The Best Portland Specialty Coffee Roasters in 2024
Portland is very well known for its excellent coffee, boasting a staggering 80 coffee roasters within the city. But with all that choice, it’s challenging to know just where the best Portland specialty coffee roasters are.
Fortunately for you, we’ve put together a list of our favorite six coffee roasters. Not only are these the best coffee beans you can buy in the city of Portland, but they’re actually some of the best coffee roasters found in the United States.
Water Avenue
Water Avenue Coffee Roasters, owned by Barista Exchange founder Matt Milletto, started as a pop-up called Temporary Coffee in 2009 while their permanent space was being built.
In that same year, the company purchased a bespoke 1974, French-built Samiac roaster from Switzerland. These custom-built roasters ensure that the roaster has precise control throughout the roasting process, something that is key to producing excellently roasted coffee beans.
In 2015, Water Avenue Coffee started roasting in a remodeled warehouse on three new Proaster coffee roasters. Water Avenue currently has three locations, two cafes, and the coffee roasting warehouse:
- 1028 SE Water Avenue, Suite 145
- 811 SW 6th Avenue
- 1215 SE 8th Avenue, Suite G
Water Avenue is always looking to support the local community. They hand-deliver 90% or more of their coffee to partners located within a 50-mile radius of the roastery.
Water Avenue has an abundant selection of single origins from the three major coffee-producing continents of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. These are accompanied by several different house blends that include a decaf version.
Prices start from $15 for a 12oz bag, or you can choose to purchase their 2lbs and 5lbs bags. The coffees on offer are only available as whole bean, so you’ll need a good burr grinder.
Water Avenue has a subscription service to ensure that you never run out of coffee. As part of the subscription service, you can choose to receive one of the company’s blends; coffee beans from Africa, Asia, or Central America; or a random selection named Roaster’s Choice.
Choose between one, two, or three 12oz bags, and whether you’d like them delivered weekly, fortnightly, or monthly. Through your account, you can make adjustments at any time to your choice of coffee bean and the delivery schedule.
Stumptown
Stumptown is the coffee roasters founded by Duane Sorenson that introduced specialty coffee to Portland when it opened its doors in 1999.
The roastery adopted the name “Hair Bender” for one of their signature espresso blends, originally from the former hair salon that housed the roastery. Over 20 years later, the blend remains available today.
The Portland cafes can be found at:
- 4525 SE Division Street
- 3356 SE Belmont Street
- 128 SW 3rd Avenue
- 1026 SW Stark Street (Ace Hotel)
- 7000 NE Airport Way (Portland International Airport)
Sorenson and his employees regularly visit coffee farms around the world, paying well above the average and occasionally three or four times the fair trade price. In fact, Stumptown once set the record for the highest price ever paid for coffee beans.
Stumptown offers a range of coffees that include single origins, blends, decaf and organic. Prices for a 12oz bag start from $15, and the blends are also available in 5lbs bags starting from $75. Stumptown only offers their coffees as whole bean only, so you’ll need a coffee grinder.
If you simply can’t decide from all the different coffees that are on offer, you can take advantage of the trio packs which include three half-pound bags of assorted coffee beans.
Stumptown also offers a subscription service for receiving regular packs of coffee delivered straight to your front door. Prices start from $16 to receive one pack every two weeks.
Something that you really should take advantage of is the company’s offer of a free 2oz sample of coffee. It’s a great way to try out the wonders of specialty coffee.
Never Lab
Never Lab coffee roasters is located on 4243 SE Belmont Street in the Mount Tabor neighborhood. The location immediately impacts with Never’s bold and bright use of colors.
Founder Zak Davis and his partners hired local agency Juliet Zulu to design the bold look. Never prides itself on bringing something different to the Portland coffee scene.
The small cafe specializes in roasting its own beans and concocting its own flavored lattes. But these aren’t the dull and boring concoctions you’ll find at the big coffee chains.
Never’s flavored lattes are $6 a pop and rightly so. The Rich Kid latte features rose water, saffron, and cardamom; and the signature Oregon has Cascade hops, dulce de leche, and Jacobsen sea salt. With three others to try, you definitely want to pay Never a visit.
You’ll find six different coffees available on the Never website, which includes one decaf. Their coffees come from Latin America, Africa, and the likes of far-flung Papua New Guinea in Asia. All of the coffee beans on offer are $18 for a 12oz bag.
At checkout, you can opt for a one-time purchase or set up a subscription to receive a bag of Never coffee fortnightly or monthly. The subscription comes with a small discount but with a minimum order of two bags per delivery.
Coava
Coava (pronounced ko-vuh) coffee roasters was started in a humble garage in 2008 by Matt Higgins. Matt’s dream was to start his own company roasting and serving coffee to the good folk of Portland.
Matt took it upon himself to study agriculture, farm practices, and sustainable business. He looked to work with farmers that were committed to producing coffee of the highest quality in under-sourced regions.
Through his hard work, Matt earned himself a fine reputation among those coffee producers, laying the foundation for many longstanding partnerships that Coava still maintains today.
Matt fulfilled his dream of roasting and serving coffee when the company opened its flagship store at 1300 SE Grand Avenue in 2010. As the business grew, the roastery relocated to a new space at 1015 SE Main Street.
Coava’s dedication to maintaining sustainable partnerships has resulted in an excellent choice of blends and single origins. Every one of their coffees is available to be roasted for drip filter or espresso, depending on your preference. The company also stocks a decaf option, too. Prices start from $16 for a 10.5oz bag, with the option to purchase 4.4lbs bulk bags if you’re really in need of caffeine.
Coava also provides a subscription service with options to have coffee delivered to your door every two weeks or monthly. The subscription service has three flavor profiles to choose from, so you enjoy your favorite type of coffee.
Their Classic option is an all-rounder that everyone will enjoy, then there’s the Seasonal option which allows the roaster to send you the freshest coffees on offer at that moment, and finally the Unique option for those that like sweet and fruity coffees such as those found in Ethiopia and Kenya.
Upper Left Roasters
Upper Left Roasters first opened its door in August 2015 at 1204 SE Clay Street. The name came about because of the building’s location on the sun-drenched, northwestern corner of the Ladd’s Addition, an intentionally square-shaped Portland neighborhood.
Despite being a relative newcomer to the Portland specialty coffee scene, Upper Left coffee roasters has been making waves at their vibrant cafe with their ethically-sourced coffee beans.
Going from strength to strength, in December 2018, Upper Left moved into the iconic Meier & Frank building that was once home to department stores such as the world-famous Macy’s.
The buildout inside the historic Meier & Frank building at 555 SW Morrison Street was led by Bora Architects. This new compact-but-perfectly-formed cafe features detailed casework and brass elements that serve as reminders of the building’s historic past.
Upper Left has a really nice assortment of blends (including decaf), single origins, and special limited releases. There’s even a blend that has been produced especially for making cold brew coffee, a first we’ve seen.
Prices start from $16 for a 10oz bag of whole bean coffee. Most of the coffees also come in larger-sized bags weighing 2.4lbs and 4.8lbs.
The subscription service starts at a discounted price of $15 per bag, with choices of several different blends: the Roaster’s Choice, or their small-batch Limited Release.
You can customize the subscription by choosing one, two, or three bags for delivery on a weekly, fortnightly, or monthly basis. Set up a recurring payment or pre-pay for the subscription, making it a great gift for a fellow coffee enthusiast.
Heart
Heart Coffee Roasters was established in 2009 by Rebekah and Wille Yli-Luoma, a former professional snowboarder from Finland.[2]
This roasting company has been building direct relationships with producers in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil, Kenya, and Ethiopia over the last ten years.
The company makes sure to visit their farming partners throughout the year in order to maintain a healthy working relationship. The key to longstanding, sustainable relationships with farmers is to provide them with financial stability, something that Heart continues to do year upon year.
Currently, Heart has three cafes, which are located at:
- 2111 E Burnside Street
- 1123 SW Washington Street
- 5181 SE Woodstock Boulevard
Wille’s roots are clearly demonstrated through the lightly roasted coffees that are so popular within the Nordic countries. There’s a choice between numerous Latin American and African single origins, alongside several blends and a decaf option.
Prices start from $17 for a 12oz bag, as well as larger-sized 16oz and 5lb options, too. All of the coffees on offer come as whole bean only.
For the indecisive among us, Heart offers a sample pack showcasing different coffee beans. There are two options to choose from, each including a variety of four 8oz packs.
As with all the other roasters listed here, Heart offers a subscription service that is fully customizable. Prices start from $16, and you can select to receive a pack of whole bean coffee from one of four choices: Stereo blend, Phono, single origin Kenya, or Roaster’s Choice.
You can select delivery frequency as weekly, fortnightly, or every four weeks. If you want to make a change, just log in to your Heart account and choose from the four available options.
