This article appeared in the Miami Herald July 1, 2007, and is based on one of David Schargel's (founder of Portland Walking Tours), walking tours called ''Epicurean Excursions''. While the article gets our coffee connections dead wrong, the rest is quite amusing.

Give your taste buds a tour of Portland
BY CAROL PUCCI
The Seattle Times
...
Besides wine, beer and coffee, the city is known for tea. Oregon Chai, Stash Tea and Tazo Tea are all homegrown, and at least a half-dozen cafés around town specialize in exotic Asian blends. One is the Tea Zone, opened seven years ago in the Pearl District by husband-and-wife team Jhanne Jasmine and Grant Cull.

The weather was nice so we gathered at one of the sidewalk tables. Schargel passed out lemon cookies (acid to clear the palate from the mustard), and poured cups of a fragrant jasmine pearl, smoky oolong and a sweet black tea flavored with lychee fruit.

I was beginning to see that there was logical order to the foods we were sampling.