Salem, OR : French Press, Governor's Cup Coffee Roasters and Cherry

It is the season of cherry blossom, and Salem Oregon is a place to be.  I am from Japan so cherry blossom means a lot to me; I grew up biking under a long street of cherry blossom.  When there are winds, the view is amazing you can't even see feet away from you.

Salem, OR in front of the Capital is my favorite spot to see cherry around here. The park overlooks the Capital building with a golden man, and the cherry filled on both sides of the park looks amazing with full bloom of cherry. (Did you know that the capital building has solar panel system which lights up the golden man?)

Beautiful cherry of Salem

I was able to hit the right sunny day for the Coffee Spying activities in Salem OR.  I used to live in Salem, and I know that there are two coffee roasters I like in town; French Press and Governor's Cup Coffee.  I was able to hit both in one nice day.

I have been traveling coffee roasters with my favorite book  "Left Coast Roast: A Guide to the Best Coffee and Roasters from San Francisco to Seattle".  It is too bad that they skipped Salem all together, they really missed these two great roasters. 

French Press Coffee and Crepes
2725 Commercial St SE, Salem, OR 97302 Link

If you like darker side of coffee, this is a shop for you.  To me, their coffee tastes similar to Starbucks but a bit more elegant. Elegant is probably a good way to describe their shop as well.

The Seating outside French Press on Sunny day

 The outside has nice patio area where people can sit enjoy the coffee and chat.  Though too bad, it is on noisy Commercial street, it is great feeling to be outside.

The inside is very neat and you can see their proud roaster in the front

You can order their coffee online which is nice.

When I say darker or milder, I actually didn't know until recent that there is difference between darker vs bold.  My favorite blog talks the difference on their site but in summary darker means they roast longer, and bolder means it has more of coffee taste. French Press is more on the "darker" end, and the milder would be the coffee served at Governor's Cup Coffee in Downtown. 

Governor's Cup Coffee Roasters
471 Court St. NE, Salem OR 97301

This was my favorite shop to be on Saturday morning with a book.  The shop is in downtown, and nice cozy space I like. I think they upgraded the floor since I was there long ago.  But the cozy feeling of the coffee shop with some couches and desks make it a nice spot to be with a good cup of coffee.  Unlike other most roasters where they display the roasting machine, this shop doesn't.  I kind of like that; it is not showing off; if you know it is good;  you don't have to show off. 

The shop is very friendly and a lot of local repeaters hang out.

I really like the personal touch

It is only few blocks from the Capital, so you can walk out from here with a cup of coffee in hand to see the cherry at Capital. It is difficult to time the timing because cherry usually blooms only for a week a year; but it is a great feeling to hang out with coffee in hand and look up some beautiful cherry. I recommend.