Review: Newbreak Cafe [San Diego, CA]

I’m staring at the ocean as the grey waves crash down its white crowns on the shore. I have a great view of the cars parked close by the rocks and a lone colorful kite flittering about ahead. It’s an unusually overcast chilly day in San Diego for late June and I’m absolutely loving it. I had the strongest urge for a cup of tea and blogging, thus here I am at Newbreak Coffee in the Ocean Beach section of SD.

It’s a sort of kooky place for this region where surfboards, Bob Marley, and marijuana tattoos are more prevalent than laptops and college t-shirts. Newbreak has managed to blend the beach culture with café clientele with warm orange and yellow hues, with surfboards and black and white photos of locals hanging on the walls. Several extension cords litter the floor for computer cords and there is a sort of hodgepodge of furniture, from new wooden stools, to bright plastic booths, to old wicker chairs. Some customers have tasseled hair or dreadlocks, some have dress shirts, some are barefoot, and some have leather loafers. And I’m enjoying my Provence Roobis vanilla tea with the bag hanging in the large white cup by a thin wooden stick.

The tea selection of this place could put any chain coffee tea store to shame. There are 42 different varieties of tea here, though you won’t find the selection list written down. Each tea is displayed in decorative glass jars adoring nearly an entire wall in the place. There’s a menu guide with various colored stickers on the jars equating to caffeinated, decaf, herbal, black, white, fruity, and many other permutations from countries like Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Himalayas, Kenya, Assam, and Nigeria.

The names of the tea are equally as fascinating, with Blood Orange Tea, Mango Mist, Monk’s Blend Tea, Island Coconut Tea, Formosa Gunpowder Green Tea, Maple Tea, Lover’s Leap, Egyptian Chamomile, and a few standards like Earl Grey, and English Breakfast.

There’s a healthy selection of breakfast and lunch food as well like salads and soups, grilled paninis and omelets, and morning bagels and pastries. The prices are a bit much for the area, as even a simple meal like cup of tea with a bagel and cream cheese will put you back at least $5.

Their prices might not be cheap but I can’t imagine their rent is either. After all, as I sip my now cooled Provence Roobis, tasting the full taste of vanilla (plus one packet of Splenda) I turn away from my screen for second and admire the real attraction of the place: the view of the beautiful and majestic Pacific.