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Until last week, there was no home pub for some of Portland's best cider. Cider Riot's stuff was made in the garage of Abe Goldman-Armstrong, and the most reliable way to find a keg of Everybody Pogo hopped cider was to visit one of the city's Timbers bars.
But the new Cider Riot taproom (807 NE Couch St., 503-662-8275, ciderriot.com) is not only the one place you're currently guaranteed to get hold of a bottle of truly stellar 1763 cider—a farmy and beautiful number made with traditional English cider apples, judged the best cider in Oregon at this year's Portland International Cider Cup—it's actually a pretty damn good bar.
Going against the recent taproom trend of throwing a few chairs into a box and calling it good, the handmade-feeling bar is a mess of high ceiling, woodgrain and little hidey-holes, with a sectioned-off dart area in the front, a parking-lot patio with shawarma from Ramy's Lamb Shack food cart, and a goofball vending machine.
A collaboration with Cascade Barrel House—mixing its sour tripel with Cider Riot's black currant—is deep-flavored and bracingly acidic, while Amarillo-hopped Chaos de Tejas is one of few alcoholic drinks to make elegant use of blood orange. Guest taps, meanwhile, include brew from neighboring Burnside, plus Portland Cider Company's Sorta Sweet to fill in the sugary gaps for those less accustomed to Cider Riot's drier output.
Kids are welcome till 7 pm, then moved out for grown-ups who like to drink. There's only one real problem—the place closes at 9 pm, unless crowds exert some peer pressure by showing up late. Do so. I'd like to drink here a little later than that.
Willamette Week