Did you know over 50% of Americans over 18 years of age drink coffee every day. This represents over 150 million daily consumers. Approximately 30 million adults in America drink specialty coffee beverages daily. Some specialty drinks are mochas, lattes, espresso, café mochas, cappuccinos, frozen/iced coffee beverages, etc.
With an estimated population of 80,000 that means about 40,000 Bend residents enjoy a coffee each morning of which about 8,000 are enjoying a specialty drink. In a city whose residents enjoy quality, innovation, and uniqueness but are less affectionate to complacency and stagnation, its easy to see why Bend has so many quality places to get a good coffee.
Thump in Downtown Bend is probably the place where I would start my day if just wanting the best overall coffee experience. A few tell tale signs for any good coffee shop or restaurant for that matter is consistency. I test consistency by evaluating if my drink tastes the same each day regardless of who is working or how busy the business or restaurant may be. Thump is a perfect example of consistency, no matter when I go or what is going on I get the same drink every time.
Quality of drink is important as well and there are 3 main components of quality in a coffee drink which are:
1. Shot Quality - Is it thick and chocolaty (which it should be), or thin and watery or somewhere in between? Also what type of espresso are they using? There are many great local roasters and a few national roasters that are big enough to provide good quality. From Bend I think 11Roasters and Back Porch are the best. Regionally Stumptown and Intelligenstia have to be right there. Good roasters spend the extra money and extra time to import the finest beans in the world. They spend a great amount of time "cupping" blends to get the flavor just right for you.
2. Sweetener - how much, what brand, and how pure is it? Some of the best sweeteners/sauces are made by steaming natural ingredients together. For example a mocha is really good with Monin or Holy Kakow chocolate sauce, but unbelievable with organic raw cacao powder and organic pure cane suger steamed together with the milk.
3. Milk - steamed to 165 degrees and appear glassy smooth or is it bubbly, choppy, and over or under temp? A good rule of thumb is if it's good enough for latte art, it's good enough to drink (that's true about 95% of the time).
With an estimated population of 80,000 that means about 40,000 Bend residents enjoy a coffee each morning of which about 8,000 are enjoying a specialty drink. In a city whose residents enjoy quality, innovation, and uniqueness but are less affectionate to complacency and stagnation, its easy to see why Bend has so many quality places to get a good coffee.
Thump in Downtown Bend is probably the place where I would start my day if just wanting the best overall coffee experience. A few tell tale signs for any good coffee shop or restaurant for that matter is consistency. I test consistency by evaluating if my drink tastes the same each day regardless of who is working or how busy the business or restaurant may be. Thump is a perfect example of consistency, no matter when I go or what is going on I get the same drink every time.
Quality of drink is important as well and there are 3 main components of quality in a coffee drink which are:
1. Shot Quality - Is it thick and chocolaty (which it should be), or thin and watery or somewhere in between? Also what type of espresso are they using? There are many great local roasters and a few national roasters that are big enough to provide good quality. From Bend I think 11Roasters and Back Porch are the best. Regionally Stumptown and Intelligenstia have to be right there. Good roasters spend the extra money and extra time to import the finest beans in the world. They spend a great amount of time "cupping" blends to get the flavor just right for you.
2. Sweetener - how much, what brand, and how pure is it? Some of the best sweeteners/sauces are made by steaming natural ingredients together. For example a mocha is really good with Monin or Holy Kakow chocolate sauce, but unbelievable with organic raw cacao powder and organic pure cane suger steamed together with the milk.
3. Milk - steamed to 165 degrees and appear glassy smooth or is it bubbly, choppy, and over or under temp? A good rule of thumb is if it's good enough for latte art, it's good enough to drink (that's true about 95% of the time).
If you are looking for drive thru coffee there are plenty of options: Nationals like Dutch Bros. and Human Bean, or Locals, like Latte Dah on the North side of town corner of Butler Market/27th, Golden Delicious in DSR, and about 8 others in the area. Strictly Organic has both a drive thru and cafe which is the choice of some locals. Though the quality of coffee usually isn't as high in the drive through scene there are some good options.
Some other cafe's you might go for coffee are Mother's Juice Cafe, Bom Dia, and River Rim which serve 11Roasters and do a good job of preparing coffee as well. Also I ran into a place called the Looney Bean which is next to Pine Tavern in Downtown Bend and they do a good job as well.
Anyway if you are looking for good coffee in Bend you have some choices and I'm sure you will find the one that's right for you!
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