California-Based Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Has Opened Its First Oregon Store

The company’s claim to fame is its Original Ice Blended drink, which one of its baristas invented at the Westwood location in 1987.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Photo courtesy of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
By Andi Prewitt

You can get a world-class cup of coffee in pretty much any Portland neighborhood. Despite the competition and the beverage’s rich history in the Pacific Northwest, a California brand is opening up shop here.

Today, the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf began operations at its new store at 1175 McVey Ave. in Lake Oswego. It is the first of several planned openings in the metro area through Bambuza Hospitality Group, a local franchise that owns four Bambuza Vietnam Kitchen restaurants.

“Coffee isn’t just a beverage in Oregon, it’s a culture and a highly desirable market for any coffee retailer,” said Sanjiv Razdan, the brand’s president of Americas and India. “Our opening today in the Portland metro area underscores our commitment to bringing our beloved beverages to more guests and demonstrates our strength as a leading roaster and retailer of coffee and tea.”

The first Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf shop opened in 1963 in Southern California, where founder Herb Hyman began importing and roasting beans. A decade later, he moved the production facility to Camarillo—just Northwest of Los Angeles—and continued to grow the business from there after establishing direct relationships with growers.

The company’s claim to fame is its Original Ice Blended drink, which one of its baristas invented at the Westwood location in 1987. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is also the first global retailer to offer cold brew tea.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Photo courtesy of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

The Lake Oswego shop offers a variety of Arabica coffee grades from specially selected estates around the world that are custom roasted, in small batches, in California. You’ll also be able to find whole-leaf teas and a menu of fresh-baked goods, as well as seasonal options like breakfast sandwiches and burritos.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled to take place at 10 am Thursday, March 17, with the mayor of Lake Oswego, Joe Buck. If you want to see how the new arrival stacks up against your favorite local roaster, there will be three days of grand opening deals to take advantage of, including discounts on food and drink.

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