Copa Vida Coffee & Tea Experience Coming Soon

Soon Intelligentsia won’t be the only coffee shop in Old Town known for its attention to detail and stylish surroundings.

Copa Vida (Cup of Life) coffee and tea shop hopes to open Aug. 1 on the corner of Green Street and Raymond Avenue where redwhite+bluezz formerly resided and plans to put as much emphasis on tea as coffee.

Patch happened to walk by during a soft opening event for potential Copa Vida employees Thursday night and chatted with the owner, snapped some photos and tried a latte and freshly brewed tea.

See photos of Copa Vida, which is still renovating, attached to this article.

Copa Vida is centered around three concepts, owner Steve Chang shared: to-go, enjoy and experience.

While some customers will want to grab a beverage to-go, others will stay and enjoy in the large, white and airy part of the shop. The experience aspect, however, takes place in an adjacent brick walled, wooden countered room and is for those particularly interested in the nuances and background of coffee and tea.

Coffee or tea flights will be available for the experience portion, as well as Gongfu tea service, which includes freshly brewed cups of tea at different steeping points.

Customers can sit at the “experience” area’s counter, which is designed for imbibers to be able to see how their coffee or tea is being made.  

Copa Vida will also offer classes about coffee and tea and share their drinks’ leaf to cup or bean to cup story.

The shop’s menu includes coffee roasted in small batches from microroasters such as Intelligentsia, Ritual, 49th Parallel and others.

“I’m looking for people … who actually want a career in coffee and tea,” Chang told Patch regarding the type of people he wants to hire.

Chang formerly ran a company that made items like noodles and eggroll skins for large restaurants, but he wanted to pursue something he truly cared about so he started Copa Vida. 

Echoing his passion for carefully prepared tea and coffee, Chang points out a large machine at the “Enjoy Bar” emblazoned with “Alphadominche” that is normally used for coffee but will be used to brew different types of tea.

“I’m not a tea snob but I know tea needs to be steeped for a certain time at a certain temperature,” said Chang.

In other words, Copa Vida customers won’t be handed a cup of hot water and a tea bag.

Breakfast and lunch will be served from a menu of about seven to nine items that complement the coffee and tea and are prepared by Chef Erick Lee, formerly of Crustacean and Ray’s and Stark Bar at LACMA, Chang noted. 

Food includes strombolis, open-faced sandwiches and kale salad.

Chang also plans to host live music at the shop.

Copa Vida has gotten a head-start displaying local artists’ work—and wants to continue—since a Pasadena Art Center student designed posters hanging in the windows.

Check back on Patch for updates on Copa Vida’s opening and more.

All photos by Jessica Hamlin. 

What do you think of Copa Vida opening in Pasadena? Are you interested in a place that offers coffee and tea tastings?