Black Sheep Bakery, maker of surprisingly yummy vegan treats at 833 SE Main Street, has installed Portland’s first bike-thru window. And the best thing about it? No cars allowed.
Owner Amanda Felt has outfitted her new retail space (she’s been selling wholesale for years) to offer special service to her biking customers. Bikes can pull along the side in a protected area near the parking lot. She’s even got a custom “Bike Thru Window” sign, a rubber strip that rings a bell for service, and a daily special that includes a coffee, muffin, and a patch kit!
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I checked it out for myself today and it was a lot of fun. Dawn, Amanda’s wonderful employee, treated me to a lovely marionberry muffin (thanks Dawn!). She even sent me home with a free coffee coupon (read the fine print):
Now go show Dawn and Amanda how much we love businesses that treat us special. Black Sheep Bakery is located at 833 SE Main (just N of Hawthorne, on the SW corner of ActiveSpace bldg.) and they’re open from from 8-3 weekdays.
Thanks for reading.
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i feel loved and manipulated at the same time. i love this town. and i’ll be hitting up the window.
i’m not surprised the vegan treats taste good.
especially here in portland.
sweetpea bakery, daily grind, monkey wrench, and many others are FABULOUS!
Fantastic! What a great way to innovate. Now I’m wondering, is there somewhere on the property to park and enjoy your coffee and muffin?
Any idea what the opening hours are? Weekends?
Never mind. There it is at the bottom of the article – 8 – 3 weekdays. Dang – I can only get there on weekends.
Friggin’ awesome! I’m sorry the hours won’t work for me though.
Steve
awesome! my bike commute just got way better.
This presents an interesting dilema: How to drink coffee and ride your bike at the same time. I know there is a cup holder product out there but it’s like $25, which is ridiculous. Does anyone have a schematic for a DIY? Or a place where I can get a cheap one?
This would also be a great product to sell by the bike-through window. Crafty bikers, start your engines! (ahem, creative engines…)
Thanks, I’ll be swinging by soon!
Also, there’s a BTA discount: a free size upgrade (a large for the price of a medium, etc) on coffee for BTA members.
Drink coffee and ride at the same time. You need a thermal water-bottle type container. I have one; got it from Campmor, but they don’t have it anymore.
Go here for the scoop (or grind)…
http://www.bicyclecoffeesystem
s.com/
gabrielamadeus
I have one of the spendy SomaFabrications “Morning rush” coffee holder.(http://www.somafab.com/morningrush.html)I received it as a gift & I love it and use it almost everyday(though the cup leaked and I replaced it with an alternative).
Anyway, it is expensive and I have seen an alternative. I know that Cyclepath has had the both the Soma & cheapo versions at their shop. If memory serves me, the cheapo version is under $10. However it does not have a quick release feature(which the soma has). I find the QR handy when locking the bike up outside or when not wanting to have a cupholder ‘always’ on.
Jonathan, Is that a TwinSix t-shirt I see you wearing in that picture? If so, did you purchase it somewhere in town? I haven’t seen anyone (other than myself) sporting their threads in town. I know the founders so it is great to see their founders getting some traction!
Cupholder for bike? I found the cheapo version at Community Cycling Center, betw. $10 and $15 if memory serves. Not quick release, but on my SUV folks usually don’t mess with the bling. You have to try different cups to find the best grab, though. Hit a bump and some cups decide to go airborne.
This is really cute. What a great idea. If I didn’t work from home I’d stop by on my commute 🙂
Build your own Soma knockoff cupholder — here’s how:
1. Buy a 4″ diameter hose clamp at any hardware store (it’s a metal ring with little rectangular holes cut out of it and a bolt on the side. When you turn the bolt, the threads ride in the holes and either loosen or tighten the clamp)
2. Slip it under the clip for your handlebar-mounted light. You will probably need to pound the hose clamp with a hammer to make it conform to your handlebar (pound it against a piece of scrap metal or something other than your handlebars).
3. Take a screwdriver and adjust the diameter of the hose clamp to fit the diameter of your coffee cup. You might need to do some looking to find a cup with the right geometry. (The sides need to slope out more than many cups do; it’s likely that a paper cup would crumple in this holder, but paper cups taste funny and you shouldn’t treat your coffee like that in the first place)
Coupla notes: you can’t leave the light in place when using the cupholder. I ride to work when it’s light and don’t drink coffee on the way home, so the two uses don’t conflict for me.
An edge of my holder rests on part of the brake assembly (but does not affect my braking); you might need a grippy shim to make sure the cup holder doesn’t slip around the handlebars.
Oh man, I LOVE the stuff black sheep makes. Seriously. The peanut butter brownies, trailmix bars, and pumpkin galettes are SO good. Oh man. I think we need to take a NE crew trip down there on the next sunny weekday!!
ooooh, I knew there was gonna be perks to being a BTA member…(get it?) 🙂
Can’t one just use a commuter mug within the water bottle holder? Of course, you stow the wb away for the morning, and vice versa on the way home with the cm. Just need to find the right fit.
I stopped by today! Enjoying the jo and cranbran muffin right now.
I like to have my coffee right there in front of me and drink while riding. I’ve done the one-hand thing for months, but I think I’ll finally tackle the homemade hadlebar holder tomorrow.
I stopped by Black Sheep Bakery this morning, bringing a half dozen of their pastries to the Shift Breakfast on the Hawthorne Bridge where they were well appreciated! They also do espresso, bagels, a breakfast sandwich, and a lunch sandwich.
They could use a little more advertising, like flyers, cards and sandwich boards a block over each way on Salmon (bike boulevard) and on Madison (bike lane).
BTW, their patch kits include a wrench! They sell them separately for three bucks.
As for cup holders, I got a couple of the Starbucks travel mugs (one large, one small), the kind with a little flip-down plug for the sip hole so they don’t splash, and just carry one in my water bottle holder. Works a treat.
Hey thanks for that link Lynne! bicyclecoffeesystems.com is one of the most random, interesting and just plain wierd websites I’ve seen in a while!
My new goal is to not just drink coffee while riding, but to grind, brew and drink during my commute just as suggested on the site.
ahhh, how portland! We’ve got bike powered smoothie blenders and bike powered sewing machines, why has no one made a bike powered coffee grinder/brewer. Even better, the bicycle courier coffee fellow could grind coffee on his way to deliveries.
Thanks for all the holder ideas, folks!
I swung by today with my young charge and we got some tasty muffins. We couldn’t see the selection very well from the window and had to make the nice woman inside rattle off a list of available items,so one suggestion I would make is to perhaps make the display visible. Anyhow, it was fun to bike through.
that blueberry cornbread muffin was vegan?! it was really good.
you become a minor celebrity in your brief time at the bike-thru window. all the people inside looked to be on the verge of pointing, and a passerby said, “are you using the bike-thru window? cool!”
as for carrying coffee along, my yuppie commuter thermos fits really nicely into my water bottle holder. unfortunately, it was a gift, so i only know that it’s from china.
is she selling peet’s coffee?
That would be much work, to deliver brewed coffee/ grind it. its fun just to bike around.
check out this cup holder. it\’s stainless steel and the same price as my last few plastic ones.
http://www.bicyclecupholder.com
It is a polished stainless steel cup for holding beverages with a high quality foam liner that keeps drinks cool or warm. It has a metal attachment for gripping bicycle handlebars, with full stainless steel hardware to ensure maximum durability. Unlike other recreational drink holders, the KROOZIE™ has no-slip rubber traction pads, so losing your drink on the road won\’t be an issue. In addition to all that, NO TOOLS REQUIRED for installation on a bicycle.