Tea for the Cooler Nights

We are a coffee roaster first, and the roaster shares a room with the bar at our cafe on Motor Way. But when the evenings turn cool, plenty of guests walk up and ask for something else in the mug. So this one is about tea: what is on the bar, what you can take home, and a few simple ways to brew it.

Hot Tea at the Bar

The simplest order is a hot tea. On our cafe menu you can choose English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Chamomile, Jasmine Green, Mint or English Breakfast Decaf. If you want something a little richer, order a Hot Tea Latte: you pick the tea and you pick the milk. Or skip the tea and go with a Steamer.

Iced Tea is on the menu too, black or green, for the warm afternoons that still sneak in. If you like iced tea at home, we already wrote that one up: Brewing Perfect Iced Tea with Loose Leaf Tea at Home.

Chai, Two Ways

Our Chai Latte comes two ways. RoCo Chai is our own liquid chai, made in house, and it is the spicier one. Portland Chai is the sweeter one. Both come hot or as an Iced Chai Latte.

Want coffee in it? Order a Dirty Chai, hot or iced. And for the warm days, the Chai Chiller is our ice blended take. To make chai at home, we carry Organic Chai Black Tea in tea bags. That one is not our in house chai, just a good organic chai tea bag for your own kitchen.

Matcha Lattes

Our Matcha Latte is made with organic ceremonial grade matcha, hot or as an Iced Matcha. Our matcha drinks are not sweetened. From there the menu gets playful, with White Chocolate, Rose, Strawberry, Pina Colada, Chai and Lemonade matchas. The Iced Rose Matcha gets cold foam, the Iced Strawberry Matcha gets strawberry cold foam, and the Iced Pina Colada Matcha gets coconut cold foam.

The matcha on the bar is the same one we sell online. You can take home Organic Matcha Tea in a 3oz pouch or a 4 pack.

Yerba on the Menu

Yerba mate drinkers have their own corner of the menu. The Yerba Latte, the Yerbalicious and the Yerba Matte are cafe drinks, all built on Yerba Matte tea as the base. We also sell Yerba Mate loose leaf by the bag, in 12oz or 5 lbs.

Tea to Take Home

Our tea collection comes in three formats.

Loose leaf, in 12oz or 5 lb bags. Tropical Tea Blend, Passion Fruit Tea, Mango Tea and Hibiscus Tea are mainly our iced tea teas. They can be brewed hot, but most people pour them over ice. Premium Black Tea and Yerba Mate are for hot. Note that Hibiscus Tea is hibiscus flowers on a black tea base, so it does contain caffeine.

If you cannot pick, try the Loose Leaf Tea Adventure Pack. It brings three full 12 oz bags: Premium Black Tea, Tropical Tea Blend (black tea with blue, red and gold botanicals, flavored with kiwi and strawberry) and Hibiscus Tea, which brews a bright red. All three share a black tea base, so you can brew them hot or make a pitcher of each over ice.

Matcha: Organic Matcha Tea, in a 3oz pouch or a 4 pack.

Organic tea bags, all new to the shelf and all for hot tea:

• Black: English Breakfast, Earl Grey and Chai

• Green: Pure Green, Pure Green Decaffeinated, Oolong and Jasmine Green, and Dandelion and Peach Rooibos Green

• Herbal, all caffeine free: Chamomile Citrus, Mint, Lemon Ginger and Rooibos Hibiscus

A Few Brewing Basics

These are general guidelines from the tea world, not hard rules. Taste as you go and adjust.

• Black tea: water right off the boil, about 212F, for 3 to 5 minutes.

• Green tea: cooler water, about 175F to 185F, for 1 to 3 minutes.

• Herbal tea: water right off the boil, for about 5 minutes.

• Matcha: water around 176F, then whisk for about 30 seconds until it foams.

Come In Out of the Cold

Tea or coffee, the bar is open Monday to Saturday from 6:30 AM to 6 PM, and Sunday from 7 AM to 6 PM. You will find us at 321 Motor Way, where the roaster and the bar share one room. If coffee is still your thing, see what we pour at the Motor Way bar. Either way, bring a friend who orders the other one.