Immersion Coffee Co.

After a 2019 launch as the Manivela Coffee Truck, Immersion Coffee Co. began opening San Diego-based brick-and-mortar cafes in 2025, expanding to Orange County in June 2026 with a location at San Clemente’s Miramar Food Hall. Focused heavily on coffee drinks with a smaller number of matcha, cocoa/mocha, and dessert items, the Miramar location is notable for being one of the food hall’s earliest-opening vendors – 8am each morning – and focusing as much on aesthetics as ingredients and flavors. Only two people operate the small L-shaped counter, alternating between taking orders and prepping drinks.

Rather than using TV-based menu screens like most of Miramar’s vendors, Immersion places two pieces of paper on its counter: One spreads a dozen $5 to $7.50 drinks across “specials” and “matcha ceremonial” headings, some hot and some iced; the other offers straight espressos ($4), drip coffees ($4.50), and “classics” including lattes, cold brew coffee, mocha/hot chocolate, and chai tea ($5 to $7), notably with “no charge for oat milk as substitution” for traditional dairy. Those with lactose-sensitive stomachs will appreciate that option.

Although Immersion’s “special” drink options all tend to be mainstream – vanilla, chocolate, or caramel, with black sesame as an outlier – their added flavors were obvious across the items we sampled. From that collection, we ordered the coffee-based orange latte ($7.50) and strawberry mocha ($7.50), each made with actual pureed fruit and topped with dried slices or bits as a garnish, leaving no question that they tasted like their names; both were mixed with chocolate and topped with cream, as well. That said, we found their sweetness to be unpredictable from drink to drink – strong in the latte, barely evident in the mocha – and no option was offered to customize the sugar level beforehand.