Stumptown Coffee Roasters

I almost left Portland for the second time without stopping in at Stumptown Coffee Roasters, the best boutique roaster in the Northwest and, arguably, the country. The final day of my visit, my friend Chelsey mentioned that she had written an article for Rolling Stone's Hot Issue about Stumptown and had spent the day there cupping coffees and learning about their business. Moments after hearing about her experiences, I checked the NY Times and found an article, published two days earlier, on boutique roasters, including Stumptown (and their related non-profit, Bikes to Rwanda, which provides bicycles to Rwandan coffee farmers and workers to assist them in their work - check out their blog).

It was 3 pm. My flight wasn't until 10 pm. I had plenty of time to go to Stumptown. I decided to go to the Belmont Street location because I could try the espresso and go next door to the annex and try their Clover machine, which makes French-press style coffee, automatically, one cup at a time.

The variety of roasted beans available on a daily basis is staggering:

I usually don't like to buy roasted coffee - I prefer to do it myself at home with my I-Roast 2. But Stumptown roasts exactly as I like it - not too dark, so the bitterness is virtually absent.

So I purchased a half pound of Nicaraguan Las Golindrinas Estate, the coffee I read about in the New York Times. It was the #1 Nicaraguan Cup of Excellence winner this past year and it retails for $80/lb! The estate has only been in existence since 1977 and today is only 90 hectares. They only had 14 bags for sale in the auction this year, which Stumptown won (and paid about $100,000 for). The Jury awarded it nearly 95 points (fantastic) and described it with the following attributes:

Jury Descriptions: multi dimensional (24), sweet (22), extremely aromatic (24), crisp bright lively and round acidity (22), citrus (15), chocolate (10), buttery finish (15), long sweet lingering aftertaste (20), rich body (10), mango, vanilla, cherry, jasmine flowers, green apple, peach, grapes, blackberry, cantaloupe, effervescent, rounded, honey, very clean

I'm a sucker for the Cup of Excellence winners:

It is one of the smoothest, most delicious cups of coffee I have ever had. I look forward to drinking another cup tomorrow. Incredible. Everything the jury said, maybe better.

The five-group head Kees Van Der Westen espresso machine (I've seen smaller versions at Vivace in Seattle and Metropolis in Chicago) was amazing.

I bought a double espresso. Of course I took a picture before I drank it:

Great crema, a little messily pulled. The crema was as good as any I've had anywhere. Lasted a long, long time. The flavor was super-smooth.

Great espresso? Oh yes.

My next stop was the annex, just two doors down from the main shop. The annex is an interesting concept. They sell only French-press style coffee, from the Clover machine. They also use the space for cuppings that are free and open to the public. Just don't wear perfume. Or clove oil.

The walls of the annex are lined with coffee beans in glass jars, a sight that usually freaks me out (exposure to light is not good for coffee beans). But it looked like they had only enough stock to last a few days...or so I assured myself (note: the lids aren't really air-tight, so the beans do oxidize and change over time, even if not discernible to most).

I was too late to attend one of their cuppings (they have them twice a day). I didn't really know what to get, so I ordered a few cups of coffee and watched Megan use the Clover. It looks pretty clunky but makes a great cup of coffee:

I had a cup from a micro lot from El Injerto, a Guatemalan estate that previously took #1 in the Cup of Excellence judging. It was very good. I had a couple others - a Colombian #1 Cup of Excellence from La Esperanza that was delicious and one other that I just can't recall. This chart, from the Cup of Excellent website, shows the COE Auction winners and how much they paid.

Megan thoughtfully wrote on each of my cups so that I would remember which was which. They were great - each so different, but each was delicious as it cooled.

By the end of my day I had consumed nearly 2 cups of drip coffee and two espressos. Yeah, I was wired. My only regret was not going earlier in the day so I could have tried even more.

Update 3/26/08: The New York Times reported today that Stumptown has stopped using the Clover machine after Starbucks bought the company. I don't blame them. Given Starbucks' inability to roast coffee properly (ie not to burn the hell out of it), the Clover is now reduced to a novelty, there for status but little else, as the coffee it produces at Starbucks (using that badly roasted coffee) tastes terrible. I wouldn't want to be associated with that either.

Comments

[Clara Seasholtz]

Thanks so very much for the link; truly great to hear from someone that appreciates the passion not only of the taste of great coffee, but also the responsibility we all have to farmers who cultivate the beans. Applause.

I am just back in Portland from my first trip to Rwanda - I work directly on the Bikes to Rwanda project with Stumptown. We have made some fantastic progress in our first year of existence as a non-profit. Was incredible to see that progress first hand. For your readers interested, I made several blog postings while in country - www.btrblog.blogspot.com. Thanks again for your support and interest. Best to you on your adventures.