One can classify the evolution of coffee shops in several different ways.  Our perspective views their first phase as being unpretentious, neighborhood-based spaces that served as local meeting places, and served coffee; the second phase keyed into the their  providing and/or creating artisan coffees and baked goods; and the current phase is characterized by their upscale design in newly constructed spaces or total rehabs,  upscale treats like avocado toast, and lunches.  The monthly rotating art on walls by neighborhood residents, funky fixtures, and soft couches  that were common during the early years are absent from the newer shops.

Upper Left Roasters takes place in a space that’s been totally rehabbed.  It’s bright, it’s modern, it has clean lines even with some exposed ceiling, and that makes it a comfortable place to hang out in even without the homey elements that were the hallmark of an earlier generation of coffee shops.

This being their first get-together since the eclipse, M and H traded stories of their journeys to isolated settings in the Strawberry Mountains, and on the Alsea River respectively; the length of each’s total darkness – 2:00 vs 30 seconds; and animal reactions – significant in the Strawberries vs hardly noticeable along the Alsea.  H also told how post-eclipse he and wife P had an eclipse-like spiritual time in the California  Redwoods, and along the So. Oregon Coast.

1204 SE Clay                                      upperleftroasters.com