMAS HOT COCOA

Hot Cocoa with marshmallows on top, a fireplace, a blanket, and a Christmas or holiday movie playing all of these things remind us of a perfect Christmas night.

A Hot Cocoa bar (or Hot Chocolate bar) is one of the things that separates us from the others. Our Hot Cocoa Bar comes with a fun build your own perfect hot cocoa area, where you will be able to add as much whipped cream, marshmallows, crushed graham crackers, m&m’s, candy canes, chocolate drizzle and caramel sauce as your heart desires. This is fun for the kids and adults alike and what better way for you all to interact and to enjoy your time together.

But what if you are away from your family this Christmas and holiday season? This offering is still inclusive of you because what a fun time it would be to be around your friends and the ones you love during the Christmas season with Hot Chocolates in hand that you created yourself while at a Christmas celebration or simply at a movie watch party with blankets and pillows. The great thing about our professional and well experienced Barista's is that what you see on the menu is not the only things we offer. If we have the ingredients, then we will make you the best version of the drink you love on or off the menu, so you want a Gibraltar or Cortado? We can make that. You want a Flat White? We can make that. You want a Latte Macchiato? We will make a version of that drink for you that will make you forget the words "Starbucks".

We cant wait for the Christmas and Holiday season and we know that you can't either, because we are making a list, checking it twice, and dont care if you've been naughty or nice (everyone deserves some delicious specialty coffee) because Rugged Coffee is coming to your town.

CHRISTMAS COFFEE

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year in Orange County and in Southern California to spend with our family, our loved ones, and to remember the reason for the season, the birth of our savior Jesus Christ and what is better to have in our hands during this season than a warm cup of Hot Coffee or a decadent Hot Cocoa made with our hand-crafted Chocolate or Mocha Sauce. These are the drinks that bring kids and adults together in joy and happiness. A drink that people of all ages can gather around.

Christmas gives us all sorts of wonderful feelings. Feelings of love, feelings of nostalgia, feelings of happiness and joy, and so much more. Our giddy feelings come when we just see all the Christmas decorations up, it makes us feel like we’re in the old time movies, like Home Alone and Christmas Vacation where Clark Griswald puts up the most lights anyone has ever seen on a single house.

Another favorite part of Christmas is the Christmas drinks that come out, such as, our Peppermint Mocha, our Gingerbread Latte, our Cinnamint, our Maple Spice, our Bourbon Caramel, and our personal favorite the Tiramisu Latte. We have so many exciting and unique Signature Flavors that we offer, it’s hard to decide between them all, but each one will help to create a special memory. What party, whether family or coorporate, is complete without the holiday drinks? Some of the best memories created are those where you get to drive around looking at Christmas lights with your friends and family or when you are out at the mall having your children meet Santa Clause or getting to shop and splurge on the ones who are most important to you. No matter what creates those Christmas memories, a cup of Coffee, a Mocha Latte or a Hot Chocolate is always in hand.

ARCADE COFFEE ROASTERS

Arcade Coffee Roasters is a local roasting favorite of ours out here in the Inland Empire. Good Specialty Coffee is not so common out here in Riverside County, but thankfully we have a couple. Arcade Roasters is a coffee roastery that roasts to our standards and to Specialty Coffee standards and they are local to our hometown, so of course they will be on our roaster roster.

Riverside is a place where rugged people live. We’ve got motorcycle racing out here, gun stores and shooting ranges, we’ve got horses, cattle, and it’s all surrounded by beautiful mountains on each side. Most people like to think about Riverside as a desert, and that is true, but it also has seasons and these seasons create a beautiful climate. In the summer months it gets warm, so you can cool down at the Lake. In the winter months is get cool and brisk with snow on the mountains perfect for winter sports or just cuddling with your loved ones next to a campfire and sipping some hot cocoa. The fall and spring is the time to be out though. The plants are either blooming or turning brown and the temperature is perfect, lending to perfect outdoor activities or staying in with your loved ones.

We use Specialty Coffee for all of our events, so our goal is to make that coffee taste the best it can taste for you. Specialty Coffee by definition is any coffee that scores 80 points or higher on the specialty coffee grading system, but by that definition even Starbucks qualifies as Specialty Coffee, so we concentrate on quality roasting practices with specialty coffee that is roasted medium to light and has unique tastes that highlight the coffees acidity, sugars and the inherent flavors from that bean and that is why we use Arcade Coffee Roasters (among others) in our coffee lineup!

EVENTS: SHERATON HOTEL AND MARINA SAN DIEGO

San Diego is such a beautiful city and has some of the most amazing and elaborate hotels, so it only makes sense that the city hosts many conferences. Conferences are in abundance in San Diego at some of the nicest hotels and we've offered our coffee catering services at many of them. We’ve served at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, the Marriot Marquis Hotel, Costa De Luna in Carlsbad, and we are going to be serving at our next conference in San Diego at the Sheraton Hotel and Marina serving the Apollo GraphQL Summit. This summit is going to be packed with 2,000 people looking for some delicious coffee in between conference rooms.

Whenever we serve at a conference we serve with class and with confidence while we get pummeled by the caffeine deprived people who are in attendance. These conferences usually mean that there are organized parties afterward where the guests get to stay up the majority of the night and sometime even until the early morning which means that they are in desperate need for good coffee and when it is free for them, they can't get enough.

Our main goal is to serve delicious coffee the fastest way possible. In order to ensure quality is kept, we have to watch the espresso shot times, and weigh the coffee and the water. With coffee caterers, this ends up being too much work to uphold so they typically through quality to the side and just concentrate on the speed of service, but with us it’s different. We have specific serving standards that help us keep the coffee quality high while serving with speed, at the same time. What a delight to get to experience, that the company putting the conference on and having the after-party's cares that much about you that they offer Specialty Coffee for the Conference you're at. That's next level right there.

SIGNATURE COLD BREW

Cold Brew Coffee is a very popular drink in the coffee industry by the general public and coffee professionals alike. In the most basic sense, cold brew coffee is made by taking coffee grounds that have been ground very coarse (french press setting coarse), then steeping those coffee grounds in cold water for 24 hours. After the ground coffee has completed the steeping process, you then take it and strain the grounds from the now cold brew coffee. This process extracts a lot of the sugar and the chocolatey notes from the coffee grounds. Depending on how you make it, the cold brew can be concentrated and used in replace of espresso for iced drinks or it can be brewed more diluted and used to pour directly over ice and consumed black.

At Rugged Coffee, we like to make our cold brewed coffee slightly different than most. We use hot water in the beginning to start extracting more of those bright acidic flavors, then we add cold water to the mixture and let it brew for 24 hours to extract those sweeter flavors. The result is a complex and decadent coffee beverage. We like to brew our cold brewed coffee in a more concentrated form so that we can use it to make our cold latte’s and when we add water, it makes a delicious black cold brew.

When brewing your cold brewed coffee, you want to make sure that you use good quality water, the better the quality of water you use, the better your coffee will taste and the same goes for the grind. The better the grinder you use, the more uniform the coffee will be ground to resulting in a more even extraction of those coffee grounds. Even extraction is key to all coffee brewing, whether you’re making cold brew, brewing hot french press, pour over coffee, or even just the good ol’ Mr. Coffee. Feel free to reach out if you have any brewing questions, we love to help the Rugged community brew better coffee.

EVENTS: TBI CONFERENCE

Every year we serve at a huge 3 day conference in San Diego, CA. At this conference there is about 3,000 doctors and lawyers and we serve them all free coffee, so you could imagine that we are super busy. This service goes for 3 days and for about 10 hours each day, it’s exhausting, but also extremely fun. If you’ve never been to a lawyer and doctor conference before, then let me tell you about it.

Each day there are break out rooms with several different speakers in separate rooms giving speeches about the industry. During these times, we typically have a slower demand for drinks, but it is just slower. This means that the ordering doesn’t stop the entire time. Once the breakout rooms have completed their speeches then we are once again slammed with lawyers and doctors that want coffee. This happens each day all day. The reason they need coffee so badly each day is because they stay up late each night drinking alcohol and networking, so when they come to the conference, early in the morning, they want and need coffee to stay up and do it all over again the next night. Because this conference is 3 nights, we do have to get a hotel and stay down there for those nights which makes setup the following mornings much easier.

At this conference, we bring our full espresso bar with us and brewed coffee. We bring our homemade Chocolate/ Mocha Sauce and our homemade Caramel Sauce as flavors. Apart from that, we carry all of our normal/ typical drinks, such as, our Latte, Cappuccino, Americano, Macchiato, Flat White, Gibraltar, Espresso, Hot Coffee and Cold Brew and we serve all of these options in both hot or iced options. This is one of our favorite events that we get the honor of serving at. TBI knows how to take care of their attendees with free delicious Specialty Coffee all day everyday.

SIGNATURE FLAVORS

Our Signature Flavors are one of the things that set up apart from other coffee caterers. We let you choose unique flavors that we have already created for us to serve at your wedding, corporate event, or conference. If you want a flavor that is not on our list then request it and we will customize the flavor uniquely for you. Most coffee caterers out there only use premade store bought flavored syrups and are therefore unable to make custom flavors for you, but not us. Every flavor that we offer, we create with our own custom recipe that blends extremely well with the Specialty Grade Coffee that we use.

Some of our Signature Flavors that we offer range anywhere from more common and popular, such as the Vanilla or the Lavender Honey all the way to the super unique, such as, the Tiramisu or the Bourbon Caramel. Our favorite has to be the Tiramisu, the PB&J, and the Big Red (which makes your latte taste like the cinnamon flavored Big Red Bubblegum)

Creating brand new flavored syrups sometimes takes a few hours, but often times takes weeks or even a full month, so that is why we only offer a brand-new custom flavor if given at the least a 30-day notice. Creating custom flavors is a fun process for us where we enter into the R&D phase, where we first research what it would possibly take to make this flavor, then we purchase the high-quality ingredients needed to experiment. Once we have the ingredients, we create a recipe using results from past syrups for what worked before. Then we begin the experiment process. Start with the initial recipe, then make a latte with that first syrup. If anything is off or we want to change an aspect of the syrup, then we do that by adding or subtracting certain parts of the recipe that we think would yield a good result. Next we brew it again, then we do the entire process all over again until we reach perfection.

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.

EVENTS: YORBA LINDA HIGH SCHOOL

People always ask us, what sort of events do you serve at? Simply put, we will serve at any type of event and this is an example of an event that some may not think of. Serving at a High School.

Serving the students at Yorba Linda High School is the most fun and busiest time. The kids are so stoked that there is free delicious coffee with Signature Flavors they only dream of that they order drinks to their hearts content. We constantly hear “I drank too much coffee, haha”. With Flavors like Lavender Honey, Samoa, Horchata Cold Brew and so much more, how can these kids not drink too much? We always have a long line as soon as we start serving and that line doesn’t die down the entire time, but that doesn’t stop us from giving exceptional customer service and customer experience, we thrive off long lines and busyness.

Coffee creates community and that is one of the main reasons that we enjoy serving coffee. People like to go out for coffee together, to have meetings together, and when they cant go out for coffee, they hire us to bring coffee to them which in turn brings the community. Bringing Specialty Coffee to Yorba Linda helps the high schoolers there build the community that can last a life time.

We are a SoCal Coffee Caterer that services all of SoCal, including Orange County, the Inland Empire, San Diego, Los Angeles and beyond.

HIDDEN HOUSE 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 out of Santa Ana and San Juan Capistrano, a coffee roasting company named Hidden House Coffee Roasters.

Hidden House has been helping shape Specialty Coffee to what it is today because they don’t see other coffee companies as competition, but rather, as friends and because of that Hidden House Coffee has helped Rugged Coffee get off the ground. In the very beginning of our birth, we were spending plenty of time at Hidden House Coffee tasting coffee and asking them questions, then they loaned us their espresso machine for a couple of months and helped us get events. Since then, they’ve loaned us space to hold private tastings with our clients and sold us essential equipment. These folks are real quality people.

Hidden House Coffee started in San Juan Capistrano and has moved up to Downtown Santa Ana to open their second location/roasting space. Their space in San Juan is so cute as they operate out of a house that has been renovated to a coffee shop right next to the train tracks. The space provides a spot that the locals like to gather at as a foundational hub.

Their Santa Ana location is in the beautiful and artsy part of downtown Santa Ana with it’s gorgeous artsy brick walls and huge cafe space. This is a must visit spot as this doubles as their roasting facility, bakery, and cafe. Their outdoor seating space is huge, enclosed, and has plenty of natural shade from their large trees.

This is and will always be one of our favorite coffees to use on our cart and if you would like to make sure we use this coffee at your wedding, then let us know and we will make that happen. If you would like to buy Hidden House coffee beans online, visit www.HiddenHouseCoffee.com and get free shipping on all your orders of $75 or more.

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!

WEDDING VENUES: LAS MARIPOSAS ESTATE

Being a caterer in the wedding industry, we get to see a lot of different venues and one in particular that we loved working at is Las Mariposas Estate in Fallbrook, CA.

From the beautiful landscape to the multiple different levels it has that creates different feels on each level to the amazing people that run that space. When we first went to this venue, we immediately noticed the beautiful trees and elegant plant life deliberately placed around the venue to create an extremely intimate feel.

We loved serving here because it is an outdoor venue with plenty of open space for the guests to dance, walk around, mingle, and sit down for the celebration meal. We had the privilege of serving under their outdoor gazebo, as shown in the picture below, where there was some real rugged stringed lights and plenty of space for people to order and pick up their drink without over crowding.

This venue is located on a hillside where there is plenty of isolation that just adds to that Intimate atmosphere. At the top level is where this gazebo and reception area is located, as well as a private building for the bridal party to get ready in.

This is easily one of our favorite venues to serve at!

Wedding Venue: Las Mariposas Estate, Wedding Planner: @HLLOVELY, Wedding Photographer: @JasmineMariePhoto, Videographer: @AnchoredFilms, Flowers: @EarthandGrace.co, Stationary: @ClaudiaStrenger, Bridal Dress: @CasaBlancaFlagShip, Shoes: @BellaBelleShoes, Suits: @FriarTux, Cake: @CocoaBerryCakeCo, Groom: @ItIsRyanSmith, Bride: @MarieCornellOfficial, Balloons: @JanetMorrin_Designs, Table Top Rentals: @RusticPeonyCo, Makeup: @LowderWithPowder, Linen: BBJLinen & @LatavolaLinen, Coffee: @RuggedCoffeeCo

WEDDING VENUES: THE COLONY HOUSE

Being a caterer in the wedding industry, we get to see a lot of different venues and one in particular that we loved working at is The Colony House in Fullerton, CA.

The building itself is a beautiful modern styled cream colored structure with a rugged metal sign. The interior makes you feel like you’ve been transported somewhere in the mountains with its beautiful brick wall ballroom that is offset with tan wood floors. When first walking in the doors, you are greeted by a rustic wood slated wall on top of large dark gray tiles, just a little to the right is where the very large ballroom is at along with a small stage perfect for the ceremony to take place. Once the ceremony is finished, you and your guests can head to the enclosed outside area for the reception where there is a large area for people to gather along with a fireplace to give it that homey and rustic feel.

This place has everything, it even has a very large upstairs area that is perfect for the bridal party to get dressed and ready while having an amazingly magical feel perfect for additional photos. What about parking? Don’t worry, this place has its own parking lot attached with plenty of spaces.

If you’re looking for a beautiful wedding venue in the Orange County area with all the bells and whistles, then look no further than The Colony House in Fullerton.

Venue: The Colony House, Coffee: Rugged Coffee, Photographer: Aileen Aurora Photography, Balloons: Balloon and Paper, Bridal Gowns: Ferndale’s Bridal, Tuxedo: Friar Tux, Cake: Finalee Floral Cakes, Donuts: Brenda’s Sweet Treats, Florist: LVL Floral Events, Makeup & Hair: Makeup By Dina, Pinata: La Piñata Design Studio, Signage: CT Lettering, Video: A Sports Films, Rentals: La Piñata Party, Rentals: 3 Little Birds Event Planning, Wedding Planner: Time With Terrazas, Wedding Planner: Simply Sweet Memories, Bride: Christina Kanbar, Groom: Randy

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.