15 Best Coffee Shops In Portland, Ranked

Coava means unroasted or "green" coffee, which is a fitting name for a company that commits to sourcing its beans directly from coffee farmers. Coava Coffee Roasters strongly emphasizes fair trade practices and is interested in establishing long-term relationships with its farmers. The beans are showcased as single-origin roasts that allow drinkers to taste the complexity of the beans in each growing region. You won't find a lot of fancy lattes here, but you don't need to; the coffee is good enough to stand on its own, so we recommend going with a pour-over to really taste the beans.

Beyond the exceptional coffee, we love Coava's rustic-modern aesthetic. Think industrial meets chic, as wooden accents pair with concrete flooring to give the room an industrial vibe. The flagship location has a roll-up garage door that brings in the patio feels inside for summertime sipping. Meanwhile, the Hawthorne location is complete with a fireplace, so it's a cozy spot for a chilly, rainy Portland winter day.

Nestled in the northwest corner of Ladd's Addition is Upper Left Roasters, one of our favorite coffee shops for an all-day work session. Depending on the day, you may catch them roasting coffee in the corner of the shop. The single-origin roasts highlight the company's seed-to-cup philosophy, and you can taste the authenticity with every sip. For something beyond the ordinary, check out the signature beverages. These can range from maple and spice-infused hot drinks in the winter to iced ube lattes in the summertime.

The interior blends modern elegance with cozy charm, featuring a bright space filled with ample natural light. The terra-cotta pendant lights hanging from the ceilings and the abundance of plants give the space a patio feel. There's plenty of seating here, too, so you don't need to worry about taking up space if you're staying for a while. The comfortable environment feels like a bonus when it comes time to order. Upper Left has one of the best food menus around, from tasty pastries to the more substantial lox toast or Turkish eggs.

Push x Pull says it's not a coffee shop, but instead, it's "a feel good, do good place for people to eat, drink, and be." It's that mentality that makes Push x Pull's southeast location one of our favorite places to frequent when we're in the mood for some good coffee. And the coffee is fantastic because of Push x Pull's natural processing technique, utilizing an old form of coffee production. 

The difference between washed coffee vs. natural is that the latter dries the coffee fruit naturally in the sun without detaching the skin and pulp from the seed. This gives the coffee a fruitier taste and an acidic, sour note that occurs as the fruit ferments in the sun.

You'll find ample workspace inside Push x Pull, from the long communal table that runs the center of the shop to the bar stools that line the floor-to-ceiling windows. The environment is light and bright, thanks to all that natural light and the turquoise and wood motif. Don't sleep on trying its bolos while you're there. These Portuguese rolls look like English muffins but have a slightly sweet taste, and a locally-baked bolo is featured here as one of our favorite breakfast sandwiches in the city.

Deadstock Coffee set up shop in Portland because it's the sneaker capital of the world, and the crew here is seriously into sneakers. Ask the barista, and you can get a shoe stenciled onto any drink with steamed milk. The vibe here is a mixture of music, art, and kicks. Deadstock is also pretty serious about its coffee, which it has been roasting in-house since 2017. While you're waiting for your drink, browse its extensive selection of merch, from mugs and stickers to hoodies and hats.

You won't find a drink menu here, so come in ready to have a conversation with the barista on duty. Tell them what you're in the mood for, and they'll create a signature drink. Just remember that Deadstock doesn't do pour-overs or blended drinks — it's part of the anti-coffee snob culture. If you're totally lost, ask about the seasonal drinks or the house specialties. Our particular favorite is the Lebronald Palmer, a combination of Southern-style sweet tea, lemonade, and cold brew coffee.

Not all coffee shop goers drink coffee, so we're thrilled with cafes like Electric Coffee that place bold emphasis on tea. In a video on the company's Instagram page, owner Seiji Nanbu speaks of his heritage — half Mexican, half Japanese — as the inspiration to open the shop. You'll find six drinks on the coffee menu, ranging from cafecitos and con leches to a pour-over made with Mexican roasted beans. For a true Mexico experience, we recommend adding the café de olla flavor to your cafe con leche.

Electrica also celebrates Japanese tea, so matcha and Japanese sencha take a prominent focus on the menu. Make sure to ask the barista about the seasonal offerings, too. It's hard to go wrong with the bright-blue butterfly pea matcha when they have it in stock. There's plenty of seating to enjoy your coffee, tea, or pastries here, too. We love the rustic look of the exposed brick walls, wooden beams, and metal chairs (don't worry, there's a comfy cushion on top of that chair).

The story of Cafe Zamora is one about reaching for your dreams until they come true. Guatemalan-born owner, Hector Mejía Zamora, opened Cafe Zamora as an ode to his parents. His father dreamed of a system that expanded profits for farmers and roasters by cutting out the middleman, but he passed away before he could put his plan into action.

After his father's death, Zamora continued to work on the family-owned coffee plantation until he could come to the United States. He was driving for Lyft when he met two important people: One who helped him broker a deal for selling his green beans to a Guatemalan roaster and another who was the landlord of the building where Cafe Zamora eventually opened.

The no-frills coffee shop doesn't have the fancy design of some larger coffee shops, but it's a comfortable space. What this coffee shop is really all about is tasting the passion and dedication in each sip. The flavor of the coffee itself is unmatched, especially when combined with Topo Chico for a refreshing coffee soda. During Covid, Cafe Zamora opened one of the best patio spaces in southeast Portland, too.

When you're in the mood for a pure coffee experience, Sterling Coffee is the place to go. What started with a little stand next to Trader Joe's turned into what is arguably Portland's greatest coffee roaster. Attention to detail is poured into every cup, so much so that espresso flights are served in Glencairn whisky glasses. 

It feels like there is a little coffee snobbery going on here — the baristas all wear ties, and they'll be quick to tell you how ordering espresso to-go changes the flavor of the coffee in an undesirable manner. That said, everyone here is so friendly, and we've never felt out of place or intimidated to ask questions about the coffee-roasting process.

Despite the coffee's refined nature, the space here is surprisingly homey. The high ceilings allow the neighboring conversations to bounce around you as you enjoy the warm, plant-filled space. Sterling is a good destination if you also have non-coffee drinkers in the group. The chai is made in-house, the matcha tea is ceremony-grade, and the hot chocolate is so rich it's basically a dessert.

If you've spent time with an organic farmer, you've probably heard about sustainable agricultural practices like soil regeneration. Regenerative agriculture is a key holistic philosophy that keeps future generations in mind as farmers work on their techniques. For Futura Coffee Roasters, that means working with coffee farmers that work towards keeping biodiverse ecosystems on their farms to keep the soil rich with nutrients. 

You can taste all that hard work in the coffee; everything here is fantastic, even the drip coffee. The environment inside the shop is warm and welcoming, filled with natural light and plenty of plants to make you feel at home. Have a seat at the bar to watch the baristas at work, grab a table to get some work done, settle down in a cushy chair for a leisurely chat with friends, or enjoy the sun — when available — on the picnic tables outside. 

If you're hungry, the sourcing on the food menu is just as intentional: The rolls are from Portland's Dos Hermanos Baker, the bacon from Campfire Farms (a regenerative family farm in Oregon), and the salmon from Tutuilla True Fish Company — an indigenous-owned and operated Oregon fishery. Don't sleep on the carrot miso; this vegetarian-friendly "bacon" tastes almost as good as the real thing.