On the subject of Portland coffee, you have got to try Deep Cello - especially their Nostromo for espresso.
Deep Cello is a roaster-only (not a cafe) but there are a few retailers around town who carry it (e.g. Market of Choice), although the easiest way is to buy it from the DeepCello.com website. They win best-coffee awards, lots of positive posts on these sites, the pricing is amazingly low for the quality, shipping is free or cheap, they have a great low-cost 6-8 oz. sample program to try it out, special pricing for first-timers etc.: as close to a can't-miss in the coffee world as I've ever seen. Besides, they're really nice people who listen carefully to their customers.
awesome thread! going to portland for the first time, leaving a week from today. also looking into hitting up some of the crazy good restuarants and food carts. also looking to find people walking their goats. (i've heard that's an activity up there)
On the subject of Portland coffee, you have got to try Deep Cello - especially their Nostromo for espresso.
Deep Cello is a roaster-only (not a cafe) but there are a few retailers around town who carry it (e.g. Market of Choice), although the easiest way is to buy it from the DeepCello.com website. They win best-coffee awards, lots of positive posts on these sites, the pricing is amazingly low for the quality, shipping is free or cheap, they have a great low-cost 6-8 oz. sample program to try it out, special pricing for first-timers etc.: as close to a can't-miss in the coffee world as I've ever seen. Besides, they're really nice people who listen carefully to their customers.
Thank you for all the recommendations. I got to try:
Public Domain Spella Barista Heart Coava Stumptown (downtown) Ristretto and a little place called the Fresh Pot that serves Stumptown.
Least favorite - Spella. Was nothing to write home about, even though I ended up wearing it and going to Macy's and buying a new shirt.
Favorites of the person I was with (Portlander who had never been to most of these places) He drinks Mocha's btw. Heart - was smooth and just right he said. Ristretto - chocolate was richer. He's going back to some of them, maybe I've introduced someone else to great coffee, woot.
Favorites - mine. Had iced coffee at Ristretto that was quite good. Their location made them much less convenient for a tourist. Stumptown. Had.. one of their African's. I'm bad, it all ran together since I wasn't taking notes. It was good, people were nice.
In fact people everywhere were nice although some seemed more into what they were doing. I liked when I was buying coffee at the stumptown to take home and to send to my daughter and SiL that when I said barista's choice, he asked how they were preparing it and then told me why he made the recommendation that he did. I love it when they know their coffee.
Heart was the only espresso I ordered over the weekend and I again got this funny look at ordering it like I didn't know what I was doing. That doesn't make me want to go back. Just cause I'm over 50 and female doesn't make me ignorant of what I order.
I'd not visited Portland until this weekend. I didn't do a comprehensive espresso tour (as has been pointed out, that could result in being pretty overcaffeinated), but stopped in a few places.
I got to try a shot a Stumptown, which was OK; pretty good but not exciting. My wife liked the mocha she ordered; not overly sweet and a good balance between coffee and chocolate. At Public Domain, I really enjoyed the single-origin Panamanian espresso they had on offer. Bright but not sour, forward but not thin. Good stuff. I grabbed a bag of their Prometheus Blend (espresso) to bring home. (As a hardware geek, I was very interested in the Synesso/Slayer pairing. They pulled my Panama on the Synesso.) My wife ordered and enjoyed a vanilla latte, although she didn't like that as much as the mocha from Stumptown.
I was surprised to find good espresso in the town of Mosier, in the Columbia River Gorge. (Population 410 -- saaa-LUTE!) 10 Speed East is a converted house just off Highway 30, and on Sunday morning they were doing a brisk business. My espresso was a bit old-school; clearly from a darker roast than that to which I've become accustomed, but good crema, smooth mouthfeel and no bitterness.
Hood River is a teeming metropolis compared to Mosier (population almost 20x), but still small. Nevertheless, multiple coffeeshops are on the main and side streets. We stopped at Doppio and had a couple of drinks. Again, old-school espresso with dark roast flavors, but again proper crema and mouthfeel.
I was pretty impressed. I went looking for good coffee on the East coast earlier this year, and didn't find much (I may not have been looking in the right places). The coffee exploration side of this trip was extremely satisfying. Good stuff, PNW.
If you are visiting Portland and looking other interesting coffee spots, you may want to check this coffee travelogue I'm slowly putting together: http://darkhothabit.blogspot.com/.
Mr. Greenbeans on NE Mississippi is a great little shop which stocks home-roasting beans and gear, as well as other top-quality coffee paraphranalia. A very cool little shop for coffee geeks.
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