the Lost Bean | on my love for espresso drinks & occasional tea time

If you know me in person or if you know me more than just as an acquaintance, then you probably know I love my espresso drinks. Ever since Europe 2012, 'cafe au lait/cafe latte' in Paris, and 'latte macchiato' in Italy has changed my coffee life- the way I look at chain store cafes (i.e. Starbucks & Peets & Coffee Bean), how I rate drinks, and the places I buy my espressos from.


I think though, that before my Europe trip, I was introduced to Portola Coffee in Costa Mesa by my best friend, and I think that was the first experience that opened my eyes to a whole new level of 'good coffee' and something beyond chain store cafés. I'll blog about Portola some other time. But since the Europe trip, I've been exploring other cafés that make my espresso senses tingle.
The past weekend, I went to the Lost Bean∙ Organic Coffee & Tea in Tustin with B and we shared a mocha. It wasn't our first time there, but definitely the first time we have had an espresso drink there. We tried the traditional café mocha. The espresso had a very caramel-y rich undertone, overall velvety, evened out with the silky chocolate. Yum yum. The temperature was hotter than warm, but not scalding hot, so it is appropriate for drinkers of all kind. People who like their drink hot, or prefer to wait until it's a little cooler. Just hot enough so that the 'wait-ers' don't have to wait too long.


The mocha was served in a ceramic cup since we asked to enjoy our drink there. Over catching up on our week at school, we slowly sipped the mocha away to the bottom where a little bit of the liquid chocolate swirls were dwelling. And even there, we sipped the very last swirl away and it wasn't too sweet. I personally never get mochas (I stick to my lattes, or caffè macchiatos), as I don't like drinks that are too sweet (I put one pack of sugar at most into my drinks), and am convinced that the chocolate in mochas make my espressos overly sweet, but the Lost Bean's mocha proved otherwise. Though this won't be my main go-to item on the menu, but I will definitely be more open minded about mochas after this experience.


The trip to the Lost Bean before the most recent one, B and I tried and shared a pot of their white peach tea. Very delicate, light, and refreshing (even though it's a hot tea!). I was a little disappointed when I found out that the Lost Bean doesn't carry any more flowering bulb teas, I have only tried it once in Milan in a little glass pot to myself, and I thought that the flowering bulb tea was so beautiful and very exquisite (very light tea-wise as well).


So that concludes my first espresso/tea post. I will definitely be writing more about cafés in the future, since I absolutely adore them.
Where are some of your favorite cafés?