While Portland is known to be the most populous city in the state of Oregon, it’s also famous for its rich coffee culture. With more than 80 roasters residing in the city, Portland’s more intimate and homey feel to their roasters make them unique. Each has its own unique taste, roasting style and beans from around the world.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU20423m5B8[/embedyt]The culture around coffee in Portland is very diverse and people-made. Every one of these businesses has been built from the ground up by dedicated business owners that strive to bring the best cup of coffee to their patrons, along with ethical sourcing practices. With too many shops to choose from, it seems hard to find the best ones.
The rest of this article will list the 7 best coffee roasters in Portland, Oregon. Let’s find what makes them so special.
1. Coava Coffee
Founded by Matt Higgins in 2008, Coava Coffee has now became one of the premier coffee roasters in the United States. From being a veteran barista and roaster, Matt began working with farmers to get quality coffees from under sourced regions.
They serve quality, ethically sourced specialty coffees mainly from Rwanda, Honduras and Ethiopia to the good people of Portland. You can get their coffee on their website, where a single bag of their Las Capucas, Honduran beans cost 17$.
You can also get roasted specialty coffee delivered to your home or office through subscription service. They will send you whole beans every two weeks or monthly depending on your needs.
Coava Coffee offers a coffee flight at their locations so visitors can taste the differences in each cup of their coffee. Their flagship is located at 1300 SE Grand Avenue, Portland and they expanded to 1015 SE Main Street, Portland, OR.
2. Upper Left Roasters
Since 2015, Upper Left Roasters pride themselves in serving the residents and visitors of Portland with their excellent coffee. This roastery gets its name from the location of the shop at 1204 SE Clay Street, in a very sunny area of the intentionally square-shaped neighborhood called Ladd’s Addition.
Their coffee offerings are relatively new to the Portland coffee scene after being founded in 2015, but it seems been a hit. They offer roast to order ethically sourced, single-origin beans and blends. They even have a blend made for cold brew only, which is a rare sight.
Bags can be bought in 10oz for 16$ or bigger bags ranging from 2.4lbs-4.8lbs a bag. They also offer a subscription service as well for when you just can’t get enough at a discount of 15$ per bag with a choice of a limited blend or the Roaster’s choice.
3. Never Lab Coffee
Located on 4243 SE Belmont Street, its bold look and even bolder specialty lattes at a well-deserved 6$ per cup make Never Coffee a must-try if you’re in Portland, around the Mount Tabor neighborhood.
Founder Zak Davis hired the expertise of creative agency Juliet Zulu to design its iconic look. It makes an impact with its bold colors and neon sign out front so you won’t have too much trouble finding it.
They source their beans from Africa, Latin America, and Papua New Guinea and they all sell for 18$ per 12oz bag. They also offer a subscription service with a slight discount delivering bi-weekly and monthly with a minimum order of two bags each delivery.
4. Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Stumptown Coffee Roasters is the biggest staple of the Portland coffee scene with five locations in the city. Founded by Duane Sorenson, Stumptown was one of the main roasters to introduce specialty coffee to Portland back in 1999.
Their headquarters and roastery, located on 100 SE Salmon Street in East Portland, used to house a hair dressing salon called The Hair Bender. It has been adopted by one of their espresso blends still being sold today.
They are also known for their founder having visited coffee farms around the world regularly and paying higher than the average price for fair trade coffee, even becoming the record holders for paying the highest price ever for coffee beans. Stumptown provides living wages for farmers in their financially transparent chain of supply.
5. Water Avenue Coffee
Water Avenue Coffee is a small batch, community driven coffee roaster in Portland. Owned by the Barista Exchange founder Matt Milletto, Water Avenue began as a pop-up coffee shop called “Temporary Coffee” as their permanent space was under construction in 2009. During the same year, they purchased a bespoke 1974 Samiac roaster built in France, a custom-built roaster that gives the roaster more precise control over the roasting process.
These days the headquarters roastery has three new Proaster coffee roasters in a remodeled warehouse and two cafes in Portland.
6. Heart Roasters
Heart Roasters was founded by Rebekah and Wille Yli-Luoma, a former professional snowboarder who used to represent Finland. They pride themselves on their relationships to their producers with which they strive to keep a sustainable working relationship and financial stability.
They source their beans from Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala, Kenya, Columbia, and Ethiopia. One of their best, however, is the Mexico Anacleta Carca Lopez coffee. It has tasting notes of caramel, red apple, and lychee.
Wille’s Finnish roots come through in their blends that reflect that of the most popular coffees in Europe. Bags go for 16$ and can be sent on a regular basis through a subscription service.
7. Deadstock Coffee Roasters
Sneaker-themed and often referred to as “snob coffee,” Deadstock Coffee is one of the coolest spots for coffee in Portland and one of the most unique. Doubling as a cafe as well as an art gallery and sneaker collection display, it rotating between the two monthly. Enjoy brews roasted to perfection and delicious pastries at their 408 NW Couch Street location.
Conclusion
Portland has many various coffee roasters that will blow your mind and give you something different wherever you go. Every roaster is different in their style and how they run their business, but one thing stays the same; all of them believe in ethically sourced beans and living wages for their producers.
Anyone can feel good knowing they are supporting businesses that support their suppliers. Go ahead and check out any of the ones on or off this list next time you’re in Portland.
Like this article? You might want to read: The Best Specialty Coffee Roasters in Colorado