Number of locations 2 (2016) Website heartroasters.com | Area served Portland, Oregon | |
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Founded 2009; 8 years ago (2009) in Portland, Oregon, United States Founders Wille and Rebekah Yli-Luoma | ||
Heart Coffee Roasters is a chain of two cafes and a coffee roasting company based in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It was established in 2009 by Wille and Rebekah Yli-Luoma.
Contents
Description and history
Wille and Rebekah Yli-Luoma opened Heart in 2009. Heart's original location, known as the Eastside Cafe, is located at 2211 East Burnside Street in Portland's Kerns neighborhood. Its second location, known as the Westside Cafe, open in 2013 and is located at 537 Southwest 12th Avenue in downtown Portland's West End. The company has leased a third location at the intersection of Southeast 52nd Avenue and Woodstock Boulevard, in the Woodstock neighborhood.
Heart offers green coffee from Africa, Central America, and South America. The coffee is roasted lightly "to preserve their acidity and subtler flavors". Drinks are made entire in-house, including add-ins like cashew-almond milk, chocolate, and syrups. Heart's motivation is to provide "uncompromising quality —from the source to the final cup". The company only sells coffee at peak season "to avoid the smokier flavors that can compromise the complexity" of the beans.
Reception
Condé Nast Traveler called Heart's drinks "uncommonly clean and complex and said, "Chemex- and Aeropress-brewed 'pour-over' coffees are perhaps the best way to sample the results, though espresso drinks are excellent here, too."
In 2013, Dan Gentile of Thrillist included Heart in his list of "The Top 10 Coffee Roasters in the Nation, as Voted by Super-Serious Coffee Nerds". He also included Heart in his 2016 list of "The 21 Best Coffee Roasters in the Country", writing: "Portland isn't in short supply of sleekly designed coffee shops, but in addition to a design sense that would make a Scandinavian proud, Heart's coffee shop is literally built around a functioning black Probat roaster that fills the space with the smell of not-too-light, and definitely not-too-dark coffees."
In 2016, Eater.com's Emily McIntyre included Heart on her list of the "20 of the Best Coffee Shops in Portland". She wrote, "Few cafes have such a strong aesthetic and presentation as Heart on Burnside. Enter and think yourself lucky, because the rare espresso machine (currently Kees van der Westen), the expensive, simple menu, the beast of a vintage coffee roaster, and the 'do not touch signs' have the effect of creating an exclusive experience... While I recommend any seasonal drink here (and the summertime paleo affogato is delicious), my go-to at Heart is a cup of drip coffee."