When I moved to Orange County, Portola Coffee Lab was one of the first coffee places I tried. As its name denotes, Portola Coffee Lab is a laboratory of coffee where the baristas experiment with coffee in their white lab coats.

Their flagship coffeehouse and roastery is located in the heart of The OC Mix at SoCo, just off of the 405 freeway at Harvor Blvb in Costa Mesa. One of the very unique things about this place is that you can enjoy a cup of their specialty coffee at their beautiful and modern shop, or in the common area surrounded by a bunch of artisan retail shops and restaurants worth visiting after enjoying your drink.

From the counter you can see how they make your coffee from grinding and filtering to nicely serving it in a coffee mug.