Coffee, Tea and Drinking Chocolate

A certain beverage empire may be headquartered somewhat to the north of Portland, but for the real deal — handcrafted, artisanal hot drinks from single-origin organic coffee to exotic tea and liquid chocolate that’ll knock your socks off — look no further than Portland. Whether it’s the cool winters, the great meals, or the inspiration of the region’s successful vintners and brewers, something has driven Portlanders to craft some of the best concoctions to ever be served by the mug.

Coffee
   Local Roasters
   Coffeehouses
   Coffee Culture

Tea
Drinking Chocolate

Coffee

In Portland, coffee connoisseurs permeate the population and are rivaled in number only by microbrew enthusiasts. Likewise, cafés are almost as common as pubs, and attract loyal followings in much the same way. And Portlanders aren’t content just consuming the stuff — some of the world’s leading coffee roasters, baristas and industry luminaries are doing their bean thing here in the “City of Roses.”

Straight From the Source: Local Roasters

Coffee connoisseurs come to Portland from around the world to sample Stumptown Coffee Roasters’ beans and brews. Founder Duane Sorenson is one of several specialty roasters changing the face of the coffee industry by purchasing beans directly from growers. Sorenson’s efforts have improved many farmers’ quality of life, and Stumptown regularly welcomes its growers to community events in Portland. This commitment to fair trade also led him to establish Bikes to Rwanda, a nonprofit organization that provides much-needed bicycles to African coffee growers.

Stumptown is a leader in coffee’s “third wave” (the first wave being the widespread consumption of coffee; the second wave epitomized by the ubiquity of espresso and a coffee shop on every corner). The third wave has been likened to the appreciation of wine — elevating coffee to a higher level and spreading awareness about coffee’s origins and roast. Just as the vintage and vintner are crucial elements to wine, coffee’s origin, blend and roast all convey critical information about the cup of joe you’re about to sip. To this end, the Stumptown Annex on Southeast Belmont Street offers free daily “cuppings,” tastings that allow customers to sample coffees while learning about the variety of beans and the regions and farms where they’re grown.

Stumptown has five Portland cafés and, according to Citysearch.com, is “quite possibly the Holy Grail in the crusade for the perfect cup.” Wondering where Stumptown got its name? In the 19th century, Portland was nicknamed “Stumptown” for the myriad stumps left behind after trees were cleared to accommodate the city’s rapid growth. Of course, the stumps are long gone, but the name lives on — with a more palatable connotation.

Another popular choice is World Cup Coffee & Tea, which has two Portland cafés — one located inside Powell’s City of Books and another in the Nob Hill/Northwest neighborhood. Whichever purveyor you choose, you’ll notice that both Stumptown and World Cup adhere to business philosophies that emphasize sustainable social, environmental and economic practices.

There are micro-roasteries, and then there’s Portland’s Courier Coffee. This one-man show was founded in 2006 by Joel Domries, who continues to hand-roast and deliver his beans — by bike — to independent coffeehouses around town. You can sample Courier at Half & Half downtown or Little Red Bike Café on North Lombard (See “Coffeehouses,” below).

At Ristretto Roasters, in northeast Portland’s Beaumont neighborhood, owner Din Johnson hand-roasts his coffee daily; every cup is individually brewed. Ristretto opened a second, flagship location on North Williams Avenue in September 2008. Another local favorite with two locations, Urban Grind Coffeehouse & Roasters offers house-roasted organic, fairtrade coffees in a comfortable atmosphere.

After several years as online coffee retailers, John Shanebrook and AJ Brown opened Blue Joe Estate Coffee in 2008. Located in Lake Oswego, a suburb just south of Portland, Blue Joe’s spacious café features décor inspired by a coffee-buying trip to Jamaica, as well as carefully roasted single-varietal estate coffees.

The current generation of Portland roasters is building on a foundation laid decades ago by the city’s first-wave coffee companies. The granddaddy, Boyd Coffee, was founded in 1900. Serving the restaurant and food service industries, Boyd was the first American coffee distributor to loan brewing equipment to clients — still standard practice today. Boyd has kept up with the times, and now offers organic and fair-trade coffees in addition to its traditional restaurant blend. Kobos Coffee, founded in 1973, has also evolved over the years — one of its newest coffees benefits the Café Femenino Project, which assists more than 725 women farmers in Peru.

K&F Select Fine Coffees has been roasting organic coffees since 1983, and recently expanded its focus on sustainability with a new collection of organics — many of which are also shade-grown, bird-friendly and Fair Trade Certified. Taste this pioneer’s coffees at restaurants around town or at the K&F café on Southeast Clinton Street.

For more information on businesses listed in the preceding section, visit:
Blue Joe Coffee – www.bluejoecoffee.com
Boyd Coffee – www.boyds.com
Courier Coffee Roasters – www.couriercoffeeroasters.com
K&F Select Fine Coffees – www.kandfcoffee.com
Kobos Coffee – www.kobos.com
Ristretto Roasters – www.ristrettoroasters.com
Stumptown Coffee Roasters – www.stumptowncoffee.com
Urban Grind Coffeehouse & Roasters – www.urbangrindcoffee.com
World Cup Coffee & Tea – www.worldcupcoffee.com

Coffeehouses

PORTLAND COFFEE PURVEYORS

You don’t have to go directly to a roaster to sample Portland-roasted coffee — try some of these favorite neighborhood spots, many of which serve proprietary roasts available nowhere else.

Albina Press
4637 N. Albina Ave.
5012 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.
503.282.5214 (no website)

Albina’s location in the North Mississippi neighborhood is home to some of Portland’s best baristas. (Two of its baristas have taken honors in the Northwest Regional Barista Championships for three years running.) Serving Stumptown, they take their coffee seriously and have been known to refuse to serve an inferior drink, insisting on remaking it to perfection. A second Albina location can be found in the Hawthorne district.

Blue Gardenia Bakery & Coffee Roasters
3747 N. Mississippi Ave.
503.460.2583 (no website)

In addition to crafting delicious sweet and savory baked goods, Blue Gardenia roasts its own single-origin estate coffee, purchased seasonally from one region to capture the flavor of the source.

Extracto Coffee House
2921 N.E. Killingsworth St.
www.extractocoffeehouse.com

This airy space decorated with retro touches serves Stumptown coffees and locally baked pastries and features a kids’ play area.

The Fresh Pot
3729 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.
4001 N. Mississippi Ave.
www.thefreshpot.com

An indie favorite with two locations — one attached to the Hawthorne branch of Powell’s Books, the other housed in a former Rexall drugstore on happening North Mississippi Avenue — both serving Stumptown. In January 2009, Fresh Pot barista Alex Pond won the Northwest Regional Barista Championship.

Half & Half
923 S.W. Oak St.
503.222.4495 (no website)

This tiny coffee shop serves up delectable homemade baked goods, sandwiches and salads, in addition to freshly roasted Courier Coffee. Combining hip and friendly in equal parts, Half & Half is located near Powell’s City of Books, in the middle of the “Indie-Rock Block,” which is also home to Jackpot Records, zine mecca Reading Frenzy and Japanese boutique Moshi Moshi.

Jim and Patty’s Coffee
5015 N.E. Fremont St.
www.jimandpattys.com

Say the words “coffee people” to longtime Portland residents and they’ll be transported to pre-Starbucks days, which is when the local chain of Coffee People shops lived up to its motto: “Good coffee. No backtalk.” Specialties included houseroasted coffee drinks like the “Depth Charge” and delicious coffee-and-ice-cream shakes. Founded in 1983 by Jim and Patty Roberts, Coffee People reigned over Portland until its 1997 sale. California-based Diedrich Coffee, which has owned Coffee People since 1999, still operates branches in the Portland International Airport. For the original Black Tiger brews, as well as those epic milkshakes, served by “Portland’s oldest baristas,” head to Jim and Patty’s.

Little Red Bike Café
4823 N. Lombard St.
www.littleredbikecafe.com

This relative newcomer is winning fans for its Courier Coffee, morning breakfast sandwiches and homemade ice cream served at the bike-through window in the afternoon.

Random Order Coffeehouse and Bakery
1800 N.E. Alberta St.
www.randomordercoffee.com

This shop in the Alberta Arts District serves the requisite Stumptown coffee alongside homemade pies and pastries, as well as wine, beer and spirits. Among the delectable coffee cocktails is the Coffee Soda, made with vanilla-infused vodka, crème de cacao, cold press coffee and club soda.

Sip & Kranz Coffee Lounge
901 N.W. 10th Ave.
www.sipandkranz.com

This Pearl District spot was founded by three women (two sisters, one sister-in-law) who wanted to recreate the European cafés of their native countries: Iceland and Sweden. The family-friendly café is adjacent to Jamison Square, a favorite summertime destination located on the Portland Streetcar line. Serves Stumptown coffee and hosts weekly cuppings.

Spella Caffè
Corner of Southwest Alder Street and Ninth Avenue
www.spellacaffe.com

Sure, it’s only a cart, but, as Portlanders will attest, some of the city’s best grub — and now coffee — can be found at the tiniest trailers. Proprietor Andrea Spella hand-roasts a small amount of Brazilian beans weekly, then turns out some of the city’s best espresso using an unusual hand-cranked piston machine.

Tiny’s Coffee
1412 S.E. 12th Ave.
2031 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
www.tinyscoffee.com

The loyal following for these two close-in eastside cafés proves that size isn’t everything. In the case of Tiny’s Coffee, it’s the tasty Stumptown coffee, mimosas and lunch served all day that keep ‘em coming back.

COFFEE ICONS

The following coffeehouses don’t necessarily serve coffee roasted in Portland, but they do offer cups brimming over with only-in-Portland appeal.

Rimsky-Korsakoffeehouse
707 S.E. 12th Ave.
503.232.2640 (no website)

For nearly 30 years, just finding Rimsky-Korsakoffeehouse has been a rite of passage for Portland newcomers. Those who enter the unmarked Victorian structure encounter delectable desserts, live classical music and funky décor (including the not-to-be-missed bathroom and legendarily surprising tables). Rimsky’s is a favorite late-night stop, open until at least midnight nightly.

Coffee Time
712 N.W. 21st Ave.
www.portlandcoffeetime.com

Portland’s quintessential student hangout — where you can hunker down with a book, debate the meaning of life or join a pickup game of chess — is Coffee Time. The Northwest 21st Avenue institution is known more for its scene than its coffee, and when the weather’s nice, devotees crowd the sidewalk until closing time at 2 a.m.

Pied Cow Coffeehouse
3244 S.E. Belmont St.
503.230.4866 (no website)

The Pied Cow Coffeehouse is a bohemian retreat on Southeast Belmont Street, drawing patrons to its sheltered garden and cozy interior rooms, where — in addition to coffee — desserts, Mediterranean snacks, and beer and wine are on offer.

Huber’s Café
411 S.W. Third Ave.
www.hubers.com

One can’t talk about coffee in Portland without mentioning the legendary Spanish Coffee at Huber’s Café. At this historic landmark — the city’s oldest restaurant (since 1879) — skilled bartenders put on a show with a magical mix of Kahlua, Bacardi 151, Bols triple sec and coffee, served ablaze.

Coffee Culture

True coffee fanatics will appreciate that Portland’s coffee culture extends beyond the roasters and cafés.

GREEN COFFEE

Sustainable Harvest, located in the Ecotrust Building, is one of the world’s largest independent importers of organic and fair-trade coffee beans. The amount of coffee the company imports grew from 5 million pounds in 2003 to 24 million pounds in 2007. Sustainable Harvest supplies coffee to national companies, including Whole Foods, Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Newman’s Own. In addition to its Portland headquarters, Sustainable Harvest has offices in Mexico, Peru, Rwanda and Tanzania — close to the coffee. In 2007, Sustainable Harvest was listed on Inc. Magazine’s index of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in America.

Describing itself as “one of the Rose City’s original micro-roasters,” Portland Roasting Company — founded in 1996 — emphasizes sustainability through its Farm Friendly Direct Program. This direct coffee-sourcing program builds relationships with farmers and establishes fair pricing for the purchase of green coffee. The program also helps to fund community assistance projects in the growers’ communities, from India and Ethiopia to Peru and Guatemala. Portland Coffee Roasting also introduced a biodegradable “ecotainer” disposable coffee cup in 2007 to cut down on the 14.4 billion coffee cups tossed in the trash each day.

Owner Augusto Dias says that Nossa Familia Coffee “isn’t just fairly traded, it’s family traded.” From its headquarters in Portland, Nossa Familia distributes coffee grown on the Brazilian farm that’s been producing for the Dias family since 1890. The company’s responsible practices include developing a reforestation program using native plants and providing workers with an “agro-village” that encompasses housing, a school, a health clinic and even a soccer field. Nossa Familia’s yellow bourbon Arabica coffees carry the UTZ certification (www.utzcertified.org) for sustainability.

At Cellar Door Coffee the beans are roasted to taste good and do good for the planet. The roaster, which operates a café in a 1909 Victorian on the edge of Ladd’s Addition, uses green power; fully compostable bags, straws and cups (not lined with polypropylene, like most); and sources all beans from certified organic farms.

For more information on businesses listed in the preceding section, visit:
Cellar Door Coffee – www.cellardoorcoffee.com
Nossa Familia Coffee – www.familyroast.com
Portland Roasting Company – www.portlandroasting.com
Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers – www.sustainableharvest.com

BREW NEWS

What to read while you sip that latte or savor that Americano? Portland has you covered — no fewer than three coffeerelated magazines are published here. Fresh Cup, founded in 1994, serves the specialty coffee industry; Roast, as you might guess, caters to roasters; and Barista provides professional baristas with technical info, as well as the latest news from the many brewing competitions that fuel the coffee subculture. While these publications are geared for industry insiders, a fourth Portland magazine, Imbibe, targets the consumer with coverage of all manner of beverages.

Barista Magazine – www.baristamagazine.com
Fresh Cup Magazine – www.freshcup.com
Imbibe – www.imbibemagazine.com
Roast Magazine –www.roastmagazine.com

Tea

Tea may never displace coffee as the ubiquitous Northwest beverage, but a local 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, proprietor of Portland’s oldest teahouse (on Southeast Belmont Street), also operates the Tower of Cosmic Reflections Teahouse in the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. Built by Chinese artisans with materials shipped entirely from China, the teahouse is one of the most authentic in the United States.

In the Pearl District, the Tea Zone has taken tea one step further, mixing it into cocktails at the shop’s Camellia Lounge. Most popular drink? The MarTEAni, of course.

Even the most casual tea drinker has probably encountered Tazo Tea. Founded in Portland in 1994 by Stash Tea veteran Steve Smith, Tazo was sold to Starbucks five years later for $8.1 million. Still produced in southeast Portland, Tazo distinguishes itself with unusual herbal blends and whimsical marketing (the company claims that its recipes come from an ancient carved stone and every box of tea says it’s been “blessed by a certified tea shaman”).

One of the most popular ways to drink tea — in the form of milky, spicy chai — was created in Portland in 1994. After tasting traditional Asian tea during a trek in the Himalayas, Heather Howitt became obsessed with replicating the drink back home in America. Three years, and a lot of experimentation later, Oregon Chai was born. First distributed in local Portland cafés, the product soon captured the nation’s fancy, and sales grew by 469 percent in 1996. Chai was the beverage of the moment, and “chai” became synonymous with Oregon Chai. By 2000, sales were in excess of $15 million; the company was sold to the Irish company Kerry Group in 2004 and, unfortunately, is no longer produced in Portland.

Founded in 1972, Stash Tea Company is now one of the largest specialty tea companies in the United States, with products available in grocery stores and restaurants across the nation. Stash, headquartered southwest of Portland in Tigard, Ore., operates the country’s largest specialty tea mail-order business, offering more than 200 blends of tea and related products. Its teas include traditional black teas, flavored and spiced teas, herbal teas, green teas, white teas, organic teas, rare and exotic teas and specialty iced teas.

One of Portland’s newest tea purveyors, Townshend’s Alberta Street Teahouse, offers a selection of the finest and most unique teas from around the world and creates custom blends based on customer feedback and staff creativity. Offerings include more than 100 teas and infusions, as well as a selection of “apothecary” herbal infusions designed to help a hangover, soothe a sore throat, settle a stomach, or even improve a love life. The company is named after Charles Townshend, the British official whose legislation imposed a tax on colonial tea imports, thus leading to the Boston Tea Party. A second Townshend’s Teahouse can be found in Bend, Ore.

At Tea Chai Té Tea Bar in Northwest Portland’s Nob Hill neighborhood, connoisseurs can choose from 120 tea blends, including homemade bubble teas, chai, mate and kombucha. The store also carries the Northwest’s largest selection of organic, fair-trade teas.

For more information on businesses listed in the preceding section, visit:
Oregon Chai – www.oregonchai.com
Stash Tea Company – www.stashtea.com
Tao of Tea – www.taooftea.com
Tazo Tea – www.tazo.com
Tea Chai Té – www.teachaite.com
The Tea Zone – www.teazone.com
Townshend’s Alberta Street Teahouse – www.townshendstea.com

Drinking Chocolate

Chocolate is dandy any time of the day — or year, but there’s nothing better than warm, rich chocolate on a cool autumn day. Most of us grew up calling drinking chocolate “cocoa” (marshmallows optional). But now cocoa has gone gourmet. Numerous shops, from bakeries to chocolate emporiums, are vying to be Portland’s favorite place to drink premium chocolate mixed with cream and the occasional exotic spice.

Not to be confused with prosaic powdered hot chocolate, drinking chocolate is a rich, delicious mixture usually served in espresso-sized portions. But unlike espresso, this sumptuous beverage isn’t meant to be consumed quickly. It should be sipped and savored at one of Portland’s specialty chocolate purveyors.

Cacao
414 S.W. 13th Ave.
1001 S.W. Broadway
www.cacaodrinkchocolate.com

Located just west of the Pearl District, Cacao is a chocoholic’s dream come true: A gorgeous space dedicated entirely to the decadent treat. On offer are smooth and soul-warming helpings of rich drinking chocolate (The New York Times notes: “The chocolate with chili had a particularly fine kick.”) and more than 200 chocolate bars from all over the world. Supremely friendly chocolate-savvy staff members help guide customers through the many options. A second downtown location, the Cacao Annex (at The Heathman Hotel), opened in summer 2008.

Alma Chocolate
140 N.E. 28th Ave.
www.almachocolate.com

The heavenly attributes of chocolate are nowhere more apparent than at Alma Chocolate, where owner Sarah Hart’s artistically handcrafted “icons” come in the shape of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Buddha, Sacred Heart and others, all beautifully hand-brushed with 23k edible gold leaf. Alma, which also produces a more traditional line, uses fresh, fair-traded, and organic ingredients in its creations, which include both hot and iced drinking chocolates.

Sahagún Handmade Chocolates
10 N.W. 16th Ave.
www.sahagunchocolates.com

What started as a cart at the Portland Farmers Market became a tiny shop revered for its chocolates — both solid and liquid. At Sahagún Handmade Chocolates, Elizabeth Montes distinguishes her drinking chocolate by offering single-origin and chocolate blends on a rotating basis. The shop is closed for the month of August.

Moonstruck Chocolate Company
Multiple locations
www.moonstruckchocolate.com

Moonstruck Chocolate Company was founded in Portland in 1993. In addition to its famous truffles (featured at the White House, in Academy Awards gift bags, and on The Oprah Winfrey Show), the company’s Chocolate Cafés also serve chocolatebased beverages and desserts, including “The Chocolate Truffle,” a hot chocolate made with a ganache base. This richer version of hot chocolate is thicker and lacks the chalkiness of a powder-based drink. While not technically a drinking chocolate, the “Truffle” is considered one of Portland’s best chocolate drinks. Moonstruck has five Portland-area chocolate cafés.

Pix Pâtisserie
3402 S.E. Division St.
3901 N. Williams St.
www.pixpatisserie.com

One of Portland’s favorite dessert destinations, Pix Pâtisserie, also offers a drinking chocolate in the form of its “Chocolate Chaud.” This one is different in that you are served the components — hot, foamed milk and chocolate ganache — on a silver tray, and you mix the drink yourself. Also on the menu at the north Portland location: a delectable hot cocoa crafted with Pix’s own cocoa and house-infused chipotle pepper tequila.