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Here are a few things I saw around town the last couple days.
The Hawthorne BridgeBetween the blue sky and the blue water, I couldn't resist taking a picture.
At PSUBattles with (foam-covered) medieval weaponry. A PSU physical education class, perhaps?
If you happen to be out walking along Northeast Killingsworth Street someday, and the breeze is blowing just right, you might find yourself drawn to a small, white building with red trim and a couple tables out front. From that building, a rich, toasted-sweet aroma pours out onto the street, an aroma so attractive that you cannot help but want to find the source. There is no sign outside to tell you where you are, but you will have just found Extracto, one of Portland’s famous micro roasters.
A humble exterior
In my pursuit of coffee knowledge, I had the most interesting conversation the other day with Brandon Arends, a coffee enthusiast/expert, who is about to get his Master of International Management from Portland State University. In past conversations I’ve had with Brandon, his eyes always lit up whenever the conversation turned to coffee, and I wanted to understand what makes Portland’s coffee so special. Brandon agreed to meet with me and talk about the Portland coffee scene. He told me so much that if one quarter of what we talked about stays with me, I will know more about coffee than 95% of the US population.
We met at Coffeehouse Northwest on Burnside Street in Northwest Portland. When we arrived, I asked Brandon what he usually ordered. He told me that he usually doesn’t go out for coffee because he has a “crazy setup at home”, but when he does, he gets a double cappuccino. Rather, I thought he said a double cappuccino, but he really said a double espresso and a cappuccino. What a way to get going!
Our first stop, Coffeehouse Northwest
Today’s adventures took me to Belmont Street, where I stumbled across the Rocking Frog Café. With a name like that, I couldn’t resist stopping into see what I might find. On the corner of 25th Avenue and Belmont, the Rocking Frog occupies an old green house. Go in, hang your coat on the rack and make yourself at home. At least that’s the feeling I got when I walked in. The café looked like someone’s living room that happened to have a coffee bar where the dining area would normally be. A few vintage lamps hung from the ceiling, and there were books everywhere—on either side of the old fireplace, on shelves next to the fridge and in the alcove that acted as the library, where I sat.
Rock it
In order to understand coffee better, I would like to learn how to taste it properly. When I worked for Starbucks a few years ago, I learned some about “cupping” (tasting, in coffee lingo), but I never was able to become an expert at the art. Looking for ideas to improve my coffee skills, I looked around for ways to learn about coffee tasting. In the September issue of MIX magazine, a monthly publication that covers Portland’s food and drink scene, I ran across an article on how to brew great coffee at home. The article surveyed some of the best baristas in town to find out their secrets for making a cup of coffee that people rave about.
One of the sidebars in the article gave some suggestions on where to go to learn the secrets of the pros. One of the tips was that Stumptown gives free cuppings every day at 12pm and at 2pm at the Annex, a tasting room located right next door to the Stumptown Café on Belmont Street in Southeast.
The Annex