Here’s What You Need to Know About the Coffee Industry in Portland, OR

If you love all things coffee, you are probably curious as to what the biggest “coffee cities” are in the country and what exactly the coffee industry looks like in those cities. Portland, Oregon has long been known as a major coffee city in the United States, and the coffee industry continues to grow there today.

Known for its history with coffee, including the vast number of independent coffee shops and roasters, Portland continues this trend of empowering small businesses in the coffee industry and expanding those ideas to make things better for everyone. Here’s what you need to know about the coffee industry in Portland Oregon:

History

Portland has a long history of producing and supporting independent and specialty coffee roasters, a response to a demand for coffee other than mass market produced brands like Starbucks. Similar to how the microbrewery scene started small and then expanded swiftly, the same can be said of Portland, where there are multiple coffee shops and carts in every neighborhood.

This independent roasting scene in Portland began with Stumptown, a small craft coffee roaster. In the late 1990s, Stumptown began roasting, and the people of Portland like knowing the owners and supporting a small business versus a larger “corporate” business. 

Although Stumptown has since greatly expanded, is now available in restaurants and cafes all over the city, and is no longer a “small” business, they have paved the way for other craft roasters to try their own hand in the city.

Portland’s Coffee Industry Today

The coffee industry of Portland today is passionate, proud, and highly educated. Coffee shops, cafes, and roasters take great pride and dedication in studying the best roasting process, brewing process, and building of drinks from drip coffee to French press coffee to espresso, lattes, and more.

If you are visiting Portland, or maybe you have even taken a look at Portland houses for sale to begin the process of moving there, you may be wondering what the best coffee shops in the city are, so you can taste some of the best coffee Portland has to offer. 

Some of the top coffee shops include Coava Coffee Roasters, Coffee House Northwest, BARISTA, and The Fresh Pot, among others. You really can’t go wrong with an independent coffee shop in Portland, and it will really depend on your own tastes in coffee and what that particular shop’s specialty is.

Trends

As always, the coffee roasters in Portland are always looking forward, and are focusing on some specific trends recently. The focus for many roasters in Portland now is sustainability, and focusing on the whole lifespan of the cup of coffee from the conditions on the farm where the beans are grown, including conditions for the people working on the farm, all the way to the cup. Roasters also want to make coffee more approachable and take the focus away from being a “coffee snob.”

All of this rich history makes Portland a great place for coffee roasters today, and the roasters today are looking forward to creating a great future for other roasters in the city.