This is day two of our coffee field trip in Portland. First stop was Heart Coffee Roasters.

Next stop Barista.

Classic gray, rainy day in Portland. Perfect for coffee.

It was 9 am so I decided to stick with the coffee.

Look at those two. She wants the Ethiopian beans but he is trying to persuade her to go with Columbian. Guess who wins? Every time?!

Chocolate Macaron, Macchiato, and books. Doesn’t get much better than that.

I had someone ask how we managed to have a food excursion with three kids. Great question. One I asked myself plenty of times prior to this trip.

We fed them lots of cookies!

Seriously though this has been a topic that has been bathed in much discussion. Gabe and I think it is so important to bring our children into our passions and to share with them the things that bring us great joy. Going out for multi-coursed meals that extend into the night beyond bedtime seems nearly impossible during this stage in our lives (at least if I want to stay sane).

Tasting coffee seemed the perfect solution. Each stop is brief and most likely has a treat waiting for them. I don’t mean to say that we bribed our children but it’s more that I want them to have pleasant memories associated with these trips. I don’t want them to just remember that mom and dad were frantically trying to keep the noise level down and constantly shushing them. Although that did happen.

Gabe and I were also pretty realistic in our expectations. In the span of three days we made three stops. This was also a way to keep the over-caffeinated jitters at bay. We were at each location for about 30 minutes and brought plenty of distractions (i.e. books, stickers, lego men, and pacifiers).

When children entered our lives we had many conversations about not not giving up on the things we love just because we had little munchkins running amok. We wanted to include them and expose them to new tastes, new artists and new sites by bringing them out to dinner, going to museums, traveling, etc.

My 23 year old, childless mind could not have possibly been able to understand what life is like three kids 4 and under and just how hard it is to make our dream a reality. But I figure the more we expose them to these sorts of situations the better they will begin to understand and adapt to proper coffee shop behavior – whatever that means. I also maintain realistic expectations of what our kids can handle at the ages they are at. We balanced our coffee tasting time with plenty of opportunities for sword fights with their buddies. Everybody wins!

Barista

Pearl

539 NW 13th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97209 »

Weekdays from 6am to 6pm
Saturday & Sunday from 7am to 6pm

Alberta

1725 NE Alberta Street
Portland, Oregon 97211 »

Weekdays from 6am to 6pm
Saturday & Sunday from 7am to 6pm

What we ordered:

These are Gabe’s exact notes.

• • Barista (Alberta)
    • doppio macchiato
      • Colombia – Stumptown La Piramide
        • Citrus, choc., molasses
    • doppio macchiato
      • Olympia Roasters
      • Ethiopia Gedeo Worka
      • blueberry (pancakes)
      • green olives

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Our taste buds determine the route and this time they were screaming for coffee.

Portland has become a mecca for good tastes and lucky for us it is only a few hours away by car. Timed perfectly those three hours could be a pleasant, stop-less drive, giving Gabe and I plenty of time to talk and plan out our tasting strategy. If we miss our perfect drive-time window we bring ear plugs to mute the three passengers sitting directly behind us.

This weekend was a complete success – the drive was nearly silent thanks to naps and iPhones and the coffee did not disappoint.

We visited three coffee shops – Heart, Barista and Coava. There are so many more to try but there really is a limit to how much coffee one can drink in a day.

Our strategy was this. Across the board we ordered a macchiato. That drink, consisting of a single shot of espresso topped with a smidge of milk and a dusting of perfectly frothed foam, was the constant in our tasting. We would then get a drink that sets that particular shop apart from any other. For example if they were famous for Ethiopian Harar Longberry that was brewed with Unicorn tears (happy tears of course) then that is what we would get.

Before we get started I must apologize for that lack of detailed tasting notes. Between trying to take photos and wrangling three kidlets who had their fair share of hot chocolate as they trekked with their coffee-loving parents from place to place – I didn’t take great notes. My purpose here is to introduce you to three of the many great coffee shops that are brewing all over Portland. All of these places produce exceptional cups of freshly roasted and expertly brewed cups. The passion that is poured into each shot is savored – they take their job seriously. I find that incredibly inspiring.

So let’s get to it. We’ll start with Heart as that is where we started. Makes sense.

The kidlets enjoyed a weekend full of hot chocolate and baked goods. They are becoming quite the connoisseurs. I’m quite proud.

See the heart? Not the best I’ve seen but “A” for effort. She knew it wasn’t her best heart as she was quite disappointed.  I love that they take latte art so seriously.

This Mr. Barista was kind enough to give my brother-in-law and I a lesson on how to brew a cup of siphon. Yes, we do have that brew system at home and no, I don’t think the neighbors think it’s a coffee brewing system when they see it in our window.

Heart is one of the few shops that brew siphon (or vacuum) coffee. I’ll let Wikipedia explain because it’s a little beyond me. “A vacuum coffee maker brews coffee using two chambers where vapor pressure and vacuum produce coffee which is clean, crisp, rich and smooth compared to other brewing methods.”

I do know that it is very pleasant to drink. Very smooth with minimal residual grit or grounds that are present in a French Press brew. Nothing against French Press – it’s just different.

Someday we’ll graduate from the popcorn popper to this bad boy.

He’s so handsome.

I love that he loves coffee.

At Heart we drank –

Doppio Macchiato – Stereo Blend

Siphon – Colombia Which is described on their blog – “Flavors of pomegranate fruit, hard candy sweetness, and winey, with a clean green apple like acidity.”

I’ll tell you about Barista and Coava soon. I took far too many photos for one post.

Heart Coffee Roasters

2211 E Burnside

Portland, OR 97214

Phone: 503-206-6602

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