Speckled Ax

Johnathan Nazarian

2024-04

Excellent third wave coffee shop in the heart of Portland. Lighter, flavorful roasts. I tried the 🍁 maple iced latte and was pleasantly surprised. Of note is that their roasts are wood fire roasted 🔥, a rarity.Small, cozy, shop with warm tones, minimalist designs, and very friendly and coffee-passionate baristas.

Asad Shahzad

2024-03

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Nerijus Pudziuvelis

2024-04

I have never tried wood roastd coffee. I had cappuccino (ups, not espresso), but still liked the taste so bought cute match-like packahe of coffee to brew in Lithuania. I love this sample solutions when you travel a lot and want some smaller packages to fill your luggage rather one big package. Cool full cap design as well if you're looking for some beautifull merch.

EmmaLia Mariner

2023-05

The Peach and Blueberry Coffee cake was absolutely delicious.The dirty chai was good, but nothing special in my opinion. If I go again I'll look for a uniquely flavored latte and get something like that.I like the atmosphere and the service was good and friendly.

Taylor Flowe

2021-05

Spent this last weekend drinking coffee in almost every coffee shop around Portland & Speckled Ax was ABSOLUTELY the best that I had. The shop is beautiful and simply decorated. The menu is not extravagant, it simply highlights the delicious coffee. The maple latte is spectacular, as is the cortado. The two baristas I interacted with were the sweetest. Would definitely come back & if I lived in the area, I’d be a regular at that nice high top counter.

Clara Dunning

2023-05

Stopped here for a quick coffee before we left Portland for our weekend visit. Asked if they could make a flat white which wasn’t listed on the menu, they said yes and that their cappuccinos pretty much are flat whites, tasted great, perfect temp and lovely flavour. My husband said his salted hot chocolate was one of the best hot chocolates he’d ever had, and he’s had many! Staff were friendly and nice. Would definitely come back!

Marcellin Kopandru

2019-05

This Coffee shop was quiet, clean, relaxing and an nice find. The coffee was high quality, I am buying more beans from them.The two baristas were nice and welcoming. The service was quick, I am giving them 4 stars, because, perfection is hard to come by.

Collin Davis

2024-03

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Kiki Reno

2022-05

Literally the best breakfast sandwiches we've ever had! Their apple and maple scone was delicious as well! They had wonderful customer service, we will definitely be back again!

Inna Z

2020-05

I got fooled by all the good reviews on Yelp. We walked in during lunch time. Place looked nice inside with plenty of tables available. We ordered a latte and a mocha. My latte was bad and mocha was worse. Everything was off about it. The taste, the look and the foam was off. Mocha had salted chocolate and tasted bad. We threw both drinks out after a couple of sips.

Mike Bolinder

2023-05

I’m laughing at the “bad” reviews comparing this place to Starbucks and complaining about the price. It’s literally the same as bud light drinkers complaining about the cost of craft IPA. This is some of the finest coffee in the world. Good beans are not cheap and cheap beans are not good. If you want malty charred garbage, get Starbucks. If you want cheap, go to dunks or a gas station.I say again- this is some of the finest coffee on the planet. If you want fine coffee, appreciate nuance and applaud craftsmanship, and don’t mind paying for it, this is your spot. Did I mention this is some of the finest coffee on earth?

rodney alejandro

2023-05

This location is my go to when in Portland, ME. As a music maker, any establishment displaying their PRO license, gets my business. As a bonus the coffee is amazing!!Thanks for supporting music creators and making great coffee.

G

2023-05

Coming from Australia it was so good to finally find some truly well made espresso coffee. It's so hard to find in the US. These negative reviews are hilarious: complaining about the higher cost (you get what you pay for), or the small cup sizes (that's a Medium in Australia! Why do people want lightly flavoured scalding hot milk?), or saying you're better off going to Starbucks! If you actually want a well made coffee made with quality beans then you won't be disappointed here.

Michael F

2024-02

The short haired female barista with a nose ring was super rude and catty during our transaction, however she and her coworker both seemed to be very experienced baristas making a very good product.The coffee from Speckled Axe seems to be emulating the most recent trend in western coffee of specialty, single origin, extremely lightly roasted product. Coffee of this style has a much more “planty” characteristic, no matter the origin. You tend to get much more acidic and bright notes from the flavors, very reminiscent of tea, even when properly extracted as espresso. I am glad they exist and are producing a product very representative of this style of roasting, but I am by far a much bigger fan of the heavy richness that can be introduced with more medium level roasts.I purchased a $22 bag of Honduras single origin and I must say, it’s interesting. My friend that does not traditionally enjoy coffee was very fond of the flat white I prepared for her, and even more enthusiastic about the cafe mocha I made after. These lighter coffees lend themselves well to people who dislike the strong flavor profile of more richly roasted coffees, so I will hold onto the Honduras for serving to my more timid friends.All in all, this is a very authentic new wave style roastery and coffee shop, which is true in all its characteristics, including the irritating gen z barista with a nose ring and a random confrontational and condescending attitude. Everything was perfect. Annoying, but perfect.

Kristel Hayes

2018-05

Cool coffee shop, comfy spot to settle in for a cup of cold brew! Delicious coffee & friendly staff. They're lovingly wood-roasting organic beans right in the back of the shop. I'll definitely be back to pick up a bag of beans to go!

Summer SAGE

2024-01

Terrible racist place. New year morning, only five customers in the shop. We are tried to order one pour over, the white guy staff told us he can’t do it bc there are not enough people to do a pour over coffee for us. And we saw he was just making a pour over for another customer and our next table was having a pour over as well. The latte they made for us was so disgusting acidity, threw it. Such a pathetic place!

Nate Hoffelmeyer

2019-05

Cliche hipster style cafe. Awesome coffee, great service, really chill atmosphere, plenty of seating, decent prices. Highly recommend the single origin roasts. This is a great place to come and read or do some work / studying.

Christopher

2021-05

Speckled Ax is my #1 coffee shop in Portland, ME. I've hit all the popular local coffee shops and their Maple Latte is hands down my favorite coffee drink to get in the area. The ambiance is great. I love the small shop on Congress. Once this pandemic is over and we can all enjoy our favorite local spots again, I'll be back at Speckled Ax for a relaxing visit. You won't be disappointed.

Elizabeth Johnson

2024-03

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tleisten

2023-11

A delightfully cozy coffee shop. Positive atmosphere, good snacks, and crafted espresso that hits the spot.

Jonathan Quintanilla

2024-03

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Adam Rich

2019-05

Nice relaxed environment with great expresso. The beans are roasted over wood fire, which is supposed to retain more moisture in the bean for a slower roast. Try the espresso with 3 oz of steamed milk for a strong latte.

Priscilla Arsenault

2019-05

The coffee was fresh and tasty, the cranberry walnut scone and chocolate chip sea salt cookie were delicious! The service was friendly and the place was clean and tidy.

Chris B

2023-05

Incredible coffee. Friendly staff. Quick service. Relaxed atmosphere.This place has a really well curated selection of beans. I tried their pour over and it was actually done right. I had the Colombian as per the server's recommendation and the taste profile was very exotic and nuanced. Delicious.My friend had an oat milk latte which I also tried and was excellent.

Riki Leavitt

2017-05

Oh man, what nice baristas!!! Great sense of humor and seemed happy to talk to us about the area. We were only in town a day. The cereal milk latte is amazing. Love the roasted coffee, Burundi was delicious.

Katherine Smith

2022-05

I spent around $15 for a small mocha and a bacon egg and cheese sandwich. The breakfast sandwich was incredible, the mocha on the other hand was not. It tasted very muddy and very sub par for a mocha. I would go back for the food and the customer service. But the mocha and the price for my order has me weary.

Brad Hendrickson

2023-10

Came to meet up with a friend and, in addition to buying our coffee, I asked if I could have change for a couple dollars to pay for the absurdly expensive street parking. I've worked food service. I tip 25%. I don't have any popped-collar vibes -- normal guy, friendly tone, pretty understandable request.Not only was their No itself a weird disappointment, the delivery from our disaffected 6'3" non-binary barista was such a clownish stereotype of smug, huffy satisfaction in sticking it to the Bourgeoisie. It was SNL's Azrael Abyss by way of Portlandia. It was juvenile and unnecessary even *if* management had a strict policy of refusing to accommodate their customers in this way.What a lame hill to die on. There's a million other coffee shops to try instead. I'll come armed with quarters, and I'll be sure to stop in elsewhere.

Jeffrey Young

2021-05

Chai latte is quite possibly the worst I’ve ever had. Was looking forward to this place because of the reviews but wicked awful.Update: there was a line of people outside and the 1 barista working puts up a “out to lunch sign” and walks away. Doesn’t say anything to the line of customers.I did the polite thing and told everyone they weren’t missing out on the worst coffee shop in town.We all walked over to Coffee by Design and had good coffee.

Robyn Arthur

2023-05

This place cannot be serious. My “latte” that costs over $5 could literally be swallowed up by my hand. I didn’t even know they made paper cups this small. I’m shocked. How can you possibly feel good about your business when charging this much for 10 sips of coffee? You make NY and MA look cheap. Bottom line, go to Starbucks.

Andrew Elegante

2018-05

First time in. Barista was helpful, knowledge and personable. We chatted about coffee and Portland. Was able to get a half decaf Costa Rican coffee that was bright and flavorful with low acidity. Music was a little strange and the old school mechanism on the flashing sign was a little loud but otherwise a great place to sit out the cold and enjoy a book. Will return to try other varieties and foodstuffs.