Portland Coffee Tour 2025 - Part 2

It's February and that means we're talking about some more coffee joints in Portland. As you know, I adore coffee, and since I know a lot of my readers love coffee, I wanted to bring back this series, especially when coffee shops come and go so fast sometimes and the pandemic didn't do any of them any favors. 

This month I brought back a favorite for Black History Month, also, because there are so few Black-owned coffee shops in our city. But I'll also talk about a few other great ones.

Deadstock Coffee Roasters (rewind from a past coffee series post, to applaud a long-standing Black-owned business in Old Town Chinatown, which now has a second location in Beaverton that I went to after I posted this. We ordered a dirty chai, sugar-free chocolate cappuccino, and a slice of butterscotch pound cake. I'm definitely going back.)

This tiny little coffee joint is like walking into a little bit of an old school hip hop video. They have sneakers and sports memorabilia and a fun piece of art that features a boom box. They have a few stools to sit at, but when I was there they were full, including someone doing homework on a laptop, so they obviously are pretty social in their small space. You won't find food here, or a menu, but they claim they'll make any coffee you want, or you can ask for their specials. They didn't have any when I visited, but I asked them to just make me something cold and the barista suggested the Zero Chill (also seconded and applauded by a customer, or possibly another worker on break).

It is a cold brew coffee mixed with ice tea. Those are my two favorite things to drink! He was nice enough to pour it into an espresso cup first so I could taste it before I committed to a full size, but I was in. It only cost $4, which I thought was a decent deal, considering how good and refreshing it was. I took my drink to go and drank it on my way to my next coffee adventure. There's street parking or you can park in a paid lot across the street. This area of town is unique, but can also be...challenging.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shereen Travels Cheap | Budget Travel Tips | Travel Writer (@shereentravels)

Harder Day Coffee Company

I keep meaning to make it back to Harder Day, because they have a menu full of delicious sounding things that aren't just bagels, like their breakfast burritos. This shop moved in where one of my favorite other shops closed and I felt a bit guilty going there, but I'm not going to not support a local family-owned in-house coffee roaster. That's not entirely unheard of in Portland, but still pretty rare. I always like to try a special, and a lavender latte can either be done really well or really badly. The coffee had a delicate lavender flavor and smell and the brew itself was really smooth. I also grabbed a toasted bagel with cream cheese, which was as expected.

The shop itself is in a very convenient location and is bright and airy. There is okay street parking. You're not going to be pulling into a lot and jumping out. You may have to walk a block or more. The baristas were very friendly, and clearly know how to make a good drink and keep the noise level down for you to sit and relax. I sat in the window, so I could watch people walking by and traffic, and even though the space is large for a lot of coffee shops in town, it still felt warm and cozy.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shereen Travels Cheap | Budget Travel Tips | Travel Writer (@shereentravels)

Champagne Poetry

When you hear that a coffee place (okay, it's technically a bakery) has Japanese souffle pancakes, you make your way over there, stat! What are souffle pancakes? They are tall, jiggly pancakes that can be made several ways. Champagne Poetry has both plain (served with strawberries, honey, boba, Nutella, caramel, or ice cream) and ube. We both got the plain ones. Eric got strawberries and I got Nutella. 

I also ordered the honey cinnamon latte, because that sounded like an awesome combo with my pancakes, and I wasn't disappointed with either choice. On my next visit, I'd like to try the taro latte and one of their crepe cakes. Every baked good in their case looks like a work of art and everything is incredibly colorful, which goes with the uber pink vibes of the bakery itself. They play funky 90s jams, or they did when we visited, and there's outdoor seating when the weather is nice. This place is incredibly popular, which is not surprising, given that everything is delicious and Instagram-worthy, and it's also in a very walkable neighborhood, which makes it a place easy for people who live nearby to just pop in.

Okay, that's February for you. All the pinks for V-Day and the effortlessly cool Black-owned for Black History Month and just a cute shop in between. I hope you enjoy them and visit at least one while you're out and about or come to visit. 

Tell me your favorite coffee shops from Portland or where you live, or one you'd like me to try for a future review.

Romantic Paris Staycation

This was from my destination date night for Valentine's Day 2024.

Valentine's Day is just a few days away. If you haven't planned anything yet, it's okay, there's still time to get the most coveted reservation, the one at home with your sweetie. If that doesn't sound all that exciting to you, what if I told you that you'd be taking them to Paris (or really any city they've been dreaming of)?

In 2022, we took a vacation to Paris, and it was awesome, but not every year can be a Paris year. In fact, I know I'm privileged to have been to Paris even once. So, if Valentine's Day snuck up on you, I'm going to show you how you can pull together a romantic staycation over this week, if you get on it right now. You may need to put it off to Saturday, but you can still do it.

This is one of those times I decided to make all my own food, which is unusual, because I like to get a meal delivered, and you might want to, too, but if you don't, following is the list of foods I made. I wanted as much to be heart-shaped as possible and I wanted to do a tea time spread, as that is one of our favorite things to do:

• Mini Hasselback potatoes: loaded version
• Radish tea sandwiches - I cut the bread into hearts and froze and I also added a little radish heart on toothpicks
• Cucumber flowers with dill butter - I did these as open-face and cut both the bread and the cucumbers into flower shapes
• Sweet pea and leek tartlets - instead of using big tart pans, I used heart-shaped baking tins from Michael's
• Salmon petits toasts - I made the filling for this and instead of toasts, I spread it on tortillas, cut them into strips, and then rolled and used toothpicks to shape them into a sort of heart shape
• Curry chicken tarts - I actually purchased a container of curried chicken from Trader Joe's and put them in phyllo cups I had in the pantry
• Savory peach tarts - I couldn't find fresh peaches, so I used canned peaches that I dried off between paper towels, and used hot honey instead of cooking the peaches with chili flakes. I also cut my puff pastry into heart shapes

I set my coffee table with a pink sequin tablecloth that was actually a curtain panel, added a heart runner for an interesting look. I also got a 3D travel-themed Valentine's Day card, in place of my usual flower centerpiece. All my tablewear (runner, tiered tray, heart dessert server, heart plates) came from Target. I used red napkins I already had, mismatched teacups from my cabinet, and my bird teapot. We drank a chocolate raspberry tea that I received for my birthday, and I also had a mini bottle of rosé prosecco. They have different stuff this year.  

If you can't find these items at your local Target, don't have a local Target, or don't want to use what you already have, here are some items you can sub in and get before V-day:

• Heart shaped plates: melamine | paper | ceramic
• Tiered serving tray
• Cake/dessert display
• Heart baking tins | heart tart pans | heart ramekins
• Conversation heart napkins
• Heart table runner
• See-through, stovetop tea kettle with infuser (on sale right now!) | I love this affordable red polka-dot kettle | or if you're looking for a traditional teapot
• Tea bags - if you're using loose-leaf tea, I find that these (I actually use the Coffee Sock, but they won't deliver before the 14th) are actually better than every other infuser I've used.
• Mini cookie cutters | if you just want hearts, here's a set
• Barbie champagne flutes | or maybe these cutie floral wine glasses
• 3D Valentine's Day card | Paris themed card

As a background, I picked a Parisian river view with the Eiffel Tower behind it. If you've followed my destination date series, then you know I usually do two backdrops, and this time I did, too, but used the second one in a different way. I wrapped our TV stand with a rose garden backdrop, because we watched a few videos of a Seine cruise. 

You can pick up fun things like these ring pops or Valentine head boppers or glasses at your local dollar store. These glasses Eric has on are actually blue, which you can see in other pics, but somehow came out green in the pics where he's wearing them. Mine are pink, but almost disappeared in pictures.

I probably spent the equivalent of a fancy dinner out on this destination date, but I didn't have to hear a bunch of people's conversations, I didn't have to dress up (you can), and I didn't have to drive anywhere and wait for my table to be ready. We had a fun time and it was a nice, relaxing, and romantic evening in. I hope this gives you some good ideas for your own romantic evening in. If you want more tips for things to do outside of your home, here's my post on how to do a romantic staycation on a budget. 

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day, if you celebrate. All of these ideas can also be used for a Galentine's or Palentine's celebration. Cheers!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, you will be supporting me and this blog, at no extra cost to you. You don't even need to buy these things. Anything you purchase after clicking through helps. Thank you in advance. 

Visiting Places Along The Civil Rights Trail

The older I get, the more I realize that our education in Black history (and history in general) was woefully lacking and highly whitewashed. I'm always so upset to learn how cleaned up much of our learning was, when actual history is anything but neat and tidy. It's messy and complicated and though it can be heartbreaking to learn the truth of how people were treated, and are still being treated, knowing history is what helps us move forward and do better. 

As you know, I have been trying to do a better job of giving you ideas of what to do and where to go when you travel, so you can learn new things, eat delicious food, connect with amazing people, and come home a more well-rounded person. This starts with me making more posts about the important thing, especially now when our country is trying hard to erase even the few things we did know. 

This is, by all means, not a conclusive list, so check out the Civil Rights Trail website, where you can sort by state or type of landmark. You can view another list of places I suggest traveling, another infographic, and each day this month, I will be posting a story or article about Black creators, pioneers, or history on Facebook. I will also probably post a round-up of those at the end of the month, for those of you who aren't on Facebook or are trying hard to leave it. 

You already know one of my favorite places was the National Museum for African American Music. Some of these landmarks or museums can be easily overlooked, so I encourage you to do a bit of research before you travel anywhere, to learn more about their history regarding marginalized communities. Do you have a favorite place to learn about Black history? Post it in the comments!