Exquisite Creatures is a coffee bar in Portland’s Central Eastside, set in a century-old freight elevator shaft and run by Brenda and Joe Aimonetti. Everything on the menu is vegan. The room has red brick walls, wooden window frames and dried flowers, and the café hosts nights beyond coffee, among them a Dungeons & Dragons adventure with wine and plant-based treats, run by a game master called Jabberwocky.
The house espresso is 108, the café’s flagship blend of coffees from Brazil, Guatemala, Sumatra and Ethiopia. An “old school Portland” espresso, rich and bold, it carries the café’s notes of dark chocolate and caramel and also suits drip, pour-over and French press. The classics run from a double espresso, cortado, cappuccino and latte to a mocha and a 24-hour cold brew concentrate, with oat, almond, soy or coconut milk. The seasonal lattes rotate: an orange Tootsie Pop latte with macadamia and orange syrups, popcorn lattes in three flavours and a pistachio meadow latte with lavender. For World Vegan Month in November there is a Big Warm Hug latte with Soul Chai rooibos, mocha sauce, orange syrup and cinnamon. Matcha, Soul chai and Smith Teamaker teas complete the list.
The kitchen makes breakfast sandwiches on sourdough English muffins: The Classic with a Beyond the Butcher sausage patty and JUST Egg, and an egg and cheese with JUST Egg and Violife cheddar, each with arugula and a miso or sriracha aioli. Some treats are made in-house, and the pastries rotate from Poppyshop, including wheat-free bakes, and from Sweetpea.
Photograph: Exquisite Creatures