Skip to main content
Bees & Beans is no stranger to Portland’s food scene, having sold its honey-infused candy around town since 2010, but its St. Johns storefront in 2023 gave it a flagship location for fans old and new to become ensnared by the siren’s song of its smell. The shop smells like pure honey, luxurious and appetizing. Artificial honey accords can be cloyingly sticky, but breathe deep and you just might surrender to sweetness.
Whether you’re looking for chocolate bars, caramel chews, or gooey-but-not-mushy brownies topped with artisan sprinkles, Bees & Beans probably has what you need. If it’s been forever since you’ve seen a See’s Candies (there’s only three left in the area, unfortunately) and you need some opulent old-fashioned candy for quick gifts (or a pick-me-up for yourself, we won’t judge), this shop might hold the key to a new holiday tradition.
“Do you like marshmallows?” the clerk asked. Not really, but I was down to clown. Enter the Autumn Caramel Clouds ($13 for a pack of two). The dark chocolate cubes are a large bite-size, but so rich that only new money would chow down in one bite (how common). The problem is, the Caramel Clouds don’t maintain their forms very cleanly—and they taste good enough to ignore good taste and scarf the whole thing down (a glass of something creamy nearby might help if you can’t resist temptation). The marshmallow center is softer and easier to parse through than expected, with a dark chocolate coat offering some light, satisfying crunch (though it does tend to melt quickly on fingertips).
Its pumpkin flavor isn’t quite like PSL syrup or artificial pumpkin pie, but something like a stickier version of pumpkin pie made from the patch with a cream topping mixed together. But what really makes the whole thing come together is the bottom foundation of caramel mixed with fresh apple cider. Is it messy? Yes. But what comes together isn’t quite pumpkin or apple, but the perfect mix of autumnal flavors that carry from one equinox to the next—they could run out by February, but once that cider is out, the apple flavor is done for the year. Don’t panic-shop and deprive someone else of this seasonal wonder, but, you know, don’t dawdle either.
After cutting up an Autumn Caramel Cloud and serving it in our office, WW staffers who only tried the pumpkin and chocolate at first said it was good, but pushed to its next level with the addition of the fresh apple caramel mixed together. They did not have to keep their willpower together in St. Johns as pure honey filled their nostrils, but they unanimously agreed it was delicious.
TRY IT: Bees & Beans, 8801 N Lombard St., 971-302-6086, beesandbeans.com. 11 am–5 pm Wednesday–Friday and Sunday, 11 am–8 pm Saturday.
