Monday, May 11, 2015

Either/Or



Subject: Either/Or
Location: Portland, OR
WiFi?: Yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

One of Portland's many charms is its numerous, extremely-livable neighborhoods. While cities further east often have tight city lanes where space and parking are at a significant premium, in a place like Portland many neighborhoods offer the peace and parking of suburbs with the proximity of city life. 


One such place is a neighborhood called Sellwood. Aside from it's pastoral tree-lined streets and charming houses, the town boasts a few retail delights, such as local coffee joint Either/Or. A multi-roaster coffeehouse located in a cozy space on 13th Ave, Either/Or has garnered a lot of attention for their craft with coffee as well as their now-widely-purveyed spiced chai. I moseyed on over one overcast morning, finding the shop surrounded by picnic tables and filled with a bustling array of consumers. Inside amidst the patrons, the interior itself is a well-utilized space with chairs and couches carefully arranged to maximize seating with plenty of light streaming in from the many windows. 

The coffee that day came from two of my favorite roasters. I went with a single origin espresso of an Ethiopian from Kuma as well as an Ethiopian pourover from Heart. The espresso, pulled short with brown crema, resonated chocolate nibs, rosemary, buttered ciabatta, orange, cilantro, lemon candy and hibiscus, making for an infusion excellent in all ways. The pourover also knocked my socks off, with extremely smooth, sweet notes of honey, fig, hot cocoa, cherry, sweet cream and vanilla cake in a light/medium body.


After spending some time relaxing and then briefly chatting with the baristas, I left highly satiated. Truly, with such excellent attention to their coffee, plus some of the most pleasant baristas around, Either/Or turned out to be among the most genuinely enjoyable stops in my recent travels. If you live/visit anywhere near Portland, you should make your way over to Sellwood for some great coffee in this pleasing shop.



These wonderful folks made this visit possible in part. Make sure to check them out!

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