Portland Continued

Just to show off and talk about all the great places I didn't mention in the first post of my Untraditional Spring Break.

What was recommended to us when we got there was Mothers Bistro, or what they usually refer to as Mama's. This is where we realized how much Portland loves hash and rosemary potatoes (YUCK!). I don't know what got them into putting rosemary on everything but they do. It's crazy how much rosemary is on everything. I realized by the second day that I needed to say no rosemary even if there wasn't rosemary listed on the item because it was going to be on it, haha. Sorry to my rosemary loving friends. I tried Mikes Scramble, which was very good, but I could've done without the rosemary potatoes...

The next day we checked out was Bijou Cafe. I picked this place out and planned most of this day but was pleasantly surprised by the breakfast I had. What I thought was just a feta, olives and eggs over easy had cauliflower, kale and a bunch of different spices (much like the has I had at Mama's). Once the waiter helped me realize what I was ordering, I decided to go with it and Jared commented on how much of an adventurous eater I am, haha. I really was though. It was really good and I'm glad I tried something different each time =)

The next day we went to Isabel, which is again, in the Pearl District. If I haven't already mentioned, we were in the Pearl District a lot. They just had so many awesome shops and places to eat that were local so there was no way we would've missed out on them. I tried the Avocado Scramble. I was going to try the Coconut French Toast, because my man hates coconut and just because it sounded so good. BUT I did not. He although did try the Rosemary Potato Breakfast, which I just joked about but then he got. Haha, we like to share and try each others so I couldn't because of the awful rosemary. I was a little sad I didn't get the coconut just to get back at him ;-) haha.

Now the last day we just ate at the hotel and I had a delicious eggs benedict =) sooo tasty. But during the other days we did go by some amazing tea and coffee shops. Let me just tell you the amount of respect they have for tea drinkers out there, it's awesome. You can get full leaf tea all the time. You usually stay in the shop and have the tea, which means you get your own tea pot and a cup and a strainer and it was just awesome.

The first one we went by, but didn't have anything from yet was Peet's Coffee & Tea. Which we eventually went to twice. It was so delicious there. I had my first ever green tea latte!

The first place I did try though was Morning Brew and I had a lavender latte. It was really good. I really needed to wake up the day I got it too. I'm pretty sure it was the day we got there, Monday. We were on our way to Twisted and I wanted to be awake for my yarn shop experience =).

The other cafe that I really enjoyed and wish we had in Pittsburgh was The Red E Cafe. The tea that I had at this place was so good I even bought some at the Whole Foods to take home. Now this tea is a green tea, which I have been hooked on for a good while. It used to be black tea was my thing, because I went from coffee to tea and need that much caffeine. Now that I've been drinking tea for a good while I like to try them all and green tea has really been my favorite. The tea is done by Jasmine & Pearl Tea and called Genmaicha.

I like to compare my man's beer favorites to my crazy tea favorites. He loves a good hoppy IPA. I love a good funky green tea. He smelled mine and his reaction was great, "No way am I trying that", but he finally did and he said it wasn't awful but it was definitely different. That's just about the same way I feel about his hops and IPA favorite beers. I call those beers a Jared Beer because they have his name all over it ;-).

Which brings me to a wonderful transition into our Brewvana Tour, haha. Now being around all those micro brewery's/local brewery's I mentioned from the first post, I was learning a lot about beer. But I feel I am almost a complete (but let's face it, not on the same level as my man) beer nerd. My man is more of a beer snob (in comparison, similar to a wine snob).



Here is the start of our evening on the tour bus. I surprised the woman that showed us all around when she handed out pretzel necklaces, to help us pace ourselves and snack on while we toured 3 brewery's. She said before handing them out, "Bet you've never had a pretzel necklace before!" and you know what, I wear one everyday now. I got mine at the Handmade Arcade back in December it was. Anyway, I wear it basically all the time. She sent a picture to her boss and they both had a little geek out moment of love for my necklace.

***SIDE NOTE*** If you live in Pittsburgh, go to this years Handmade Arcade. I made it easy and made the link for you. Mark it on your calendar (DECEMBER 7th, 2013), it's such a great place to get Christmas/holiday gifts, spoil yourself, or heck- have your own booth!

Back to the tour. It was a very intimate tour and I think that made it better. Just me, my man and another cute couple that may or may not be moving to Portland soon (I'm a little envious). Check out ALL the photos HERE.

The first brewery was at Base Camp Brewing Company. They have only been open for 3 or 4 months and they're already doing great. They got their equipment from a brewery in Wisconsin, broke it all down and drove it back to Portland. The guy that talked us through our beers was Joey and he was just as beer nerdy as my man. After tasting our 6 beers (which we all admitted feeling something after), and touring the brewing room, my man and Joey had a beer nerd moment. It was adorable =) We learned about the different ingredients in the beer though here. Smelled the hops, dry hops, malt, barely, and it was really neat (I still hate hops and may or may not have gaged a little at the smell, haha).

Funny enough, the beers I liked from here was a Belgian Session Ale (similar to the one I tried at Hopworks), the Ripstop Rye, which I didn't think I'd like and the S'mores Stout. I've discussed this with my man before but brought it up with Joey to see if he had thought this as well. The thought of a dessert beer. The S'mores Stout was just so chocolately and he did agree that there such a thing as the dessert beer, just as there is a dessert wine. Although the beer tasted as if it was sweet, it was probably one of the more bitter beers we tried. Because of the malts though, it balances out the hops and bitterness. =) Correct me if I'm wrong handsome!

The second brewery we just did a tasting, no tour was necessary because it was a tiny little brewing house. The Commons Brewery does Belgium beers and boy do I like those Belgium beers. The Myrtly was my favorite from here. I have figured out, much like my green tea love, I love the citrus beers that have a little bit of zesty-ness to them.

The third and last brewery was Migration Brewing Co., which I'm not going to lie, didn't necessary pay too much attention to. We didn't have anyone really talking up the beers and we ALL needed the food that was there in us immediately, haha. I know we tried 3 beers, got a take home glass and the food was really good. I'm a sucker for some good brie, haha. I only tried 2 of the beers because one was an IPA and I already know with the amount of experience I've had already, I don't love IPA's.

Overall the tour was great! Please check out the awesome photos and I encourage others to do beer tours. We basically did our own each night by going to 2 brewery's but the bus made it so much nicer that we didn't have to drive anywhere. Smart move truly.

I still have a few more photos left from Portland, but I'll save it for next time ;-) (yes, I know I'm just lengthening the awesome time I had in Portland, but who wouldn't want to brag about the best Spring Break just a little bit longer?)

<3 Carly