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Coffee Plant Coffee House
Fighting Corporate Coffee
With two coffee house locations, John's Landing and downtown Portland,
the Coffee Plant
coffeeshop is putting up a fight against corporate coffee, but without
the typical weapons of mass destruction.
In fact, Portlanders definitely will not see owner Michael Miller
rolling up his sleeves and shaking his fists at the big coffee execs.
[Check
out more pictures of coffee houses on my Flickr channel.]
Instead, they will see barista extraordinaire Marijke Dixon beautifully
crafting coffees from Stumptown Coffee Roasters' organic and fair trade
selections as well as lead baker Kim Larson creating some of Portland's
finest and most delicious gluten-free bakery items.
"Coffee is evolving," remarked Coffee Plant owner Michael Miller. "As
coffee drinkers become more educated, awareness of coffee practices is
becoming more important to them."
On a recent trip to Columbia, Miller experienced firsthand how
meaningful direct trade practices are for local farmers and how it
benefits coffee drinkers back in the United States.
"The benefits are twofold. On one hand, farmers are getting a higher
price for their coffee and on the other, they're spending more money on
educating themselves to produce higher quality coffees," said Miller.
Miller, opening his first shop in downtown Portland in 2003, came up
with the name Coffee Plant for two reasons. One, for the coffee plant
that grows and two for the factory plant that pumps out products. It
was a playful play on words that speaks to the heart of the Coffee
Plant vision: Create a place downtown that would be an oasis from the
madness of the modern working world.
The vision caught on so well that in 2006, Miller opened his second
shop at 5915 SW Corbett in the historic Corbett Building in Portland's
Johns Landing neighborhood.
CCP - Gluten Free Baking
Inspired by his eldest daughter's fight with Celiac, which doesn't
allow her body to process gluten, and with access to extra space,
Miller started a gluten-free bakery at the Corbett location.
"CCP offers entirely gluten-free fare to complement our fantastic
coffee and espresso," said Miller. "Our lead baker Kim Larson does such
a fantastic job that people can't even tell the difference. They just
taste that good."
Larson and fellow baker Talon bake the gluten-free pastries and
granola, which can be purchased at any of the following retailers:
- The Fresh Pot, 3729 SE Hawthorne
- Downtown Coffee Plant, 724 SW
Washington, 503-295-1227
- Divine Cafe, on NCNM campus
- Elephants Deli, NW 22nd
- Flying Elephants, Fox Tower
- Lair Hill Bistro, 2823 SW 1st Ave,
503-27
- New Seasons, Concordia and Sellwood
- Tiny's Cafe, 1412 SE 12th Ave,
503-239-5859
- Pizza A Go-Go, 3240 N Williams,
503-335-0300
Return from Coffee Plant Coffee House to Coffee Houses.
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