Our Portland trip has finally come to an end and while I'm disappointed that vacation is finished with. I'm also quite happy to escape all of the clouds and rain and return to the sunshine that I am accustomed to.
At this point, I am out of energy and running on fumes basically. We did a lot of eating, hiking, and drinking coffee and beer There were so many fantastic places to visit and I am sure that we did not get to all of them. But, I'm glad that we made it to all of the places that we did. However, right now I am going to go through and place in order our favorite coffee places that we visited.
# <b>Coffee Galore</b>
Portland is known for having great coffee and there no shortage of local coffee joints everywhere. We made visits to Stumptown Roasters, Barista, Heart Coffee, Ovation Coffee, and Tov. They all offered something a little unique and for the most we truly enjoyed most the places we visited.
# <b>Ovation Coffee</b>
Ovation Coffee was definitely the best value for what we received. I purchased the Moroccan late and my wife the pistachio latte, as well as a marionberry scone and the total, came out to less than $12 which was really cheap here!
Neither latte was too sweet and both had the right balance of espresso and steamed milk. The scone was to die for and if I lived closer I would probably be there much too often for my own good.
The vibe is pretty clean and hip. It's not the coffee shop that you would go sit in and read your book. It just isn't the comfortable feeling, but I see this as a place that would sit down have a good cup of coffee and get some work done.
# <b>Barista</b>
We actually ended up here twice due to it being the closest to where we were getting food/dessert. Prices were a bit higher here than Ovation Coffee. My wife got a vanilla latte and I got the semisweet latte. They had two mocha lattes and I opted for the less sweet of the two. I'm happy that I did because the semisweet was the perfect amount of sweetness for me.
The location is comfortable and a bit dim. This is definitely a place that you would drink coffee and just relax and escape the rainy cold weather that Portland is experiencing at the time of the year. The price for our 2 medium size lattes checked in at about $11 which is a bit expensive.
# <b>Tov</b>
This place was really cool as it is was located in a double decker bus!
First time I've been in a bus and ordering coffee! One thing of note is that this place is pretty expensive for the amount that you get. But there are quite a few unique options for you to order.
I ordered the Rose Mocha and my wife order the Nectar of the god latte. They were both pretty good but ran in for a bit of $5 each and they were small but the coffee was really great!
Service is a bit slower here than your typical coffee location but the owner puts a lot of attention and detail into his coffee making it well worth at least a visit.
# <b>Stumptown Roasters</b>
Stumptown seems to be a staple location to visit especially for tourist. It's good, but nothing here truly excited me compared to all of the other coffee places that visited while in Portland. In all honesty, I have trouble remember a whole lot of detail about it.
Service was quick and the barista was friendly and understanding when we needed more time to decide on our order (nobody was waiting behind us at the time).
If you are looking for a solid latte or cup of coffee I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Stumptown. But it isn't going to blow your mind!
# <b>Heart Coffee</b>
This was a place we heard about a lot and I'm quite disappointed in our experience. Service was great, seating was okay but the coffee just didn't live up to the expectations that yelp and others had given it.
One of the things they are known for is the in-house made almond milk. We decided that since so many people were talking highly of it. Thus. we should get it in one of our drinks. So we did. It overpowered the whole drink and I couldn't taste any of the espressos which was disappointing. The other drink was a standard Vanilla Latte and it was, way too sweet. I'm sure this could be corrected by asking the baristas. Just be forewarned that if you don't mention anything the drinks may come out super sweet!
Overall, I think all of the places offered different things and surely depending on your taste you can find one that you truly enjoy if you are ever in the Portland area.