Tour de hot chocolate with Reese

Cascadia Coffee Pub gets a thumbs-up from one critic

Our reviewer, Reese, takes notes during her visit to Cascadia Coffee Pub.

For a December story about hot chocolate I enlisted my neighbor and West Sylvan Middle School student, Reese. She has the necessary sweet tooth and love of research the job takes.

The first stop on our tour is Cascadia Coffee Pub, a laid back cafe at 2010 NW Front Avenue that serves breakfast, lunch and pastries. But we don’t allow ourselves to get distracted by the menu or cute dogs in holiday vests under the tables. We have one job: drink some hot chocolate. Reese, who had never been here, agreed that we would steer clear of her usual on-the-go spots: Country Coffee, Starbucks and Dutch Bros., for the article.

Anita, the welcoming barista at Cascadia on this night, starts with a mocha sauce to make the house cocoa. Next she steams whole milk and blends it all together by hand. She adds a thick swirl of whipped cream, pours it into a brown cup with saucer and dusts the top with chocolate powder. “You don’t want it too hot,” Anita said. “People tend to drink it quickly,” so the risk of it cooling off too much before consumed is low.

“OK, this is very good,” Reese said, moving to a communal table with a wreath centerpiece. “It’s not too sweet.” She began taking notes on a piece of paper torn from my yellow legal pad and decided to make a chart.

“I like the flavor; I would give this a 9 out of 10,” she said, doodling hearts and faces in the chart’s margin.

Cascadia set a high standard, so we’re curious to see how the others compare. The Dragonfly Cafe and Sterling Coffee are on the itinerary, and we’ll visit both in the coming days.