Column: Thunderking Coffee Bar makes your mixologist joe more cozy with cold brew, cocktails and breakfast

I sidled up to the bar, ordered a coffee drink to go and watched the barista go to work.

Using her training as a nightclub bartender, she carefully measured out the house-made orgeat syrup in a gold-plated jigger before reaching for a box of organic masala chai chilling in the bartop ice bin.

After shaking up the resulting mixture — along with a scoop of chewable ice and a few ounces of cold brew from a nitro tap handle — in a simple silver tin, she decanted it into a plastic cup and finished it with a dash of almond slivers.

My morning joe was ready.

It’s also available, for on-site consumption, with a shot of whiskey.

This mixologist-tinged casual coffee shop experience isn’t from some distant, too-hip future. It’s being served right now at the new Thunderking Coffee Bar, which takes over the Costa Mesa gastropub SOCIAL seven days a week until 3 p.m.

The concept eschews the clinical vibe of most third-wave coffee shops (Hopper & Burr, Bear Coast) in favor of a place where the co-existence of everyone’s two daily liquid vices is not only an experiment, but a part of your every day.

It expands on — and in some ways makes more approachable — ideas put forth years ago by O.C. specialty coffee stalwarts Portola Coffee Roasters, which in 2012 opened a reservation-only six-seat coffee bar called Theorem, where award-winning baristas made complex mocktails from molecularly modified coffees that put the complexity of the bean on full display.

The experimental tasting room closed earlier this year as part of a renovation of Portola’s presence at the OC Mix.

Thunderking Coffee Bar, which opened over the summer, isn’t trying to fill a gap left by Theorem’s closure.

It’s not a place to geek out about the latest batch of Panamanian Geisha or get a pour-over cup of the latest light-roasted, fair trade import. The baristas (bartenders?) aren’t going to try to turn you into a coffee connoisseur while they add house-made syrups and fresh herbs to your own caffeinated mocktail.

Instead, it aims to nourish simpler SoCal coffee-shop needs: cold brew coffee that doesn’t suck; breakfast that’s as filling as it is thoughtful; a well-decorated chill room with free Wi-Fi where you can sit undisturbed for hours at a time.

This is because at the center of Thunderking Coffee Bar is not a product crafted by an experienced roaster or an expert specialty coffee nerd (at least not in the traditional sense).

Dean Tompkins is a hairdresser and musician who entered the coffee world as brand manager for the now-defunct Costa Mesa-based Diesel Brew.

Since 2015, Tompkins has been running Thunderking Brewing Co. as his own side gig, steeping custom-roasted beans from the Lost Bean in Tustin in cold water for hours and bottling the smooth-tasting result. His business partner, Brian Kazarian, also is a Costa Mesa local.

I had my first bottle of Thunderking’s flagship Black Coffee last summer with my toes tucked into the sand of Bolsa Chica State Beach.

The new gourmet concession stands there stocked the 12-ounce brown bottles early on, before breweries and wine bars and bottle shops caught on. (Black Coffee, along with a concentrated version, Black Gold, also is available at all SoCal Pavilion’s grocery stores.)

The cold brew was easy to drink, almost chocolately, with a light body and little to no bitterness. It provided energy without jitters and easily became a new favorite.

Thunderking Coffee Bar is a logical progression for the brand, which now likes to serve its Black Coffee from a nitrogen tap and clearly sees the gastropub model as one that can be applied to coffee shops.

Walk into SOCIAL while the sun is still high in the sky and the restaurant won’t look much different than it does at night, except instead of a menu of hearty Southern-flecked dinner dishes and twists on classic cocktails as has been served here for years, tables are littered with Thunderking menus, which include breakfast, brunch and lunch options both new and old to the kitchen.

The chilaquiles, fluffernutter toast and endless cereal bowl are all highlights, but the real magic is in the drinks.

For about $5, you can get a snifter glass of the flagship nitro cold brew, which looks more like a Guinness than coffee at all.

For only $1 more, the barista can make any number of craft coffee drinks, from the seemingly routine (salted vanilla latte) to the outright bizarre (Orange Is the New Black mixes orange juice, chocolate, orgeat and cold brew). Double the price and the coffee drinks can become full cocktails; a dairy-free chai concoction becomes Space Girl with the addition of some Wild Turkey Rye.

Take your fancy coffee drink (or espresso, whatever) to go like you would at Starbucks or walk it next door to Second Home, a room outfitted with sleek furnishings and comfy chairs where you can work as you sip and not feel bad at all that the future of coffee might also come with a shot of booze.

Thunderking Coffee Bar is located inside SOCIAL at 512 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa.

SARAH BENNETT is a freelance journalist covering food, drink, music, culture and more. She is the former food editor at L.A. Weekly and a founding editor of Beer Paper L.A. Follow her on Twitter @thesarahbennett.