Pura Vida is the newest coffee shop to hit the streets of downtown Bakersfield, and one can argue that it’s making quite a name for itself.
The name directly translates to “pure life”, but also serves as a Costa Rican greeting. This name would make sense given how the shop gives coffee a Latin twist.
For instance, the strawberry horchata matcha latte takes the classic Mexican drink and fuses it with coffee. The same can be said with the horchata café de olla cappuccino.
The lavender vanilla latte was a personal favorite. It was like a blast of vanilla flavor at the beginning and gave an aftertaste of the lavender.
Those with a sweet tooth can enjoy dessert drinks like the caramel cookie crumble frappe, Oreo frappe or churro frappe. And for those who are nostalgic for the sweet Abuelita chocolate flavor from Nestle, Pura Vida offers a delicious Abuelita chocolate frappe and Abuelita latte.
No worries if you’re not in the mood for coffee. The shop also offers refreshers, including a piña colada refresher, tequila-not sunrise refresher (a non-alcoholic beverage perfect for a sunrise producer like myself) and a Brazilian lemonade refresher.
If you’re also hungry, Pura Vida has a small food menu featuring croissants, conchitas and a bolillo. The conchitas make a perfect combination with the Nutella if you’re in the mood for a breakfast pick-me-up.
Pura Vida is also inexpensive for a small business — most medium drinks are about $5, and most of the food items hover around $2 to $3.
The only downside to the shop is its tacky location in the parking lot next to Dunkin’ Donuts.
The shop has a drive-thru entrance on G Street and on 24th Street, but it’s a bit easy to miss — and the backup onto 24th Street is less than ideal. However, it’s a testament to how well Pura Vida performs when it comes to their products.
If you’re in a rush downtown, consider stopping by. It’s the perfect stop during a busy lunch hour.