La Costa founders Bridget and Jorge in Santa Cruz, California.
If you’ve visited our 181 Fremont cafe recently, you’ve probably seen the colorful bottles of La Costa Coladas in our grab-and-go refrigerator. Thick, fruity, and deliciously filling, we fell in love with La Costa’s offerings and just had to share them with our customers. We wanted to learn more about La Costa’s origins, so I had a chance to chat with Bridget and Jorge about how La Costa came to be, and why their coladas are so darn good.
La Costa’s 4 flavors of colada: Passion Fruit, Guánábana, Pineapple and Mango
Andytown: Introduce yourself and your title at La Costa Colada
LCC: Hola, we are Jorge and Bridget the founders of La Costa Colada. Jorge is from the coast of Ecuador and Bridget is from San Francisco. We reside in Santa Cruz where we make our tropical oat drink called colada. It’s made with tropical fruit, oats and spices. Jorge is a surfer in Santa Cruz and can now be found wearing a wetsuit in the cold waters of Northern California but he still finds a way to feel the warm tropical vibes by fueling up with a colada before surfing. We hope to bring the tropical vibes to everyone who tries our colada.
Andytown: Tell us a little bit about the traditional drink that inspired La Costa Colada
Jorge: I grew up in the jungle of Ecuador where tropical fruit is in abundance and it’s common to find colada in every home in my small village. After school I would drink colada at my granny’s house; it was the perfect drink to provide me the energy I needed before heading down to the water to play with my friends. We’ve used my granny’s traditional recipe but have given our colada a California twist. We received a lot of feedback from the surf community with the request for protein and adaptogens to better refuel after a surf session. So we’ve added vegan protein to our mango and pineapple as well as turmeric, maca, and ashwagandha. Our passion fruit and guánábana have acerola and camu-camu for an immune boost. These two superfoods contain some of the highest levels of vitamin C on the planet. With these new additions our colada is the perfect drink to fuel up for surfing or to power you through your work day.
Andytown: What is your connection to Ecuador? When did you first try the coladas that inspired La Costa?
Bridget: Jorge introduced me to colada and I first tried this tropical oat drink when living in the Andes of Ecuador. Jorge would often come from the coast to visit me in the mountains. The first time I tried colada I came home from work to an unexpected delicious treat. As I opened the front door to my apartment building, I could smell the spices and passion fruit in the entryway. As I climbed the stairs the smell of tropical fruit, oats and spices got stronger and much to my surprise when I approached my door I realized it was coming from my apartment. Standing at the door was Jorge with a glass of passion fruit colada waiting for me. It was love after the first sip and I’ve been a fan of colada ever since.
We decided to start La Costa Colada in 2020 when Jorge discovered a passion fruit vine in his neighborhood. We made a batch of colada and shared it with family and friends. Once again it was love over that first sip and everyone kept asking us to make more. So here we are today sharing colada with our community and bringing the taste of Ecuador to the world one colada at a time.
Bridget and Jorge in the kitchen whipping up a batch of colada.
Andytown: What sets La Costa Coladas apart from an ordinary juice or protein shake?
LCC: People often ask us if colada is a juice or protein shake and it doesn't quite fit in either category. We combine exotic fruit, whole spices (cinnamon sticks, allspice, clove, & star anise), and oats to create a new experience unlike anything we have here in the US. We believe the unique combination of flavors sets our drink apart. Flavor is always at the forefront of our minds, we refuse to compromise flavor and have found a way to add additional health benefits without compromising the integrity of our colada. We sweeten our colada with a touch of coconut sugar and monk fruit juice giving it just the right sweetness. Our intention is to share a delicious and nutritious colada made with the best ingredients possible. Our flavors right now are mango, pineapple, guánábana and passion fruit. We have two more flavors up our sleeves that we are currently working on, so stay tuned!
Andytown: What is your favorite flavor of colada? Now, close your eyes and take a sip. Where does this flavor take you?
Jorge: My favorite flavor changes daily but for now it’s mango. The flavor of mango colada takes me to Ecuador, I’ve just finished surfing and I'm refueling with an ice cold colada.
Bridget: My favorite flavor is pineapple. I’m in a hammock with a colada in hand watching the sunset on the tropical coast of Ecuador listening to the waves crash without a worry in the world.
We hope our colada transports everyone to the coast of Ecuador or at the very least somewhere tropical.
Andytown: Where can we follow you on social media?
LCC: You can follow us on instagram @lacostacolada
Jorge fueling up with colada before catching some waves.
