Where to Drink in Portland This Week

Sunflower Sake is Portland’s first shop dedicated solely to sake.

Sunflower Sake Photo by Nina Murphy.

1. SUNFLOWER SAKE

2930 NE Killingsworth St. side alley, sunflowersake.com. Noon-7 pm Monday-Wednesday.

Portland’s first shop dedicated solely to sake is now open inside a speakeasy alleyway, serving varieties you’d never find at your average neighborhood sushi restaurant. Sunflower Sake is a sake store stocked with a carefully curated selection of approximately 125 bottles, all available to purchase. Those who prefer to sample and then commit can also take advantage of the on-premises tasting room, where you can explore rice wine by the glass, carafe or bottle along with an assortment of housemade snacks. Takeout from the neignborhood’s concentration of restaurants is also allowed.

2. PINK RABBIT

232 NW 12th Ave., 971-255-0386, pinkrabbitpdx.com. 4 pm-midnight Monday-Thursday, 4 pm-2 am Friday-Saturday, 6 pm-midnight Sunday.

Even before Pink Rabbit transformed its curbside patio into an outdoor discotheque, the Pearl District bar’s collection of picnic tables were consistently full. But now, with a weather-fortified patio full of mirror balls, string lights, additional speakers and living plant installations, you can safely anticipate a wait for the top-shelf toddy, which sips like counterprogramming—restrained, mellow and deeply comforting.

3. THE GARRISON

8773 N Lombard St., thegarrisonpdx.com. 5-10 pm Monday-Saturday.

The Garrison is an unpretentious little neighborhood bar, like any other in St. Johns, except for the fact that while you might feel like a moron trying to order a drink made with mezcal and yellow chartreuse anywhere else on Lombard, here it is expected. Because its part of a micro-business complex, the Garrison’s patio is actually a courtyard shared with salons and restaurants. Its picnic tables and counters fill up with patrons ordering not only drinks, but also food from Gracie’s Apizza, Mikasa Sushi & Ramen, and Bolognese pasta pop-up Pastificio d’Oro.

4. PUSH X PULL

821 SE Stark St., pushxpullcoffee.com. 8 am-2 pm Monday-Friday, 8 am-3 pm Saturday-Sunday.

Coffee may be ubiquitous in our city, but Christopher Hall, the 37-year-old co-founder of coffee roaster and cafe Push x Pull, possesses a singular focus on natural process beans. “Natural process” refers to fermentation of the entire coffee cherry after harvesting. In Push x Pull’s capable hands, the results are flavorful espresso shots and captivating cortados.

5. COOPERATIVA

1250 NW 9th Ave., Suite 100, 503-342-7416, cooperativapdx.com. 7:30 am-9 pm Wednesday-Saturday.

New to the menu at the Pearl’s Italian market, the World Vermut Tour flight comes with three 3-ounce pours to remind drinkers that—to quote bar manager Joel Schmeck—”really killer vermouths” are made internationally and domestically. Alongside Spanish Lustau vermut rosé and Cnia Mata red vermouth, Cooperativa features Son of Man’s “Someday” vermouth. Made with the Basque-style Sagardo cider, brewed in Cascade Locks, this dry white warps the vermouth category—a category known to have few requisites other than being made with wine. The cloudy yellow bottle carries tart sips of kumquat and rhubarb.

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