Daydrift Coffee
At Costa Mesa anti-mall The CAMP, a cafe with pan-Asian drinks, limited desserts, and bad seating
Between 1954 Egashira, Boba Guys, and Chafinity, there are plenty of places offering coffee, matcha tea, and other cafe-style drinks at Costa Mesa’s The CAMP, but none is exactly like Daydrift Coffee, which opened at the anti-mall in January 2026. Unlike the decidedly Japanese 1954 and Chafinity, or the Taiwanese-American Boba Guys, Daydrift’s small menu has obvious Korean and pan-Asian influences: Nine signature einspanner drinks ($7.50 each) are cream-topped, only available iced, and 16 ounces each, with ingredients including Korean mugwort, Thai pandan, Vietnamese phin coffee, and Japanese matcha/hojicha teas. “Basic drinks” range from espresso ($3.50) to matcha, hojicha, and vanilla lattes ($6), with banana pudding cups ($5.60) and a handful of pastries ($4.50 to $6) as the only other options. Specials occasionally pop up on Instagram, as well, lightly expanding the menu with additional cookies and drinks.
On our first visit, we felt compelled to order three einspanners despite having only two people in our group: a banana pudding matcha, a drift cream coffee, and a pandan blu mylk made with ube cream and a butterfly pea tea and pandan-flavored oat milk. We were initially somewhat disappointed because none of the drinks looked like the menu imagery, which was artistically rendered with the sort of gooey swirls and appetizing drips that were more dessert-like than beverage worthy – strong reasons to sample the sweet whipped cream einspanner tops.
But all three of the drinks were actually delicious and interestingly decorated in unexpected ways. Pandan blu mylk was topped with an edible flower and packed with herbal pandan flavor despite the use of oat milk; drift cream coffee included a dried orange slice and corn puffs, while the banana pudding matcha was topped with a scoop of actual banana pudding, graham crackers, and a cookie for added texture. We found both the coffee and tea flavors to be pleasantly strong despite the thick cream, and the banana unexpectedly powerful alongside the matcha, though grainy cookies detracted somewhat from that drink’s texture.
One major miss for us at Daydrift was unexpected – indoor and out, guests are expected to sit on cheap foldable patio chairs and benches that provide only the bare minimum of comfort, budget afterthoughts instead of proper cafe seating. Another was the pastry displays, which look underwhelming enough that we didn’t want to order anything. In our view, fixing these issues would make Daydrift more worthy of a follow-up visit; if either or both changes, we’ll update this article with more details.
Stats
Price: $
Service: Counter
Open Since: January 2026
Address
2981 Bristol St. B6
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Instagram: @daydrift.coffee