Barista Coffee and BrewCycle in Portland

Two of the best things in Portland, Oregon are coffee and craft beer. You can find a plethora of both coffee shops and breweries all across Portland, and if you randomly end up in one, chances are the coffee or beer you taste will be great. With Barista Coffee and BrewCycle, you can experience these two Portland delicacies.

Barista Coffee Shop

Barista is a perfect example of good coffee in Portland. After hubby and I had brunch on a sunny day in the Pearl District, we decided to walk around and we found a coffee shop.

We did not match on purpose.

There was no menu, and even though it meant they were serious about their coffee, I kind of didn’t like that but I forgave them after I tasted my drink. I ordered an iced vanilla latte, which was wonderful, and 2 small chocolate chunk cookies. Hubby got an espresso. He was impressed by the effort it went into making it.

But I guess that if you’re in a hurry, this isn’t the place to go to get your caffeine fix.

We were also intrigued by the unique flavors of the local cocanu chocolate they were selling. How would you like some bee pollen or pop rocks in yours? Hubby went with palo santo wood. Huh? Wood in chocolate?

The chocolate was alright. We couldn’t taste the wood flavor, it was just infused with it after all. Maybe the other flavors are more pronounced.

It’s fun to sit outside and watch the interesting people and traffic go by. Which brings me to the Brewcycle…

Brewcycle

While drinking our coffee, we saw a communal bike with happy passengers called the Brewcycle.

The people on it were on a pubcrawl to four different breweries in Portland. Although you are not allowed to drink on the bike, all the people in it were exuding tons of good energy. They were definitely having fun and it was the perfect day. Maybe they were a bit tipsy already, too.

I was once on a walking pub crawl in Berlin, Germany. It was a lot more fun than I imagined, so I would think this bike version would be a blast.

Barista Coffee and BrewCycle Information

Barista

539 NW 13th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97209
(Plus two more locations in Alberta and Downtown)
Weekdays from 6am to 6pm
Saturday & Sunday from 7am to 6pm
Website

BrewCycle Portland

1425 NW Flanders St
Website

Cocanú Chocolate
Chocolate produced in Portland Oregon.
Website

What’s your pick, coffee or beer?