Untitled 2 - House Spirits Distillery

Portland: the foodie (and drinkie) capital of America
5 FEBRUARY 2016
Any city that sets aside three days to host a summit on the subject of whole grains, boasts a
“Distillery Row” containing outlets with potions such as Aviation Gin, Oregon Whiskey and
cardamom-spiced Aquavit, and which annually devotes a day to a beer-drinking fest in honour
of a writer who spent years lovingly researching the subject clearly takes its food and drink
extremely seriously. Welcome to Portland, Oregon, the foodie (and drinkie) capital of the far
west par excellence.
The whole-grain summit took place last autumn, but the beery celebration in honour of Fred
Eckhardt (fredfestpdx.com) is scheduled to be repeated for the ninth time this year, on May 15
(in the Hair of the Dog Brewing; hairofthedog.com), along with a host of other celebrations of all
that is flavoursome and fun. In a few weeks’ time, the city will be host to the 22nd annual Spring
Beer and Wine Festival (March 25/26; springbeerandwinefest.com), in June (24/25) during the
aptly named Portland Beer Week, the city stages a three-day love-in of artisan ales and brews,
while in September (15-18) Feast Portland (feastportland.com) will bring to the table all that is
best and most creative in the worlds of craft foods, microbreweries, wines and spirits.
But it isn’t only during festivals that visitors can get a taste for the finer points of Portland
produce: Portlanders are constantly coming up with fresh ideas and their doors are always
open. Whatever your poison, Portland knows how to make it, and how best to serve it – as I
discovered many times during my own research into the city’s numerous and varied drinking
dens.
Coffee cravings
Portland’s alternative coffee scene originated in 1999 in Stumptown Coffee
(stumptowncoffee.com), which now has four outlets in the city including the original one on
Division Street – a great place to start. Try an Ethiopia Nano Challa. (“This is where coffee was
born, and this is where it is meant to grow.”)
Coffee geeks will also love the theatre of syphon coffee at the Pearl District’s Barista
(baristapdx.com), a place using the oldest European method of making coffee made with what
looks like the equipment from a secondary school science class. Around the corner, the Nossa
Famillia (nossacoffee.com), with windows onto the roasting room, serves a delicious iced
espresso.
Try espresso and a custard cake in the hip Courier Coffee (couriercoffee.com), or go to
downtown Case Study Coffee (casestudycoffee.com), which does a very good impression of the
Central Perk café from the television show Friends.
Edgy micro-roasters such as Coava (coavacoffee.com) can be found south of the river, along
with plenty of other warehouse spaces where bearded brewers in shorts roast lightly for the
“perfect flavour”. A Third Wave coffee tour with Lora Woodruff (thirdwavecoffeetours.com) will
give the essential grounding in Portland’s scene, though with six outlets on the tour and a shot
of caffeine in each, expect to be completely wired by the end of it all.
Wonder wines
The Willamette Valley has fought to be on the wine map over the last 30 years, and any visit to
Portland should be complemented with a drive to the gorgeous countryside, which is dotted with
the vineyards that make the Pinot Noir the area is famous for. Drop by Domaine Drouhin
(domainedrouhin.com), the vineyard started by famous French Burgundy producers the Drouhin
family, back in the Eighties when Oregon wine was laughed off as a fad. The tasting room looks
out over the rolling hills of vineyards, while the wine is some of the best in the region. Other
notable stop-offs are at Adelsheim (adelsheim.com), and the tiny Briar Rose Creamery
(briarrosecreamery.com), which though not a vineyard, makes excellent cheese. Most of the
wineries are concentrated along Highway 99 west. In Portland itself, the South East Wine
collective (sewinecollective.com) has an excellent tasting bar.
Raised spirits
The warehouse buildings in the Lower Eastside Industrial District of the city (around SE 7th
Avenue) may not look like much, but behind all the corrugated steel and concrete walls are
some excellent independent distilleries making world-class spirits along what is affectionately
termed “Distillery Row”. House Spirits (housespirits.com) offers free tours on Saturdays, leaving
at 1pm and 3pm).
Come night-time, cocktail lovers should head to Secret Society (secretsociety.net), a music and
cocktail venue set in a Victorian-era building hidden right at the end of NE Russell Street.
Whiskey fans should make for the Multnomah Whiskey Library (mwlpdx.com), which boasts a
bar of 1,500-plus whiskeys (and whiskys). This private members lounge with high fees has
rubbed many of the egalitarian locals up the wrong way, but it has undeniable charm, with row
upon row of whiskey bottles lining the walls of the dimly lit lounge. Non-members can’t book
tables, and must queue at the door.
A bevy of beer
It is no secret that as a result of its soft water and fresh hops from nearby farmland, Portland
has more breweries per capita than anywhere else in the world (there are 80 breweries in the
metro area).
Brewers in Portland are a cross between rock stars and Michelin starred-chefs, and beer fans
will travel to a brewery to taste something by a specific brewer as quickly as a music fan would
go to a gig.
McMenamins are established local brewers, whose pubs are scattered through the city. At their
Kennedy School (mcmenamins.com/KennedySchool), an old high school turned into a brewery,
cinema, hotel, bar and spa complex, you could easily lose a week just trying all the excellent
beer in the warren of tap rooms. Closer to the centre of town, Ecliptic Brewery
(eclipticbrewing.com) is the workplace of master brewer John Harris, who has been in the trade
since brewpubs were legalised in the state in the early Eighties.
A Brewvana tour on a renovated school bus (brewvana.com/tours/) is a light-hearted way to see
a few breweries all at once, but it’s certainly not for the faint hearted.
Portland essentials
Getting there
Rhiannon Edwards travelled as a guest of My America Holiday (020 8003 6081;
myamericaholiday.co.uk/portland-holidays) which offers five nights at Hotel Vintage Portland – a
Kimpton Hotel – from £1,349 per person including return flights with British Airways from
Heathrow to Seattle. Price based on departures in November 2016.
Getting around
The city has excellent public buses and the Max light-rail and Streetcar system connecting key
parts of the city. Taxis are cheap but hard to come by unless you book. Another great way to see
the city is by bike – there are 315 miles of bikeways and plenty of bike commuters to show you
around.
More information
travelportland.com; distilleryrowpdx.com (listings of all distillery opening times and free tastings).