Caffeination Cascadia: Around the World in Eight Cafés

Across the Pacific Northwest, the regional coffee culture is rock-solid—so much so that coffee places and professionals reflecting a more international coffee culture are often overlooked. In searching for the best way to explore the international coffee scene represented here in our own backyard, I found the following shops worth a visit. From Turkish coffee to Cuban cafecitos to Scandinavian roast profiles, here’s where to find them.

1. Nossa Familia (Brazilian) – This Brazilian venture goes beyond fair trade or direct trade to rep what they call “family-traded coffee” from relatives’ sixth-generation Brazilian finca. Founder Augusto Carvalho Dias began by selling the family coffee at Portland farmers’ markets in 2006 and now shares “cafezinhos” and “pao de queijo” with customers at his full espresso bar. || 811 Northwest 13^th Avenue, Portland
2. Café Turko (Turkish) – One third gift shop, one third restaurant and one third coffee shop, Café Turko sits snugly beneath the Aurora Bridge in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood and offers traditionally tiny and ornate metal cups of dark Turkish coffee, plain or spiced with cardamom or mastic. || 754 North 34^th Street, Seattle
3. Janjou Pâtisserie (French) – Classically trained pâtissière Moshit Mizrachi-Gabbitas whisks Parisian-status croissants, quiches, petits fours and macarons from the oven fresh daily, while the classic coffee menu features Ketchum-based Lizzy’s Fresh Coffee—and the mochas are made with luxury French Valrhona chocolate. || 1754 West State Street, Boise
4. Perugino (Italian) – Beautiful brick-walled, arch-windowed Perugino brings a piece of Italia to the heart of Eugene, with a classic espresso menu (featuring Seattle’s Zoka Coffee) and gelato and vino to boot. || 787 Willamette Street, Eugene
5. El Diablo Coffee Company (Cuban) – Warm, inviting and brightly colorful, Queen Anne’s Café del Diablo pulls traditional Cuban espresso shots directly over raw sugar, stirring rapidly to produce a layer of foamy espumita which sits atop the remainder of the Cubanoshot. Also available are traditional cortaditos and café con leche. || 1811 Queen Anne Avenue North, Seattle
6. The Dutch Bakery & Coffee Shop (Dutch) – In 1955, Dutchman Kees Schaddelee Sr. left the Netherlands with his four sons to travel halfway round the world, settling in Victoria, BC and firing up ovens for traditional Dutch baked goods from croquettes to cookies to colorful wedding cakes. Each sweet comes accompanied by coffee and a warm fourth-generation welcome. | 718 Fort Street, Victoria, BC
   
7. Heart Coffee Roasters (Finnish) – Finnish native Willie Yliluoma brings minimalistic décor and roasting style to Portland, building an infinitely hip black-on-white space for taking a fika (Scandinavian coffee break) at what has been called “the United States’ most Scandinavian roaster.” || 2211 East Burnside Street, Portland
8. Au Petit Café (Vietnamese) – Riley Park’s little nook of a family-owned, French-influenced Vietnamese lunch spot builds traditional bahn mi sandwiches on freshly baked French bread and slings properly dark French-roasted hot and iced coffee in with condensed milk to make traditional Vietnamese cafe sua nong and cafe sua da, respectively. || 4851 Main Street, Vancouver, B.C.