Copa Vida (Pasadena)

A while back, I was walking on Green St. in Pasadena on my way to Old Town, and noticed that a familar establishment had disappeared. Since I had never been a patron, I couldn't remember until one day when I went to the Food Truck block party thing on a Thursday in front of Zona Rosa (El Molino St.) where that establishment had moved to. In place of that now vacant spot in Old Town came, JUST LAST WEEK, a new coffee boutique called Copa Vida. Can we please stop making such a big deal about coffee and do something new already? We already have Intelligentsia on Colorado and Jones Coffee on Raymond, not to mention Zona Rosa on El Molino and Jameson Brown on Allen... HA! I'm just kidding, I love coffee! And I love trying new places, especially when they're so close to home that I don't even have to get on a freeway.

So my best friend and I worked up the courage (and found the time) to try this new place out. We were slightly intimidated by the massive crowd that was there on the day it opened, expecting the same amount of traffic as it is a "brand new" place. But when we got there around 9:20pm, the place was pretty chill and there weren't too many people there.

exterior

I like their simplistic deco

Really simple menu

"condiment" bar- syrup, agave, honey, cream, utensils...

My friend and I stood at the counter for a while deciding our menu... I had my heart set on iced chai latte, but they were unfortunately out of it. Boohoo! My friend's preferred drink was also unavailable, so we both had to choose something else... I got the iced sweetened latte and she got this white tea I don't remember the name of. After we placed our order, we went into this other room that was quieter and had more decorations to look at.

view of the "slow bar"

"slow bar"

a very eye-popping brick wall design...

My friend's order came in this really cute tea set, and her pastry looked pretty darn good as well.

I read somewhere that they get their pastries from a place called Cake Monkey.

some blueberry something crumble something...

My fricking latte was way overpriced at $5.18, but it was fricking delicious... The inside smells a lot like a museum gallery (we think because the paint on the wall still needs to set) but the atmosphere is wonderful. I wouldn't come here during daylight hours, but this place looks like a good place to wind down and catch up with friends once in a while. I'm just happy to see a new cafe is here for good in my town.