Phin Smith

In the middle of Main Street in Garden Grove, there’s a coffee shop that reminds us of a famous Maya Angelou quote: “At the end of the day, people won’t remember what you said or did; they will remember how you made them feel.” At Phin Smith, the baristas’ stated and unflagging priority since day one has been to make sure every guest feels happy and comfortable with the drinks they receive – essentially the exact opposite of Starbucks today. And although we can remember what Phin Smith does, namely make consistently excellent drinks, we also think frequently about how it expresses its hospitality.

For those unfamiliar, the word Phin refers to the drip brewing tool that’s used to produce intense Vietnamese coffees, which are then turned with condensed or steamed milk into ca phe sua da iced drinks, charcoal lattes, and rose lattes. So a Phin Smith would be someone skilled in the use of a Phin, akin to a wordsmith, and across the board, there’s no question that these baristas know what they’re doing. We fell in love with charcoal lattes here and have tried lavender, rose, and seasonal specialty coffees as well – all fantastic.

On the tea side, Phin Smith has offered blooming flower teas, Green Thai teas, and Calamanteas – jasmine tea with strawberry, mint, and clementine – which are each every bit as compelling as the coffees, and frequently beautifully presented. It also has a small collection of pastries for sale, though they can’t compete with the full bakery display cases at E Patisserie Cafe next door.