Ice Cream, More Glorious Ice Cream!

Ah, ice cream, my first love. OK, it's a tie between red meat and ice cream.....

As a writer for bePortland.com, I've had the honor to speak with a few of Portland's premier ice cream purveyors. All in the name of journalism, of course. Earlier this month I had the good fortune to join Salt & Straw for their sneak preview for the new store launch. You may have seen my previous entry featuring Kim's cart of fabulous scoops, but now, behold, a whole shop full of dairy (and some non-dairy) goodness!

Just up the road from the mobile cart on NE Alberta, I step into Salt & Straw's new scoop shop - and into my new happy place. Immediately I am approached by a staffer cheerfully waiving a delicious ice cream concoction in front of me. “Would you like to try our Thai Sticky Rice sundae? Be sure to scoop through all of the layers; there’s sweet sticky rice on the bottom, pineapple, and these are cinnamon croutons” She says, pointing to the cookie-like cubes sprinkled on top. I dig in. I never imagined I’d be eating an ice cream sundae with rice. It works. It’s delicious! And of course, it’s all natural, and made with local ingredients. The sweet sticky rice is Pok Pok’s creation. So is the honey drinking vinegar used in Salt & Straw’s Honey Vinegar Milkshake, which I also wolfed right down. In the most wonderful way, it was like the best tasting sour milk I’d ever tasted. Sweet, tangy, and surprisingly addicting.

If these flavor combinations strike you as a little odd, get over it, because they totally work. As does the Three Berry BBQ ice cream, made with Oregon Marionberries, Raspberries, Huckleberries, and yes, actual BBQ sauce. Reminiscent of a raspberry chipotle sauce, this is something I want to dip my french-fries in, or slather on a chicken wing! I’m content to eat it on a cone as well, as this flavor is growing on me lick by lick. If you’re not a fan of the dairy, there is always the summery Lemon Basil Sorbet, with Oregon basil fresh from the farmers market. Or choose from an array of dessert bars, cookies, and other snacks. Glancing around, I see more and more diversity in the menu – and the décor.

Kim and her team created a space for folks to sit and mingle; meet over an ice cream cone, or a float, or a shake. Loads of antique dairy paraphernalia lines the shelves. Weathered milk barrels and crates show the inspiration behind the name, Salt & Straw …. Describing the old time method of churning ice cream that Kim herself employs. Have a seat in a vintage chair and gaze at local artist Neil Perry’s work. Specially commissioned for Salt & Straw, his Saccharine Lands series lifts you into yet another dream world of sugar and cream. The partnership was a natural fit, as his love affair with sugar melds so well with Kim’s sweet creations.

As I make my way to the door, Kim stops me short. “Have you seen the bathroom yet? She asks as she ushers me that direction. Kim works with a local picker to achieve Salt & Straws rustic, vintage image. The wall paper was made especially for this bathroom – from vintage Portland postcards – Kim’s find at an estate sale. Another reason to sit and stay awhile at this ice cream joint that gets more and more endearing by the minute.

I eventually do depart, with more than my fill of ice cream in my belly. Neil Perry, Kim, my first love, too, was sugar.

Salt & Straw
2035 NE Alberta
Portland, OR 9721



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Occidental Brewing Co.: Bringing German Brews to St. Johns

Dan and Ben Engler are charting new waters under the St. John’s Bridge. The only local brewery rooted in North Portland concocted their first batches of German style beers around Memorial Day, and they opened the tap room-slash-brewery to the public in June.

I trekked up to NoPo specifically to do some sampling. What are the locals in St. John’s chugging that I am missing? A complex Hefe, a malty Alt, a Dunkel (my favorite), and a seasonal Cloudy Summer ale (now if that doesn’t sound like a Portland brew….)

But first, a brief history: Dan comes from the Missoula area but has lived in Portland with his family for years. His nephew Ben, also from Missoula, migrated to the Pacific NW for college and settled in Seattle. When Ben parted ways with Weyerhaeuser, the pair reunited in Portland to form Occidental Brewing Co. Ben brings the business savvy, while Dan presides over brewing, and all that science-y stuff.

I chatted with Ben about the why’s and how’s of Occidental’s inception.

Why “Occidental”?

We chose Occidental, meaning western. The name is regional, not necessarily tied to just Portland or Oregon. And it’s also an old fashioned word, which fit with the pre-prohibition style of our brand. Note, the period picture of the two from the website. Classic.

So why start another Portland brewery?

It was something we’ve both always wanted to do separately. When the time was right, we met up – probably over a couple of beers - and decided to go for it together. Portland was an obvious choice. We wanted to be a part of the biggest brew town in the nation.

A question my Portlander’s IPA-loving mind: No IPA, eh? German-style only?

That’s right. It helps us stand out amongst a sea of IPAs …. It’s a standard line-up of English ales in most of the northwest. We wanted to do German style – make what you like to drink, right?

(Besides, he sarcastically says, IPAs are almost like a contest now. How hoppy can it get? How crazy-strong does it have to be to get attention?)

OK, fair enough. I see a vast collection of beer memorabilia in the tasting room. What’s the history on that?

Yeah, there are a lot of beer cans. Some of them were ours, and from family members. But as we started thinking about décor, we started looking at collections….. Husbands being forced to clean out their garages, etc. We wanted classic cans from the ‘60s and ‘70s. We’ve even had customers come in and add to the collection. The bottle caps – that was us drinking a lot of beer, asking friends to drink a lot of beer, even asking bar tenders to save the caps. We even drank beer we really didn’t want to drink, just because we needed the caps.

That’s quite a procurement strategy. Tough job. So, any expansion plans?

The world! (Laughs) Right now, we’re just trying to get out of North Portland. We are going at the pace we can handle. We intend to stay in the St. John’s location – there aren’t a lot of breweries out here, and the local St. John’s community has been tremendous in their support efforts. But we want to cover more ground.

Plans to expand the tasting room?

Yes, it looks like a construction zone right now; we’re still building tables for the tasting room. We had to build a wall (between the tasting room and the brewing facility) to satisfy the government and separate the brewing are from the public area, but we wanted people to be able to see the brewery. We’ll use the outside space for events. We’ll be posting event information on the website and on Facebook.

Perfect, more reasons for me to make my way back up here. Now, on to my tasting …..

Dan kept himself busy on this Wednesday night in his tasting room. Every bar stool was taken, so I bellied up to the lower, bottle cap covered bar to put in my first order: a taster of the Alt, a pint of the Dunkel.

Altbier: Malty and spicy with Saphir hops - it’s what a good German Alt is all about. And lucky me, it offers up a little extra hops, just like Portland likes it.

Dunkel: My winner for the evening. You can smell the yeast as you go in for a drink. Smooth yet complex, this one’s not too dark, and not too heavy on this warm August night. But it would still be soul warming for those not-so sunny eves. I’ll have this beer any season.

Round two, a taste of the summer ale, and a pint of that fabulous hefe.

Cloudy Summer: It’s a thirst quencher, I think, as I gulp down the taster. Dan calls it “sessionable” and they do know best. Crisp and clean, yet still offering just a smidge of hops.

Hefeweizen: Move over Kurt and Rob, there’s a new hefe in town. It has the floral notes beer lovers look for, citrus, spice … wheaty deliciousness. Dan makes it in the classic Bavarian style, using German Hallertau hops and true weizen yeast.

Well, it looks like my work here is done. I’m shutting the place down! I thank the gentlemen Engler as I polish off the last of my hefe. I’ll be keeping an eye out for events to come.

Occidental Brewing Co.

6635 N. Baltimore Ave

Portland, OR 97203

Tap room hours:
Wed.-Thurs. 4-7 pm
Friday 3-8 pm
Saturday 12-8 pm
Sunday 12-6 pm

Occidental Brewing Co.

6635 N. Baltimore Ave

Portland, OR 97203

Tap room hours:

Wed.-Thurs. 4-7 pm

Friday 3-8 pm
Saturday 12-8 pm
Sunday 12-6 pm

See more about Occidental Brewing Co. at bePortland.com

Obsessed with Oregon "vino-culture"? - A great place to read about Oregon Pinot Noir