To combat Portland’s gloomy skies and dark winter mornings (the kind where the alarm goes off before the sun is out), coffee shops popped up throughout the city. A hot cup of coffee is not just a luxury here in winter, but a necessity. No coincidence, then, that Portland is considered the coffee capital of the U.S. Growing up, I assumed everywhere had a place like Stumptown Coffee. I was in for a shock when I left.
The rest of the country has much better coffee than it used to, but, with its head start, the Pacific Northwest’s coffee scene is more developed than almost anywhere else in the country. Every time I come home, my list of new cafes to try has grown longer than my list of old standbys. In such a competitive market, the cafes that last earn it through atmosphere, original drinks, or exceptional pour-overs and espressos — usually a combination of all three.
Everyone knows the big names. Portland’s Stumptown is partially credited with the rise of specialty coffee; one of the big three, along with Chicago’s Intelligentsia and North Carolina’s Counter Culture. Then Heart Coffee opened in 2009, bringing Scandinavian light roasts to the Pacific Northwest. Now big names like the Australian-based Proud Mary (famous for the $150 cup of rare coffee) and Coava are known across the country…