I'm Nora Vale. This is our little place on Foundry Road, and the story of how we got here.
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01 / Newport, OregonMy mom worked the early shift at the harbor in Newport, where I grew up. Before school, we would sit on the sea wall with coffee and watch the tide come in. Everything else in the morning had somewhere to be. The water took its time. I still think about those mornings when I put the kettle on. Slow Tide is named for that little bit of quiet we had together. I wanted to put that feeling in a bag you could take home.
02 / A quieter kitchenI spent ten years as a line cook in Portland. I liked feeding people, and I liked the work of getting something right with my hands. After a decade of kitchen shifts, I wanted a quieter life. In 2018 I moved to Riverbend, where the rent was cheaper and opening a little place of my own felt possible. Coffee gave me a way to keep making something for people every day. I bought a used 12-kilo drum roaster, signed the lease on 77 Foundry Rd and got ready to open.
03 / March 2020I opened the doors in March 2020, the week everything closed. For months, the cafe had no customers. I had imagined people sitting here with their second cup, and suddenly I was looking at empty seats. The subscription was supposed to be a side line. It became the whole business for a year. Neighbors signed up for bags, and those same neighbors are still on it. When I roast their coffee now, I remember what those orders meant. That is why the subscription has such a big place here.
04 / See you TuesdayWe still roast twelve kilos at a time. The small batches let me taste carefully and make little adjustments before the next roast. We work directly with specialty importers who help us understand where each coffee comes from, and we choose it together by tasting. I want to know what I am putting in your bag. Tuesday is roast day, every week, and Wednesday is shipping day. The people who kept us going built a morning around this coffee. Keeping that rhythm for them is part of the work I love.
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