Torotea

Owned by a doctor, Torotea (styled torotea) opened its first location in Diamond Bar before expanding throughout LA County and Orange County, beginning here with a small cafe in Santa Ana down the street from Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza. Unlike many tea shops, Torotea’s space doesn’t feel like a lightly decorated box with a service counter: It’s dimly lit inside, organically sculpted with curves rather than sharp lines, and arranged with only stool and bench seating. A projector on the ceiling displays the current menu on the wall behind the ordering counter, which obscures a brightly lit, inaccessible prep kitchen in the back.

EKG waves in the menu hint at the small chain’s medical origins, but the list of options is so tightly and intentionally curated that you can’t go much off path here. Coffee? No. Snacks? No. Choose from pure teas ($5.85), milkteas ($6.85), tea mocktails ($6.75), cold brew tea ($8.25), or Torotea creations ($7.75 to $9.85), where most of the menu’s distinctive elements appear – mulberry oolong, popcorn milktea, an “ember” tea with barley tea and jelly, and a chocolatey roasted oolong version called oojicha. The Santa Ana shop also offers couple of “location exclusives,” muscat grape mixed with oolong ($6) or passion bloom ($7).

Customizations are limited. Tapiochi and jelly “chewies” can be added for $1, and previewed at the front counter in clear, petri dish-style containers. Several cloud tops go for $1.25 or $1.50 – and that’s it. Staff will confirm your preferred sweetness level (“extra,” “perfect,” “less,” or “none”) and ice (“perfect ice” or “no ice”), each a little funnier if you know and like the exacting humor of smart doctors.