Get Your Cup a’ Joe On at Laguna’s Best Coffee Shops

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With coffee shops on basically every corner in sunny Laguna, it can sometimes be hard to make a decision on where to get your caffeine fix. Don’t worry though, because we woke up extra early and tested (almost) all the coffee in town. Here is a list of our 10 favorites, which each satisfy our coffee cravings in their own way…

Kitchen in the Canyon

845 Laguna Canyon Road
7am-3pm

Most Popular: Cappuccino or latte.

They Recommend: Matcha latte (iced or hot).

Proudly Serving: Kéan Coffee, aka: the artisan coffee roasters. Remember Diedrich’s coffee? Well, this is them so you know they’ve been in the game for a while and are one of the best!

What We Love About Them: The outdoor patio is full of picnic tables with cute umbrellas, making it a great place to sit and relax, far from the crowds.

Vibe: Contemporary, Community, Comfortable.

The Grove on Forest

384 Forest Avenue, Suite 4
7am-4pm

Most Popular: Cafe latte.

They Recommend: Cortado (Spanish for cut short). It consists of two espresso shots with minimal milk -- so you can really taste the coffee.

Proudly Serving: Equator Coffee is an organic fair trade company based in the Bay Area. They pride themselves on having a small carbon footprint and sponsor impoverished farms.

What We Love About Them: They have an honor coffee system so you can skip the line if you’re in a rush (and it’s only $2… you really can’t beat that)!

Vibe: Urban, Hip, Eclectic.

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Laguna Coffee Company

1050 S. Coast Highway
5:30am–6pm

Most Popular: Super Bullet coffee (blended espresso, coconut oil, ghee, collagen, and cream from various superfoods).

They Recommend: The Fix (two shots of espresso, peanut butter, chocolate protein, banana, and your choice of milk).

Proudly Serving: Laguna Coffee Company is organic, direct trade coffee from Central and South America and Eastern Africa.

What We Love About Them: They’re the only coffee shop in town that roasts their own coffee in store, with their vintage roaster sitting in the middle of the shop for all to enjoy.

Vibe: Cheers, Local, Fresh.

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Zinc Cafe & Market

350 Ocean Avenue
7am-6pm

Most Popular: Their famous large latte.

They Recommend: Mochas, and adding rose and lavender syrup to already tasty drinks.

Proudly Serving: Intelligentsia, based out of Chicago, is roasted at Zinc’s LA store. Zinc also serves Black Cat and El Diablo coffee and espresso (known for being quite strong).

What We Love About Them: Consistency is key here and they have perfected the art of making a good drink.

Vibe: Family, Bold, Rich.

The Koffee Klatch

1440 S Coast Hwy
7am-9pm (or 11pm Friday and Saturday during the summer months)

Most Popular: Chai lattes and Mayan mochas.

They Recommend: Lavender latte or ice blended Vanilla Soy latte.

Proudly Serving: Stumptown Coffee Roasters comes in hot directly from Portland. This coffee is the favorite brand of hipsters world-wide, generally known for their medium roasted coffee beans.

What We Love About Them: You can spend all day here lounging around on cool couches and chairs.

Vibe: Mellow, Weird, Cozy.

Pearl St. General

1796 S Coast Hwy
7am-7pm

Most Popular: Classic cup of coffee.

They Recommend: Nitro Cold Crew — a very strong coffee that comes from a keg and delivers a rich, super smooth coffee with a foamy top.

Proudly Serving: Verve Coffee Roasters, from sunny Santa Cruz are still using vintage coffee roasters even though they’ve made it to the bigtime. They’ve even created a Farmlevel Initiative to support their farmers in every step of the process.

What We Love About Them: They’re killing it on the mylk game with hemp, coconut, oat, almond, and soy options.

Vibe: Vintage, Casual, Good.

The Pantry at Sapphire

1200 S Coast Hwy #102
7am-9pm

Most Popular: Honey Vanilla latte.

They Recommend: Coffee with oat milk or Coconut green tea.

Proudly Serving: Lamill Coffee and Tea from Silver Lake is sourced from some of the best coffee and tea regions in the world. And they’re all about high quality… in fact, less than 1% of all coffee beans and tea leaves produced annually meet their exacting standards.

What We Love About Them: It feels like a European style deli and is easily accessible.

Vibe: Cute, Quick, Nook.

Urth Caffe

308 N Pacific Coast Hwy
6am-10pm (or 12am on Friday and Saturdays)

Most Popular: Spanish latte (a sweet creamy, latte inspired by Barcelona).

They Recommend: Green tea Latte.

Proudly Serving: Urth Caffe Coffee is sourced from all over the world, but roasted in LA.

What We Love About Them: They’re open late and boast a great outdoor space.

Vibe: Touristy, Open, Innovative.

Moulin Bistro

248 Forest Ave
6am-9pm

Proudly Serving: Delta Coffee Roaster.

Most Popular: French espresso or hot chocolate made with only the best chocolate from France.

They Recommend: Cappuccino.

What We Love About Them: They believe in keeping French coffee traditions alive, sourcing all their product directly from France.

Vibe: Simple, French, Friendly.

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BLKdot Coffee

656 N. Coast Hwy
6:30am-5pm
Most Popular: VTM coffee (a slow drip Vietnamese craft blend that is known to be very strong).
They Recommend: LVTM coffee (a lighter version of VTM).
Proudly Serving: Black Dot Coffee is their own brand which they hope to soon sell by the bag.

What We Love About Them: You’ll feel like a cool kid coming here with their stylish decor and cute branding. Also, if you need to not sleep their motto is #sleepisoverrated.

Vibe: Instagramable, Addictive, Fast.

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Mari Verdugo is a fourth generation Laguna Beach native, a photographer, and writer. Find her at @marielenaphoto or on her website.

Photos by: Tanner Chergosky.