True Beans Coffee Roasters

Nice dog friendly café with outside patio seating.
Ordered a chorizo breakfast burrito and it was good. French toast serving was generous for the cost

TLDR; worst latte ever — seriously the worst. Save money and go to Lord Windsor instead.
Let me preface this with saying I am a coffee snob. I expect a lot from my barista, the equipment they use, and the shot they together produce. I have seen True Beans coffee in various stores so was excited that this place was so close. Upon walking in I spotted a nice double group La Marzocco with a mazzer grinder — a good sign. What I didn’t see was my barista. I figured they were just part of the Fresh Foods Café crew (they share the same building). I went up to the counter anyways and ordered my iced latte and one of the guys making food hopped over to where they keep the espresso machine — I guess they are part of the café crew after all. I could tell from the start that he was no barista. Poor dosing and tamping and not really paying any attention to the shot. Well needless to say it was the worst latte I have ever had. Sad that such a nice machine is being wasted. Now some might ask why not say something right then and there. Well I’m not sure what I could get across besides getting my money back. At the end of the day though it’s only four bucks and I’m willing to try any place once. If you are around long beach I say save yourself from this mess and go to Lord Windsor instead — very close. No I do not work for them they just have one of the best pulled shots anywhere in SoCal.

Went to the espresso bar set up in the middle of Fresh Foods Café One. Ordered a cappuccino. Well… sorry guys, but this was one of the worst cap’s I’ve ever tasted in my life. Maybe the girl behind the counter screwed it up. This place seems to have excellent reviews of it’s coffee beans. Whoever is working the espresso machine has no idea how to make an espresso drink.
Sorry guys… I went here because of the reviews… maybe next time, I’ll just buy the coffee beans.

Hm…
The coffee here is a 5 star affair.
Not too acidic, accessible, roasted on site (!!)and prepared with flair by baristas who know what they’re doing.
The only issues are tied to the location.
True Beans sits inside a slightly above average lunchtime cafeteria that mainly caters to the early morning marina business crowd and people coming and going to Catalina Island.
The atmosphere is clean but not particularly comfortable and the café closes unfortunately early in the day, meaning True Beans closes with them.
The outside patio would be a nice draw but unfortunately anyone shy of 6 feet can’t see the water a few feet away over the giant planters.
It’s a shame that some of the best coffee in Long Beach is so hard to get to and enjoy.
Viento y Agua and Aroma Di Roma use their beans but their baristas aren’t as good.
See the dilemmas here?
I wish somehow true beans could relocate to a storefront somewhere else downtown or anywhere more accessible.
Their coffee deserves to be had but it also deserves an atmosphere on par with its product.
If you’re ever planning a day trip to the aquarium or Catalina though, go.
I’m nearly positive you will share in my dilemma.

5 stars for their coffee! I finally made it into True Beans to check out their roaster and their coffee straight from the source. Clancy, the roaster and barista, was super friendly. In addition to the roasting machine, they have a whole espresso bar set up in the middle of Fresh Foods Café. It’s the best coffee and espresso I’ve had in the Los Angeles area… so far. :)
After having visited True Beans, it seems to me they have been operating primarily as coffee roasters and not so much as a coffee house, which I guess is fine since coffee roasters are exactly who and what they are. Still, it’s really nice to come to the source for a cup of finely crafted Joe once in a while. Definitely the freshest way to get their coffee.
I understand most individuals who buy their coffee typically order it on-​line and they drop by to pick it up. Saves on shipping time and costs.
The location of True Beans is somewhat out of the way, maybe even hidden away. It took considerable effort to find the place the first time. Both Google and Apple Maps have the location of True Beans (and Fresh Foods Café) placed incorrectly. Fresh Foods Café (and True Beans) is located on the West side of the Catalina Express Terminal building (not the East) on the 2^nd floor to the back, facing the water. There is a FREE 90 minute parking lot on the West side, behind the Terminal. The entrance is a driveway-​looking road without a gate that leads behind the Terminal and sits next to the water. There are convenient stairs going up to Fresh Foods Café to the right (East) side of the parking lot. If you have a GPS, I recommend you use it to get you near, since there are many one-​way streets in the area. See my map above in the Photos Section for a better idea of exactly where to find True Beans.
Depending on where you live, it might be easier to get True Beans coffee from an establishment that sells their coffee, but it is nice to come to the source every now and then. Bags of their whole bean coffees can be found at Whole Foods. If you’re in the coffee house mood, the very hip Viento y Agua Coffeehouse in Long Beach uses True Beans coffee, as does a hip coffee house named Eco Coffee on the corner of Belflower and Carson St.. There is a rumor that a new bakery in Bixby Knolls called Sweet and Saucy will be serving True Beans coffee. And there are a bunch of places outside of Long Beach that use True Beans coffee as well. Check out the True Beans website for more info. The more the better… for all of us!
UPDATE ⁷⁄₂₀₁₅:
Some big changes… A while back the True Beans café disappeared from within Fresh Foods Café. Bam! Gone. So don’t try to go visit!
It turns out True Beans was purchased in December 2013 by Copa Vida, an excellent coffee roaster and café in Pasadena, CA. True Beans is now roasted in Pasadena, and bags of True Beans coffee is still sold by most of the usual places such as Whole Foods and Aroma di Roma. The coffee houses that served True Beans Coffee are still serving True Beans coffee. So all’s well. :)

5 stars for service and friendliness
3.5 stars for the mocha
It’s difficult to find this location even on foot. Just look for all of the signs pointing to Fresh Foods Café and navigate your way up all of the stairs and through doorways (Ii went up and out of the parking structure). I tried calling them beforehand to make sure they had decaf espresso, since I was going to walk over a mile to get there. No one answered the phone after a couple attempts, but I gave it a shot anyway. Luckily, they have decaf espresso so I was able to try their mocha. The taste of the espresso was pretty prominent — slightly bitter with a good roasted flavor. I asked for a tad bit more chocolate, since I didn’t really taste that initially. The chocolate is not the best tasting even though they do use dark chocolate. It tasted like standard chocolate syrup, so that wasn’t my favorite. However, overall, the drink had a good balance of bitter and sweet and was decent. It had a good consistency and temperature too. Great service made the trek worth it to try a new coffee spot.

Best espresso and coffee roaster in Long Beach, for certain… and some of the best coffee beans I’ve found anywhere in L.A. I’m a regular (read: addict) now. Surprised more people haven’t found them yet — a hidden gem near the Catalina Island ferry. Espresso is fantastic, natural sweetness with lots of subtle flavors to it. Ron and Clancy are wholesale coffee suppliers and they really care about the coffee, and you can taste it! The Diedrich roasting machine sits right there in the store.
I usually buy coffee beans to make at home, but I’ll stop in for a soy latte once in a while too. It’s almost always perfect. (The Fresh Foods restaurant they’re inside of gets crazy busy at lunchtime though… so visit in the morning after 8am to buy coffee.)
Recommend!

One of only two coffee roasters in Long Beach that I would buy roasted coffee from. Always perfectly roasted. Well balanced with a rich body and just the right amount of brightness. Many roasts to choose from too. If you’re in the area on a coffee hunt this is a must. They are located in the Fresh Foods restaurant across from the Catalina Express terminal in Downtown Long Beach.