Ahh, Bird of Passage! The familiar place that wiggled its way into our hearts after just one visit and has remained there all this semester since.
We discovered Bird of Passage when Elizabeth was staring out the bus window on her way to university one morning. She noticed a sign out front that advertised specialty coffee. Excited to have discovered a new place, she reported back to Cristiano on her finding. As you may or may not know, for over two years Cristiano has had a passion for seeking out specialty coffee shops, each cup of coffee as unique as the places that serve it. In that time, he has explored nearly every specialty coffee shop in Porto, tasted a myriad of unique, distinct coffee flavors, all while enjoying (and sometimes despising) the various atmospheres that surround him in space as he sips.
So, when Elizabeth suggested they try this new place, he was surprised that he had never come across it in the past. They later learned that it had only opened in July 2018; Cristiano and Elizabeth had spent the summer in America, so naturally, they had missed the memo. Since they arrived back in Porto for the semester, he had enriched her in all of his favorite specialty coffee shops (keep an eye out in the future for reviews and overall rankings on those!). They have had good experiences and bad, but Bird of Passage has proven to be the best thus far.
Initially, Cristiano was a bit reluctant about trying Bird of Passage. Not long before going there we had tried several specialty coffee shops that only bought their coffee from another coffee shop we had previously visited in Gaia called “7groaster,” alluding to the puristic opinion that an ideal single-shot cup of espresso should contain 7 grams of ground coffee beans. While there are multiple elements that influence our opinions, when we go to a new place, we are specifically looking to experience new flavor profiles and thus expand our palates.
Among their ranks, some of Bird of Passage’s personnel aspire to one day take on the endeavor of owning a roasting factory—an ambitious pursuit and one that we would certainly keep an eye on! There is a greater variation of what one can achieve when one starts from scratch. You are given a level of granularity that can make or break you, but ultimately distinguish you from the competition. When roasting beans, there are no absolutes, no laws, and everything is done with an end goal in mind—what kind of flavor profile are you trying to create? What type of extraction are you going for? They do an incredible job at picking the right beans, and the coffee has yet to take on the flavors of the roast itself. Although personally, I do wish certain beans of higher acidity got pulled earlier, before reaching the level of a Northern Italian roast, right in between the first and second crack stage, in order to preserve the more delicate floral and sweet notes of the beans. At the time of writing, the role they play in the roasting process is unknown to us.
When it comes to the quality of their espressos, they are probably second to none, at least in Porto. The ground coffee beans are weighed meticulously each time and they use a crotchless portafilter, like any good, self-respecting barista would—the Pesado Naked Portafilter. In case you didn’t get the memo, crotchless portafilters became popular because they allow you to diagnose and troubleshoot the quality of the shot. Some have postulated that, due to the fact it touches one less channel of metal, it produces a less adulterated shot with more crema.
There is no need to visit other specialty coffee shops as the espresso, served with a shot of Pedras to cleanse the palate, changes once or twice a week and is always single-origin. Something that is quite rare nowadays for an espresso, where blends which pride themselves on their more balanced flavors predominate. Paolo, the owner, described this as “a way to identify what has changed, what the difference is.” Furthermore, “if you have more than two origins and someone claims to like the taste of the coffee, it is almost impossible to pinpoint which one it was.”
For the more fanatical coffee addi-, aficionados(!) there are a myriad of different brewing methods to try, some of which might feature a blend, as opposed to single-origin, but we are coffee snobs (patricians) who only drink espresso, so those are beneath us. :^] Ironically, espresso is the most common brewing method, despite being the most intricate and flavorful.
In regards to food, the menu is small but diverse—with seemingly simple yet complex dishes that were carefully crafted to strike a perfect balance. Nearly all of them target the five tastes (scientists have argued there are now six, or even more), contain a multitude of different textures, and mix-and-match ingredients at different temperatures—the three most essential aspects when designing a dish from scratch. More often than not, you will see chefs targeting all five tastes rather unsuccessfully, by failing to layer their ingredients in such a way that all flavors, textures, and temperatures come through sequentially, with each bite exhibiting the aforementioned traits.
Worried you might exhaust your options after too many visits? Don’t be: the menu changes every now and then, and the daily special is usually unique. Additionally, “soup of the day” has recently been added to the menu and, like everything else here, it changes on a daily basis.
The cakes inspired us. Before meeting Elizabeth, Cristiano’s taste in baked goods was broad but peculiar—despite loving fruit, he abhorred it on his pastries and cakes. Upon visiting the States he came across an untold number of sugary, fruity combinations. He would initially turn his nose up. After eating up an entire batch of blueberry muffins, banana walnut pancakes, and more, Cristiano’s palate expanded, and he gained a serious appreciation for baking with fruit.
As you may have picked up from our first post, “Who We Are,” we do our best to eat sugar in moderation (you can expect a post in the future on this topic… It wasn’t always this way, especially for Elizabeth). But on our first visit to Bird of Passage, we couldn’t help ourselves from staring at that week’s decadent carrot cake topped with a mascarpone frosting and a variety of seasonal, fresh fruit, including colorful sliced figs. Cristiano is a sucker for a great carrot cake, so the temptation was too much. We had a beautiful piece of cake, and naturally, we paired it with a cup of espresso. Our aversion to a high intake of sugar makes us particularly picky when it comes to sweets. But this cake deserved all the applause. While the carrot cake itself was in fact moist and yummy on its own, it was the creamy, yet sweet mascarpone frosting decorated with ripe fruit that stole the show. Elizabeth has been baking with fruit all her life, but fresh figs are almost unheard of in the Northeastern part of the USA, where she grew up. Cristiano was the first to introduce her to them, but neither of us had ever thought to bake with the fruit, nor use it on top of a cake. Bird of Passage’s cake would go on to inspire us to bake with fresh figs, making our own cakes, delectable jams, and more. W̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶y̶e̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶r̶y̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶B̶i̶r̶d̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶P̶a̶s̶s̶a̶g̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶ ̶l̶i̶v̶e̶d̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶s̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶e (the apricot chai cake was too good!), I can assure you that much like their breakfast and lunch dishes, the presentation of each cake is consistently gorgeous, and oftentimes unexpected, offering loads of inspiration for those who enjoy baking at home, like us.
It is a rather eclectic space—the rooms are ample and tastefully decorated, and the tables are spacious, with a central contiguous one that runs through the whole second half of the main room. The bravest among us may find seating outside, alongside plants and fruits that might make it to their next dish.
Studying/working is encouraged with the free WiFi, as well as the existence of multiple plugs spread throughout all rooms. The concept is then taken a step further — workaholics are able to rent a separate, isolated room to hold meetings, for a fixed rate, and many other extras to pick from, such as food and beverages.
Bird of Passage closes fairly early by most people’s standards, at 6PM during the week and 5PM during the weekend, but it will sporadically hold events either during their normal working hours, or after. Due to the team’s wide range of interests, this will likely keep you on your toes, as no event will be like the other.
Ultimately, the charm of Bird of Passage is a culmination of the superb food and coffee, the space itself, and other elements... But we couldn’t possibly talk about what makes Bird of Passage so great without also mentioning the cast of quirky characters who run it. With only four core employees, each from a different part of the world, they are a unique and down to earth troupe of close friends who will make you feel right at home, embracing you into the atmosphere with the conversation that they quite literally bring to the table. ;) They will treat you like a close friend, while still giving you the space you may occasionally desire. We could go on about the individual personalities, how unique each one is, but we’ll leave that for you to find out on your next coffee date. While there are many “ingredients” that keep us coming back to Bird of Passage, it is the sincere team that pulls the experience together time and time again.
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