Portland Culture Kit
Liquid Assets: Portland’s Love Affair With All Things Wet
"(Portland is) the Burgundy of America, rich in produce, laden with seafood,
and blessed with fabulous wines."
- Gourmet magazine
When it comes to beverages, Portlanders don’t mind if they’re served hot or cold – they simply want them to be the best. That’s why you can’t walk more than a few blocks in any direction without bumping into a specialty coffeeshop or a local brewpub, where craft brewers are busily creating some of the country’s most distinctive beers. And that’s not all Portland offers – it is the birthplace of Tazo Teaand Oregon Chai. And nearby Forest Grove is home to SakéOne, the only American-owned sake brewery.
Craft Beer
Wine
Brandy
Tea
Coffee
Drinking Chocolate
Sake
Rain
Contacts
Raise a pint to Portland’s brewers. For more than a decade, Portland has been known as the epicenter of America’s craft-brewing renaissance. Nationally recognized beer writer and self-proclaimed “beer surfer” Fred Eckhardt has made the argument that Portland is the greatest beer town on earth. And now Portland is the beer capital of the world, with 30 breweries in the city limits. That’s more than any other city on earth. (Source: Oregon Brewers Guild)
If you’ve never tasted a craft brew, don’t be intimidated by the vast selection available. Here are a few helpful hints: 1) the darker the skies, the darker the beer in your glass (winter is the perfect time to sample a pint of stout, porter or bock); 2) microbrews tend to be stronger then the average mass-produced beer (be aware of the “buzz factor”); and 3) never be afraid to ask a local what he or she recommends (Portlanders love to talk about beer). In July, Oregon’s brewers take their taps to the tents along Portland’s waterfront for the Oregon Brewers Festival. One of the nation’s premier beer events, this annual brew fest attracts 80,000 microbrew enthusiasts.
Prime growing conditions and favorable clay-loam soils have fostered Oregon’s rapid emergence as one of the world’s finest wine-growing regions. Most of Oregon’s 300+ wineries are located in the temperate, marine-influenced climate of the interior valleys. A 30-minute drive from downtown puts travelers on the doorstep of the scenic Willamette Valley wine country, making winery tours a popular activity for Portland visitors.
While more than 40 varietals are grown in Oregon, Pinot noir is the state’s signature grape. Fast approaching the popularity of the Pinot noir, Oregon’s Pinot gris has reached celebrity status in its own right. In 2000, it eclipsed Chardonnay as the number one white grape variety grown in Oregon. All things being equal, Oregon’s ratio of white wine to red wine production is fifty-fifty.
It may surprise you to discover that some of the world’s finest eau de vie is being made right in Portland. Just north of the stylish cafes and boutiques that line Northwest 23rd Avenue, Clear Creek Distillery has quietly established itself as a contender in an industry dominated by companies of international renown. Using local fruit, much of which is grown in his family’s orchards in nearby Hood River, distiller Steve McCarthy turns out a variety of products cited by The New York Times Magazine as “what many experts believe to be the best fruit brandies ever made in the U.S.” – some of which sport whole pears in the bottle. And just how do they get the whole pear in there? Bottles are hand-tied to tree limbs just after flowering, allowing the pears to grow to maturity inside.
McCarthy’s been making and selling distilled spirits since 1985, but in recent years he’s had some company as interest in craft distilling has grown. Another Portland company’s that getting some notice is House Spirits, maker of Aviation Gin and Medoyeff Vodka.
Tea is not likely to displace coffee as the ubiquitous Northwest beverage, but Portlanders’ demand for ever more sophisticated teas from around the world is growing. It seems there’s a tea shop in nearly every neighborhood, from Alberta and Beaumont to the Pearl District and Nob Hill. The Tao of Tea, which has tea houses in Southeast and in the Nob Hill district, also operates the Tower of Cosmic Reflections Teahouse at the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. It’s said to be the most authentic Chinese teahouse in the U.S. But it’s The Tea Zone, in the Pearl, that’s taken tea one step further, mixing it into cocktails at the shop’s Camellia Lounge. Most popular drink? The MarTEAni, of course.
Whether ordering a double-tall hazelnut latte or just a plain old cup of “joe,” Portlanders are veritable coffee fiends. Why does the coffee culture dominate the “City of Roses”? Is it the Northwest climate? Is it the appeal of Portland’s inviting cafes? Whatever the reason, coffee connoisseurs permeate the population and are rivaled in number only by microbrew enthusiasts. Choices are plentiful, so where does one begin? Coffee purists insist on Stumptown Coffee Roasters. This local roastery has four Portland cafes and, according to Citysearch.com, is “Quite possibly the Holy Grail in the crusade for the perfect cup.” After the enormously popular local company, Coffee People, was sold, World Cup Coffee & Tea filled the void. Besides its main store, it operates socially and environmentally responsible coffee shops at Powell’s Books and in the EcoTrust Building in the Pearl District. And now the original owners of Coffee People are back with a single, cozy shop in the Beaumont neighborhood that is dog- and family-friendly. The sour cream coffee cake at Jim and Patty’s Coffee is the best.
But one can’t talk about coffee in Portland without mentioning the legendary Spanish Coffee at Huber’s Cafe (an historical landmark). This magical mix of Kahlua, Bacardi 151, Bols triple sec and coffee is served ablaze. In general, visitors seeking a real feel for the city would do well to duck into any neighborhood coffeehouse for a jovial jolt of java.
Drinking Chocolate
Chocolate is dandy any time of the day or year, but there’s nothing better than warm, rich drinking chocolate on a cool, overcast day in Portland. Way back when, drinking chocolate used to be known as cocoa (marshmallows optional). Now cocoa has gone gourmet and numerous shops, from bakeries to chocolate emporiums, vie to be Portland’s favorite place to drink melted premium chocolate mixed with cream (exotic spices optional). Sahagun Handmade Chocolates and Cacao, both just off West Burnside, are collecting rave reviews.
Sake
Why not sake? After all, next to rice the most important ingredient in this fermented rice alcoholic beverage is water, and we’ve got plenty of that. SakeOne, in Forest Grove, is the world’s only American owned and operated sakery. Produced there are premium sakes and fruit flavor-infused sakes. Premium sake, the really good stuff, is served chilled, like white wine. A word to the wise: when sake is heated it’s usually just to cover up its lesser quality. Sake on ice, anyone?
Ah, the mother of all liquids and life-givers. Portlanders have a particular affinity for their liquid sunshine. And Portland has almost as many varieties of rain as it has beer: mist, light rain, showers and occasional downpour, to name a few. Mother Nature sets Portland’s laid-back tone with her most common variety, the mellow shower. Washington Flyer magazine (July/August 2000) proclaims Portland’s rain is “half-hearted – sort of like those automatic fine-mist sprays that nourish veggies in the grocery stores – and [it] doesn’t impede outdoor activities.” The rain’s welcome presence is the key to our lush forests, verdant wine country and abundant gardens. As the weather changes, so does the personality of such places as the Japanese Garden, where water droplets shimmer on sculpted shrubs and create rippled patterns on the koi pond. Of course, during a visit in summer or early fall, you’re likely to miss the rain altogether.
Cacao
414 S.W. 13th Ave., Portland, OR 97205
503.241.0656
www.cacaodrinkchocolate.com
Clear Creek Distillery
2389 N.W. Wilson St. Portland, OR 97210
503.248.9470
www.clearcreekdistillery.com
House Spirits
2025 S.E. 7th Ave. Portland, OR 97214
503.235.3174
www.medoyeff.com
Huber’s Cafe
411 S.W. Third Ave. Portland, OR 97204
503.228.5686
www.hubers.com
Jim and Patty’s Coffee
5015 N.E. Fremont St. Portland OR 97213
503.284.2121
Oregon Brewers Guild
2000 N.E. 42nd Ave., PMB 278, Portland, OR 97213
503.288.2739
www.oregonbeer.org
Oregon Wine Board
1200 N.W. Naito Parkway, Suite 400, Portland, OR 97209
503.228.8336
www.oregonwine.org
Sahagun Handmade Chocolates
10 N.W. 16th Ave., Portland, OR 97209
503.274.7065
www.sahagunchocolates.com
SakeOne
820 Elm St., Forest Grove, OR 97116
503.357.7056
www.sakeone.com
Stumptown Coffee Roasters
128 S.W. Third Ave., Portland, OR 97204
503.295.6144
www.stumptowncoffee.com
The Tao of Tea
3430 S.E. Belmont St., Portland, OR 97215
503.736.0198
www.taooftea.com
The Tea Zone & Camellia Lounge
510 N.W. 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97209
503.221.2130
www.teazone.com
World Cup Coffee & Tea
1740 N.W. Glisan St., Portland, OR 97209
503.288.4152
www.worldcupcoffee.com
Yamhill County Wineries Association
P.O. Box 25162, Portland, OR 97298
503.646.2985
www.yamhillwine.com
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