after several long weeks of summer, a couple very fast weeks of sophomore year, the coffee crawl is finally continuing! this time, we’re picking up in portland, since I’m back at school until next april. there’s a big long list of places down here in oregon i’m excited to try, and now that we’ve figured out our schedules i’m hoping to spend every saturday morning adventuring out and trying new shops!

the first portland shop to be checked off the list is upper left roasters. i’m not nearly as familiar with portland as i am with seattle (duh), but the shop seemed to be in the middle of nothing. we were driving down a road and then all of a sudden, there it was. other than that, the shop in itself was actually really cool! i don’t really know a better word to use, because it really was just… cool.

it was busy but not too busy, we appeared to have gotten there at the perfect time. we got there at 10:15, which i guess for a saturday could be considered early. anyways, once we got there the wait was short, and the barista was very kind and easy to make conversation with. honestly, i expected the typical stuck up, pretentious baristas that often occupy the coffee shops in cities like seattle and portland. but luckily (and to my surprise), this was not the case. the place wasn’t overwhelming, but definitely had a positive and upbeat energy.

i wasn’t able to catch any exact artists that they were playing, but the music was calm if not completely instrumental, which was perfect for us since we had some serious homework to get done that morning!

i got a vanilla latte, and katie got a mocha, as per usual. i don’t know how to explain how much i liked this latte, but i’m pretty sure the vanilla they sourced had something to do with it. it was sweet, but blended perfectly with the coffee. definitely one of the best vanilla lattes i’ve had. katie wasn’t the biggest fan of her mocha, just mentioning that it was definitely a more bitter take then she typically likes. but overall the coffee itself was perfectly roasted, and i was pretty happy with my drink.

the baristas were remarkably kind, which i will admit was quite a surprise to me considering the rather stuck up and pretentious vibe the people initially gave off (but maybe it’s a portland thing… oops). they were super friendly and chatty, immediately destroying that image i went in with (thankfully).

the shop was decently busy when we got there, but never felt chaotic or overwhelming despite the fact that the shop was actually quite a bit smaller than we had expected. the neighborhood it was located in was kind of unusual, as in we were driving and the gps announced we had arrived and we found ourselves in the middle of an intersection between a gas station, dingy apartment, a condemned building, and this coffee shop. the actual shop was very cute, though. just a bit unexpected in the area of town we were in.

the overall experience was good! the only thing i wasn’t necessarily a fan of was the location, and the music wasn’t the best but didn’t take away from the shop itself. i’d give upper left a 7.5/10, that extra little bump just because they followed me on instagram and like a good portion of my pictures (:

at this point i’m actually on part four of the coffee crawl, and i’m finishing up this post as i sit in another location i’m checking off my list. hopefully i’ll be able to pull myself together to make scheduled posts every week, but i’m pretty sure i say that every time i put up a post. we’ll see, though. worth a shot at least.

again, if you have any ideas for shops i should visit or want me to write about, please let me know! i’m still getting to know portland, and would love any hotspots anyone knows of!

.xx

maren