*Warning: This post contains a lot of exposition and backstory.  To skip the the actual review, look for the pictures.*

    Alright, now that I got that unfortunate post about Peet’s Tea and Coffee out of the way, I feel I can start from the beginning on our culinary adventures in Oregon.  The goods ones, that is.

    As I mentioned before, Mike and I got to go to Oregon last weekend for my college roomie’s wedding, and we both knew that we wanted to try as many local places as possible.  We actually ended up eating local fare about 85% of our trip.  For anyone out there who is timid about branching outside of familiar, comfortable chain restaurants, I have to tell you that you are missing out.  Eating locally not only supports the local economy--something the locals will thank you for--but it usually tastes better too.  Local eateries and whatnot tend to buy local as well, which means they buy only what’s in season.  If you’ve ever eaten fresh-picked strawberries or apples right off the tree, you know that there is a certain wholeness to that food.  It is a wholeness that produce that’s been shipped in a refrigerated truck across several state lines simply lacks.  Okay, off my soap box now and onto the food!

    So anyone who knows me even somewhat well knows that I really enjoy specialty coffees.  These are the coffee drinks that have chocolate and whipped cream and flavoring.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it’s barely coffee after all that, but whatever.  Now, these coffee drinks don’t hold the magic for me that tea does, but there is one drink that seems, to me, almost like a marriage between tea and specialty coffee.  That would be chai tea.  Gretchen, the roommate who got married and the whole reason we went out to Oregon, always talked about how much she loved Oregon and Pacific chai, but I only got into it within the last year.  For those unfamiliar with this strange drink, chai is tea and has a spicy kick that reminds me of good Earl Grey, but it’s got body like coffee and gets a healthy dose of foamed milk with it.  I didn’t really like the one “dirty chai”--that would be chai with a shot of espresso--I tried.  It’s a little too much.

    The wedding wasn’t until the evening, so Mike and I decided we would explore Hood River and the Columbia Gorge during the day.  The night before, I texted Gretchen and asked where a good place to get Oregon chai was.  Gretchen texted me back “Holstein’s”, so I looked up Holstein’s online that night and found out where it was.  The next day, we head to the address and found a coffee shop, but it wasn’t Holsteins.  We never did find this mysterious place, but I’m sure it’s wonderful.  Instead, at the address that the (lying) Internet told us to go to, we found Ground.

    Ground is pretty much exactly what you would expect an independent coffee shop to be: Small, quaint, and charming.  It was very cozy inside, and they offered a slew of different beverages and bites, the heartiest being a squash soup.  What really surprised me, though we later found this to be quite common, was that the coffee shop offered a wide selection of wines and beers.  Oregon apparently has a booming wine industry, and I fully recommend checking it out if you ever got the chance.  I’m not a beer person, so I can’t comment on that part of it.

    Mike ordered his usual hot chocolate and a fresh, hot, gooey cinnamon roll.  How do I

know the cinnamon roll was all of these things?  Because I tried it, of course!  Mmmmmmmm...nummy.  I, on the other hand, ordered my chai with great expectations.  Ground did not disappoint.  I got a banana with my tea and dipped--yup, I’m a dipper--it in the chai before I actually started drinking.  You know how you can tell if a chai is good?  When the foam is tasty.  I kid you not, I knew from the sweetness and spice of the foam that this was going to be awesome and, boy, was it.  It was like drinking heaven.  It literally was the best chai I have ever had.  Hands down.  I would go back to Oregon just for that if I could have it every day whenever I wanted.

    The moral of today’s story.  Eat local and, if you ever get the chance, go visit both Ground and Holstein’s in Hood River.  Good luck finding, Holstein’s, though.