Deadstock Coffee Roasters ($5-10) – 408 NW Couch St Suite 408
Deadstock Coffee Roasters is a Black-owned cafe located in Chinatown that opened in 2017. From the wall of colorful sneakers on display, to their sneaker fabric tip jar, the place is a complete sneakerhead utopia.
The cafe has no menu, and features iconic drinks tailored to your liking. After talking to the barista, we settled on trying the Lebronald Palmer, which subverts the traditional Arnold Palmer iced-tea lemonade combo by adding cold brew. The result is a refreshing lemon-sour drink, that’s a perfect caffeine-filled wake-me-up.
For a hot drink, the barista concocted a cranberry mocha with habanero featuring their classic sneaker latte art. The drink had a kick of cinnamon and spice, followed by warm sweet notes. Both drinks are great options for those without a sweet tooth.
Botanical Bakeshop ($5-10) – 4981 SE Woodstock Blvd Suite 1 and Suite 2
Our next stop was Botanical Bakeshop, a Filipino-owned collective of Shop Halo Halo and Daphne’s Botanicals located in Southeast Portland. Opened in July 2023, you can enjoy Filipino treats while exploring towering green houseplants.
We tried the ube halo halo, which was a vibrant display of ube ice cream and toppings such as red bean and jellies on a bed of coconut shaved ice. Their ube cheese pandesal was warm and inviting, balancing sweetness from the vibrant purple ube and saltiness from the cream cheese center.
Portland Cà Phê ($5-10) – 2815 SE Holgate & 2601 NE Martin Luther King
Next was Portland Cà Phê, a Vietnamese-American cafe with locations in both Southeast and Northeast Portland. Founded in 2020, the co-owners bring Vietnamese grown coffee beans into a cafe market that typically lacks Southeast Asian representation.
Cà Phê’s interior was tastefully decorated with a bright yellow wall that paid homage to their coffee farm locations in Vietnam. We ordered a strawberry cheesecake latte and red bean latte. Both drinks balanced flavors that were not overly sweet or overpowering and matched well with the Vietnamese style coffee, which has a more robust and intense flavor.
La Perlita ($5-10) – 5610 N Interstate Ave
Finally, we visited La Perlita, a first generation Mexican cafe in North Portland. Created in 2017, founder Angel Medina began roasting coffee as a way to raise money and bring awareness for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. The cafe hosts a vibrant menu that highlights Mexican flavors from true Mexican mochas to conchas of all flavors.
We tried two seasonal drinks, La Mía Colluci and La Roberta. La Mía Colluci was a refreshing strawberry and earl grey latte with a good flavor balance between espresso and tea. La Roberta was a sweet and spicy latte that featured flavors of dulce de leche and pasilla, a type of chili pepper.
These cafes are testaments to the diverse communities that make up Portland. We highly recommend you visit these cafes to enjoy cultural treats, while supporting local BIPOC business owners.
