Coffee Date PDX

Seeing how it is summer, it's hot and a perfect time to go out and explore the city (and to get away from the heat!), I made it a personal goal of mine to check out some local coffee shops. (Check out my previous post here).

Coffee and I go waaayyyyy back. Memories of the bean dates back to high school, when I was a hard ball - one of those kids who really enjoyed sleep (and I still do), and waking me up for school proved to be a challenge for my parents. So my dad, being the wise person that he was - would brew a cup of coffee, put cream & sugar on it, then set it on my night stand, all the while urging me gently to wake up. The delicious aroma of the coffee was enough of a stimulant to wake me up, because as soon as I smelled it, I'd spring out of bed. But my dad wouldn't let me drink it until I brushed my teeth & put my clothes on. Ahhhh looking forward to that coffee was definitely inspiration for me. 

These days, I need about two cups before I really, really wake up. Ask my husband, and he'll tell you that I'm grumpy before I have my cup of Jo. I simply cannot function or think properly before I have coffee. That's how bad I am. I guess I have my dad to thank for that. 

 Nonetheless, I grew to have an appreciation for coffee. In college, my coffee habit involved going to Starbucks (which there were 3 on campus within walking distance) 3-4 times a week, sometimes twice a day. When I got out of college, I decided that I had to kick that habit. I was no longer just a student with a part time job and few worries. I had bigger issues to contend with. So coffee became something I bought at the grocery store (Folgers, ugh), and brewed at home. Granted, it wasn't the best but I also vowed to decrease my Starbucks consumption. I'm happy to say that it took years before I stopped going to Starbucks several times a week. Nowadays, I can go for two weeks or more without a Starbucks trip.

 Still, the art of brewing a good bean is complicated and the art of sipping also has many physiological & psychological attachments to me. I've never been a barista, I've never made a cup with a perfect heart in the middle, but I sure know how to enjoy a cup of espresso. This year, or rather in the past few months, I've started straying away from my local Starbucks and trying to go out of my comfort zone. Don't get me wrong - Starbucks is still great, but I realized that there are so many good local coffee shops around town, notably Stumptown & Dutch Bros. Coffee that I could check out to get that special heart in a round pretty cup that I can't get at my local Starbucks down the street. So I corralled my husband for a coffee date a few weeks back. We went to Cup & Bar, a new coffee joint that I discovered online, for a cup of espresso. It was there that I discovered something called a cortado, which honestly I've never heard of before. It was definitely a strong cup of espresso, packed tightly in a small cup. 

Taken a few weeks back, Cup & Bar just opened earlier this year. Two forces joined together - one makes coffee, the other makes chocolate - and they combined it into something that would make any girl (especially this one) swoon - drinking chocolate. This is the one few places (perhaps the only one?) around town where you can get locally made chocolate along with a cup of coffee. I was in heaven. Finally, the open seating, graphically illustrated menu board, and exposed brick reminds me of a hang out for local bike enthusiasts, like stopping at a friend's house, and having a cup of coffee in their open door garage.  In fact, there were even bikes hung on the wall, and a special area where they brewed the beans, which they kept open for the public to see. Bags of beans made themselves home on the floor while machinery churned out the good ol' grinds. Hipster or not, I think you'll find that this place is worth checking out.