Coffee from a speedboat from Portland, Oregon, has been serving drinks in the southeastern Foster/Powell neighborhood for sixteen years. After last year’s location change, the cafe has settled into fresh premises and is full of life. Hungry guests can enjoy the full menu, including homemade baklava courtesy of Speedboat Coffee founder Alex El-Khal’s mother. “My mother makes pastries for the café, and her baklava is one of the best in town,” says El-Khal. “It’s demanding to vouch for your mother’s baked goods without seeming biased, but that’s the way it is. Bring me a better piece and I’ll stop talking about it. Her baklava is made with walnuts, not pistachios, and the sultry spice blend really complements many established coffee drinks.”
Conventional coffee drinks are fine, but don’t miss the cafe’s seasonal coffee offerings, including fan favorites like HVAC, a spiced vanilla latte that pairs perfectly with baklava, and Nilly Curtado, a cortado player (and one of our ten favorite Grammy-winning Canadian singer-songwriters). These seasonal drinks have become so popular that they’re already featured on speedboat menus, and they’re the perfect subject for the latest issue of On The Menu, our series of articles celebrating delightful signature drinks.
We spoke digitally with Alex El-Khal to learn more.
What inspired you to create these drinks?
The HVAC latte was created as a seasonal spiced specialty, but it lasted for several years. If we had a signature drink, this would be it! Following the example of our Cardi B (Cardamon Vanilla) latte, Nilly Curtado is aptly named after Nelly Furtado.
Who created them?
We come together as a team to brainstorm, develop and refine the ideas needed to create our specialties. Usually, once it’s on the table, everything is 90% ready and just needs a little nudge in the right direction!
Does this drink employ any unique or local ingredients?
Our vanilla is produced locally here in Oregon, and many of our specialties are based on using vanilla as the cornerstone of our specialty beverages. Dilly Vanilly Vanilla is made especially for us and can be found in slightly modified form as a syrup at Portland brunch spot The Mont on their French toast and Monte Carlo sandwich.
How did you work to balance the flavors and create the perfect flavor profile?
The idea behind the HVAC latte is not to overdo the vanilla and tone it down with the honey and cinnamon, so it was designed to be well-balanced from the very beginning! We are proud of the quality of the coffee we serve and none of our drinks are overly sweet.
What type of coffee is used in these drinks?
We have a long relationship with Coava from Portland, almost 10 years at this point! For espresso, we always employ a single origin, usually from Latin America. We think the overall nutty-chocolate profile from this region provides a good base for espresso-based drinks and is most enjoyable when unadulterated.
Do these drinks work both balmy and iced? Did this influence the recipe?
It was originally designed as a balmy drink for the holidays, but I prefer sweetened and milky iced drinks! I’ve always found certain flavors to be complementary, and this flavor profile is one of them. All of our iced drinks are solidly frozen, and once some of the ice melts, it’s slightly diluted to create the balance we’re looking for.
What are people saying about these newest signature drinks?
Nilly Curtado is nippy because people who like things barely sweet can take part in the ratio game that people who drink cortados play. HVAC has been operating independently for several years, I think its tenure speaks for itself.
Thank you!
