Desouro Specialty Coffee & Tea

Rarely has a single intersection had as many well-liked tea shops – or as much teahouse drama – as Culver Drive and Walnut in Irvine: The Walnut Village Center side has long been home to Omomo, famous for its long lines, while the Heritage Plaza side previously hosted cult specialty tea shop Orobae and less popular (but still good) neighbor Cloudy Co. Tea, both closed in 2024. Controversial in its final days due to employee allegations of toxic management, Orobae shifted both ownership and locations, taking over the former Cloudy Co. space and rebranding as Desouro Specialty Coffee & Tea. Despite its name, the reformulated concept is almost exclusively focused on tea drinks ($5 to $7), with no coffees or food to choose from; black, oolong, and matcha recipes are the stars, with a handful of fruit slushes ($5) and toppings ($1 to $1.50) as the only extras.

Desouro radically remodeled the somewhat odd Cloudy space, leaving it… well, odd in a different way. Cloudy’s unfinished plywood plank benches are now gone, and like Orobae, an oversized drink production counter now occupies the majority of the store. Unlike Orobae, which used its front doors as just a way to interact with the counter, Desouro lets guests walk inside but provides no seating – just standing room next to the counter, and a hallway to restrooms. This arrangement obviously eliminates the need for employees to clean or visit tables, but is only a little less awkward for customers than remaining lined up and waiting outside the front doors of a place that’s clearly large enough to seat them.