Culture / Travel

Portland’s Best Coffee Shops — Must-Visit Spots For Any Caffeine Fanatic

The Most Vital Rose City Guide of All

BY // 03.27.19

Portland is known for having some of the best coffee in the United States. When I visited the city six years ago, I had not yet become a coffee addict. So when I had the opportunity to visit again this past week, I made it a mission to try some of the best the city has to offer.

The first stop on this improvised coffee tour was Portland Roasting Coffee. Breaking my rule of not drinking caffeine after 4pm, I ordered a cappuccino at 5pm. We had just gotten off of a four hour flight from Dallas and had gained two hours of time so it was necessary.

Especially when we happened upon a Geeks Who Drink trivia game at Base Camp Brewing afterwards. We needed the energy to achieve last place in the game. Our team name was “Not Great” and it was completely accurate.

Anyway, about the coffee. Portland Roasting Coffee opened in 1996 and has been sourcing directly and building sustainable relationships with coffee farmers and communities ever since. We went to the shop on Oak Street, which has lots of space to work, read, or chat with friends.

The coffee tastes great and comes directly from places such as Costa Rica and Guatemala.

The next day, after stopping by the original Voodoo Doughnut of course, we found Deadstock Coffee. Their slogan is “Coffee should be dope” and is advertised as “snob-free.” The tiny shop is located in Chinatown and includes lots of sneaker and sports decor.

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The baristas are “chill” and made me a decent cappuccino. I guess I am a coffee snob though because I thought the latte art could’ve been better.

To add to the quirkiness, there is no menu, but they have all of the classics, as well as a few signature drinks you can ask about. It’s definitely worth a stop in for its unique vibe and a photo by its “Coffee should be dope” slogan written outside of the entrance.

Stumptown
Stumptown Coffee has multiple locations throughout the city.

After wandering around the enormous Powell’s City of Books for a good while, I was ready for more coffee. Stumptown was close by and is a well-known roaster so we figured we must go. The flagship roastery opened in 1999 and is based out of Portland.

Fun fact: the brand now sponsors a professional skateboarding team. I tried the drip coffee here and bought a bag of the House Blend with notes of candied and milk chocolate.

And the Coffee Winner is…

On Day 3, I headed to Saint Simon Coffee, close to where we were Airbnbing in Irvington. This was the smallest shop out of them all. They serve Coava Coffee, which is another prominent roaster in Portland.

This is a good spot to get your morning jolt and eavesdrop on people that sound eerily similar to Carrie Brownstein from Portlandia. Saint Simon also stamp its cups with a picture of a funny little man who I’m assuming is Saint Simon.

Finally, before heading back to Dallas, we went to the Alberta District and spent a few hours sipping on coffee and eating cinnamon toast sticks at Proud Mary. Proud Mary is an Aussie-style cafe.

It’s appropriately filled with Aussie-accented baristas/waiters and drinks such as flat whites and long blacks. This was my favorite coffee shop in Portland, and one of the waiters even hinted that we might see a location pop up in Austin soon.

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