2025 Pasadena Coffee Passport: Final Round of Reviews

Column

Happy New Year, Tech readers! Time to review the final three coffee shops featured in the 2025 Pasadena Coffee Passport! Two issues ago, I reviewed Highlight Coffee, Coffee & Plants, and Jameson Brown Coffee Roasters. This time, I have explored the last three coffee shops of the fourteen shops in the passport!

Home Brewed Bar

  • Passport description: “This is one of the only places around where you can get your boba fix while you get your pick-me-up. Try their range of made-to-order coffee and tea drinks-boba optional!”
  • Passport benefit: 15% off
  • Review: I visited Home Brewed Bar on December 9th, which was an unusually hot day for December. I decided to order an Iced Mocha and a Pizza Danish. I didn’t love the presentation of the coffee. I was handed a small, iced cup with a giant label slapped across it, and the label was bigger than the cup. The only straw they had was a large yellow one, which was probably better suited for a boba drink — it was obnoxious for a coffee. I didn’t like the taste of the coffee—take that as you will given that nothing tasted good for me at that moment in time — and I didn’t like the texture either. The drink had bits of chocolate particles floating around, which didn’t help the way my stomach already felt. I couldn’t bear to try the pizza Danish, which was a shame because the concept of it sounded so good to me. Instead, I had my friend, Colin, try it for me and report what he thought. His review of the Danish is as follows: It is dry; the cheese and sauce are good. The olives are unremarkable.

Interior of Home Brewed Bar.

Iced Mocha and Pizza Danish by Home Brewed Bar.

Dash Coffee Bar

  • Passport description: “Stop by Dash for a break and a range of food options, pastries, coffee, tea, and other drink—even beer and cider! Here, you’ll find Southeast Asian flavor options like pandan, ube, and yuzu.”
  • Passport benefit: Buy one drink, get one drink
  • Review: Because of the Passport benefit, I decided to try Dash with my Caltech bestie, Kayane Dingilian. We both ordered the Iced Dirty Thai Tea Latte. We both agreed it was AMAZING. It tasted just like a Thai Tea, but with more caffeine! It was absolutely delicious. It was sweet, creamy, and tangy, and was definitely a drink I am still thinking about and want again. Highly recommend, and would go again.

Interior of Dash Coffee Bar.

Iced Dirty Thai Tea Lattes by Dash Coffee Bar. Iced Dirty Thai Tea Lattes by Dash Coffee Bar.

Ideology Coffee

  • Passport description: “Ideology Coffee quickly became a star in the Pasadena coffee scene after opening in 2024. Enjoy their high-quality coffee and tea drinks, along with great food, in their warm and bright space.”
  • Passport benefit: 15% off
  • Review: My final passport stamp was at Ideology Coffee. Sad to say, but it was anticlimactic. I ordered a Mocha Latte and a plain bagel with cream cheese. The bagel was okay. It had too much cream cheese—the center of the bagel with no bread was smothered with it. If you know me and my food preferences, it’s all about the perfect ratio of ingredients. There was way too much cream cheese to bread ratio for me, which is not often the ratio imbalance I’m used to for bagels! I also didn’t love that I could see the girl in the back room (who was waiting for my bagel to finish toasting) take her hands and scroll on her phone then pick up a knife to put spread on my bagel… As for the Mocha Latte, it was lukewarm the moment I got it. I don’t think I’ve ever had a coffee that wasn’t hot enough, so that makes my experience at Ideology Coffee a first. It made the drink gross, and I threw it away later. Very disappointing.

Exterior and interior of Ideology Coffee.

Mocha Latte by Ideology Coffee.

That’s all for the 2025 Pasadena Coffee Passport! Join me in my next column as I explore the San Gabriel Valley food scene with the 2025 MySGV Food Passport. This passport is valid from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, so I will spend the first half of 2026 exploring the restaurants and bakeries of Pasadena featured here!