Skip to main content
THE JEFFSPIRACY: Portland cider bars are all owned by guys named Jeff. The first, Bushwhacker, was founded by Jeff Smith. The biggest tap list, at Portland Cider House on Hawthorne Boulevard, was stocked by co-owner Jeff Parrish. And Portland's newest, the Pearl District's Cider Bite (1230 NW Hoyt St., 765-5655, ciderbite.com), was started up by two more Jeffs—surnamed Hanneson and Tandy.
From the decor and logo, Cider Bite looks a lot like Portland Cider House: a sparse, wood-dominated space with college-dorm-style tourist posters on the walls, a huge 24-tap digital tap list behind the bar, and a big red apple for a logo. But Bite is even more focused on sugar-loving, entry-level cider drinkers. Its taps make no room for super-dry, funky, weird or imported ciders—but a whole lot for mass-market Woodchuck, Angry Orchard, Square Mile and MillerCoors' Smith & Forge. There is Anthem but no Wandering Aengus, and Schilling but no Finnegan.
In part, one of the Jeffs told us, this is a cost consideration: All of Cider Bite's ciders are $6 a pint, with six-deep taster trays costing $10, so they don't stock expensive imports or non-Revival Reverend Nat's. This makes the bar more of a utility growler fill station than a spot for the experimental cider taster—unless, like one of the customers who came in during a recent visit, you're into making your own experiments. Since everything's the same price, customers are allowed to blend their own chai-spiced acai-berry and apricot cider in the growler using ciders from three different makers, who are probably all named Jeff.
Willamette Week