Water Avenue Coffee

Walking through the industrial district of inner Southeast Portland, you can find Water Avenue Coffee located in the same building as the American Barista and Coffee School. Bruce Milletto and his son Matt, who run the school, joined forces with Brandon Smyth to establish Water Avenue Coffee. Bruce Milletto is well-known throughout the specialty coffee industry for being an expert coffee consultant and Matt is an experienced barista/trainer/teacher. Brandon Smyth, a former roaster for Stumptown, is also part-owner and serves as head roaster for Water Avenue Coffee. With all of this coffee expertise, you would expect to find high-quality coffee and espresso drinks at Water Avenue’s café, and that is what you get. 

Attention: quality coffee nearby

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Christmas Eve 2010 Links

Coffee news (and other stuff) from this week:

Ethiopian Coffee is sitting at the top of the table, three points ahead of Defence, as it prepares to take on St. Georges in the EPL (Ethiopian Premier League) this week. link

Coffee and Free Speech- A group of Baristas who simultaneously quit at Gorilla Coffee in Brooklyn and then sent their grievances to the New York Times are being sued for defamation by their former bosses. This week, Nelson Mandela’s former lawyer decided to defend them. link

Starbucks and Mississippi River Pulp are working to improve and increase the recycling of paper cups. link

The Oregonian says that TaborSpace, a café built in part of the Mt. Tabor Presbyterian Church, might be the “most distinctive coffeehouse in Portland.” You can be the judge. link

More bad news for coffee drinkers’ wallets next year. Brazil’s agriculture minister said this week that the 2011 crop will be 23% smaller than the 2010 crop, the lowest in four years. link

Dunkin’ Donuts would like to see limits on speculation in the coffee market. link

I know it’s a little late for this Christmas, but here’s something to keep in mind for that person who already has everything: a coffee enema in a can. You will love the illustrations. link

I think the TSA could use one. link

 

Merry Christmas to all! Or, if you prefer, humbug!

Why Your Lattes Are Inconsistent

A friend of mine recently asked why the quality of her lattes varies so much between cafés. Why is it, she asked, that when you go to one café, the coffee is delicious, but when you go to another, it’s barely drinkable? The short answer is that not all cafés are created equal. However, that doesn’t really explain much, so I would like to discuss what goes into making a great (or not-so-great) latte.

Before finishing this article, I talked to a couple different baristas to get some of their opinions. One of the baristas said that “once [the cafés] are in the big leagues, you’re going to get a good latte, and it just comes down to which barista makes it the way you like it.”

He was referring to the better cafés in Portland when he made that statement. While what he said may be true, not all cafés are in the ‘big leagues,’ and no matter where you get your latte, the quality is still determined by four main factors. These are the three ingredients—coffee, water and milk—plus the barista, who brings them all together. The quality of these four components is what determines how good your latte is, and as you will see, there are lots of places where things can go wrong.

Made with love

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Public Domain- Live PDX Coffee Theater

Public Domain was the first stop on my  PDX trifecta the other day and I didn’t talk much about the café, so I would like to fill in some of the details today.

Public Domain used to be known as the Portland Coffeehouse and I had not been to the location since it was remodeled and re-branded. The difference between the two is like the difference between a dark, stormy night and a bright, sunny day. I was stunned by the transformation of what had been a grungy Portland coffee shop into the sleek, sparkling, super-hip-looking Public Domain.

Located one block north of Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland, Public Domain is a café owned by Portland’s Coffee Bean International. When you walk into the café, you notice two things. First, from the smell of the coffee, you know you are in a place that has high respect for the beverage. The aromas are strong and sweet, and they really stand out.

Public Domain

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Join Me for a No-Bonk Week

The New York Times had an article this week that talked about the benefits of exercising before breakfast. According to a study published by researchers in Belgium, exercising in a “fasted state” causes the body to burn more fat than it would if a person ate breakfast before working out. In some circles (especially biking and triathlon circles), this type of exercise is called “bonk training”. The goal is to lose weight and to accustom the muscles to get energy from fats stored in the body instead of always relying on carbohydrates. The author of the Times article implies that it might be possible to counter the effects of a high-calorie holiday diet by doing this type of training. It’s an interesting idea, but I’m not sure I would recommend it. There seems to be a lot of dangers associated with it if you overdo it.

Why am I writing about this? I’m not really worried about overeating during the holidays. The real reason is that my brother talked me into playing in an alumni basketball game on December 27th and I need to get into better shape before the game. I exercise fairly regularly, but want to increase my training this week so that I won’t embarrass myself.

What I plan to do is to go running first thing every day this week. Anyone want to train with me at 6am? Not literally with me, although you are welcome to come to Woodstock at oh-dark-thirty every day if you want. We can motivate each other. I’m not planning to exercise without eating anything (no bonking), but I could use some accountability. I hate to get up early, and it will help if you join me.

Here are the rules. You can train wherever you are, and it has to be for at least 30 minutes. The exercise should have lots of  motion. Stretching for 30 minutes doesn’t count—30 minutes of Zumba in your living room does. Sweat is good. We start at 6am PST (if there’s someone who has to get to work and needs to exercise earlier, let me know and I’ll match your time). Sign up below in the comment section and let me know how it goes (post your results or email me at will@caffeinatedpdx.com). I’ll give you a recap of how it went next week. Let’s get after it!