See how this ‘tasting tour’ drew outer East Portland folks to the Portland Mercado, another one of the City’s ‘Welcoming Week’ events …
Here at the Portland Mercado, vendors provide a “tasting tour” of coffees, imported directly from where they are grown during their Coffees of the World event.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
The Immigrant and Refugee Program of the City of Portland kicked off its first-ever “Welcoming Week” on September 10; however its various events continued for the next week. [CLICK HERE to see our story and video about the ‘Welcoming Week’ kickoff]
One those events was held on September 16, in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood, at the popular Portland Mercado.
Welcoming visitors to “Welcoming Week” event is Portland Mercado Director Ambar Solarte.
“We’re so glad to be part of the ‘Welcoming Week’ this year! We’re participating by providing an event we’ve called ‘Coffees of the World’ — as well as providing the location for it,” Portland Mercado Director Ambar Solarte explained.
“When we were developing this idea – offering a ‘coffee tour’ right here – it came up that a lot of people don’t realize that coffee is also an immigrant in the United States,” Solarte told East Portland News.
Ready to give folks a taste of their coffee, direct from Costa Rica, are Dana Perez and Alvin Perez with Blessings Coffee USA.
Kimberly Elkins represents Sandino Brothers Coffee, grown and harvested by two brothers in Nicaragua – with their US operations being based in the Portland Mercado.
“We don’t grow and produce coffee here in North America,” Solarte continued, “So, all the coffee that we drink comes from other lands. So, we are highlighting many of those coffee places, from which immigrants are bringing their flavors from around the world for us to enjoy!
“The idea is for people to taste and sample these different coffees, and learn that where it is grown, how it’s harvested, and how it’s roasted results in distinctly different flavor profiles and aromas,” pointed out Solarte.
Hector Mejia Zamora of Café Zamora in the Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood (he was featured in the April, 2020 issue of THE BEE) tells of his family-owned and village-run coffee farm in Guatemala, as he offers a taste of his brew and a whiff of his beans at this outer East Portland event.
Alberto Gomez and Adriana Lopez show their Tostado Coffee Roasters brand of coffee they say is grown in the Chiapas and Oaxaca regions in Mexico.
Find out what’s happening at the Portland Mercado
this week by visiting their website: CLICK HERE.
© 2021 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™