Coffee Lover's Attempt for A Perfect Cup of Coffee: Roasters in the Northwest

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Nitro Coffee, Nitrogen-Infused Coffee at StumpTown Coffee Roaster

Tap at Stmptown Coffee Roaster which pours Nitro Coffee

StumpTown Coffee Roasters, Portland OR (3356 SE Belmont Street Portland, OR 97214 Link) was the first to invent the concept of Nitro Coffee (or AKA Nitrogen-Infused Coffee). They introduced the beverage to the public in April 2015; since then, this trend has caught on fire among coffee lovers making some companies such as AC Beverages to start selling nitrogen infusion brewing equipment specifically for coffee called JoeTap (US$4,000-US$5,000).

What is Nitro Coffee? (or AKA Nitrogen-Infused Coffee)

Nitro Coffee served at Stumptown Coffee Roaster

Nitro Coffee is iced coffee infused with bubble of nitrogen air (N₂). Infusing nitrogen has actually been common method used for pouring beer for long time. Beer is usually infused with carbon monoxide (CO₂), but infusing with nitrogen makes the taste more "smooth" with creamy feel because nitrogen does not dissolve well in water making the sensation you might be familiar with in beer such as Guinness. The proportion of carbon monoxide and nitrogen is usually 75% carbon monoxide and 25 % nitrogen. The equipment used to infuse the nitrogen is called restrictor plate also known as "sparkler", the liquid goes through these tiny holes with pressure of nitrogen air which creates the creamy bubble.

Nitro Coffee at StumpTown Coffee, Portland

Outside Stumptown Coffee on Division St., Portland

So what is it like to visit SumpTown Coffee to have these original nitro coffee? You can refer our earlier post about StumpTown Coffee; they have 5 locations in Portland, and they also have branches in Seattle, Los Angels and New York. I have tried their coffee first time at Division Street branch. Division Street branch is located in the middle of residential area in Portland. There are local pubs in few blocks and cozy place to walk around and hang out.

Neighborhood around StumpTown Coffee on Division Street.

The cafe is usually clouded with locals, but I do see some tourists coming in once in a while who wants to try the new coffee sensation. The cafe has nice local feel to it, and it is a very pleasant place to sit and chat over coffee. There are some outside seating which is nice during summer time especially with this nitro iced coffee. There are many customers with dogs sitting outside usually in the summer time.

Inside StumpTown Coffee on Division St.

StumpTown Coffee is known for their fine roasting, and you get to see their roaster inside the cafe.

Coffee Roaster displayed inside StumpTown Coffee on Divison St.

You can order the nitro coffee "on tap" or there are packaged coffee for you to take out as well. I have tried the "on tap" method. The barista was nice, and he let me try a little before I ordered one. You can choose either 12 oz or 16 oz, and they will pour them on glass, or you can order a cup to go.

How Does Nitro Coffee Taste?

Honestly, I love it. I personally like beer and coffee, so this is like heaven for me. The creamy sensation of the form is actually very pleasant over the aroma of coffee, almost feel like there are some milk inside, but there isn't any. As with any other iced coffee, there are some acidity to the taste, but surprisingly less than what you would expect from iced coffee. This is actually one of the effects of nitrogen not being dissolvable and less contents of oxygen available to bond to oxidize making the drink less acidic.

If you want to try nitro coffee yourself, you can try at any of StumpTown Coffee Roasters, and there are more and more cafes serving nitro coffee now. I wonder how long it would take for the large coffee giants to catch up, I would imagine it will be very soon simply because it tastes great!

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Extracto Coffee Roasters, Portland Oregon - Fruity Coffee Perfection

Extracto Coffee Roasters, Portland OR

A lovely neighborhood coffee shop that roasts and serves excellent coffee, Extracto Coffee Roaster is now one of my favorite Portland Coffee Roasters.

Extracto Coffee Roaster (2921 NE Killingsworth St. Portland, OR 97211) is located on Killingsworth St which I have been passing all the time, I did not notice the shop until I read the on my favorite book Left Coast Roast: A Guide to the Best Coffee and Roasters from San Francisco to Seattle. The book calls the shop "Nostalgic Neighborhood Cafe"; and truthfully so, inside the shop is very comfortable nice coffee shop colored in pleasant yellow.

I like the Killingworth St. neighborhood a lot. The neighborhood looks like there are just all residential houses around, but hidden within them are great restaurants, cafe and shops. My personal favorite BBQ restaurant Podnah's Pit BBQ is just few blocks of a walk, so my usual course is to get BBQ and then have a nice walk to get coffee at Extracto Coffee Roaster.

Easy to miss, but you do not want to miss their coffee

Located right across from neighborhood bar and shop

When I visited this time, I asked which coffee goes well with milk, and they suggested 11 which is their signature blend. Moment I put first sip, smell of fruits fill my mouth. I love their coffee!

If you are looking for some nice BBQ lunch + coffee in Portland, or just looking for fruitful tasty coffee, I suggest trying Extracto Coffee Roaster.

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Blue House Cafe, Vernonia, OR - Little Known Great Greek Coffee in A Little Kown City Near Portland

Greek Coffee at Blue House Cafe, Vernonia, OR

I love how Greek people drink coffee. I just happened to have an opportunity to try a very good Greek coffee at Blue House Cafe in Vernonia, OR (919 Bridge St Vernonia, Oregon 97064 link) Blue House Cafe is a Greek Restaurant and Cafe at Vernonia, they roast their own coffee, and their Greek coffee is a must stop. Only an hour away from Portland, there is a hidden treasure for coffee lovers, especially if you love Greek Coffee!

Vernonia, OR - Little Known City

Vernonia is 1 hour Northwest of Portland, "rustic city" is how I want to describe it; very cute little town

Vernonia (population 2000) is a very little town in beautiful mountain about an hour Northwest from Portland. (Vernonia, OR - Wikipedia) The town is well-known for biker's community as Banks-Vernonia State Trail is one of the most beautiful biking trails close to Portland. It is a great one day get-away; you can just have a walk in nature or rent a bike for just a day.

Banks-Vernonia State Trail is beautiful 21 miles bike and walking trail

Blue House Cafe - Little Known Greek Cafe

Above entrance of Blue House Cafe, using cork as decoration - such a nice idea!

In the middle of your get-away day in nature, you can stop by at Blue House Cafe for a great cup of Greek Coffee.
Blue House Cafe is located in Vernonia "Downtown." Since the whole city of Vernonia is just few blocks wide, you do not miss the cafe if you visit the city.

Here is quote from their menu about their coffee:

"We use 100 % Arabica peaberry shade grown coffee beans from the Karnataka region of India which are milder, have less caffeine and more beneficial enzymes. The coffee beans are roasted in house. We only use organic milk and brown sugar for our beverages."

Based on this article about Greek Coffee (very good article) Greek Coffee should be roasted at specific temperature, and the bean itself has to be very specific as well. Blue House follow the tradition all the way from the coffee bean to roasting to serving.

Greek Coffee at Blue House Cafe
The Greek Coffee at Blue House Cafe is served with traditional briki and the aroma and the whole sensation is just to die for. It is served with date; the combination of aroma created by date and coffee just perfectly matches.

Greek Coffee at Blue House Cafe, Vernonia, OR

Traditional briki is used to serve coffee at Blue House Cafe

If you are looking for a one day get-away trip, I strongly suggest to have a hike or bike in great nature at and around Vernonia, and try serious Greek coffee that you don't find anywhere else.

And... by the way, when you visit Blue House Cafe, make sure to use their bathroom; it is one of the most unique bathroom I have ever seen!

View from Stub Stewart State Park (15 minutes drive from Vernonia, OR)

Coava Coffee Roasters, Portland Oregon - Modern Style Perfection

Clean and modern, that is the impression I get when I walk into Coava Coffee Roaster on Hawthorne Blvd; one of their two locations; they call this one "Espresso Bar". Coava Coffee Roaster, Portland OR (2631 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland, OR 97214 Link) is one of popular Portland Roasters that are also featured in my favorite book Left Coast Roast: A Guide to the Best Coffee and Roasters from San Francisco to Seattle. They have been roasting since 2009, and they roasts about 1000 - 5000 lbs per week volume providing wholesale to variety of shops and restaurants.

Their "Espresso Bar" is located at the end of busy Hawthorne Blvd off little bit from the commercial areas where many restaurants and pedestrians walk. If you do not know that this coffee shop exists, you would more likely pass by the shop without knowing it.

Coava Coffee Roasters Outside Portland, OR

Coava Coffee is on Hawthorne Blvd

On the west side of the shop is a local produce market which I enjoy getting some fresh vegetables and fruits whenever I shop by Coava Coffee. It is walking distance from Coava, so I usually carry a cup of coffee to walk to the market.

Local produce walking distance from Coava Coffee

Right across from their coffee shop is nice Safway complex where there is Starbucks coffee inside. I like Starbucks, but not when they locate themselves right in front of local coffee shops. In the past, I have seen my favorite coffee shops going down because Starbucks being built right across from them which is just sad.

Outside Coava Coffee Roaster

By trying out their coffee and the shop, I am very positive that Coava will be in good stand against the competition of such, and once you step inside the shop you notice the "perfection".


Inside Coava Coffee Roaster Espresso Bar

I just love the atmosphere inside Coava Coffee. It is upscale, and very well designed little shop which is very pleasant to sit down and have a cup of coffee.

Inside Coava Coffee Roaster Espresso Bar

When I visited the shop, it was quite early of the day, so there weren't too many people around; however, it is a nice spot to spend hours with nice coffees with a laptop without being overwhelmed by the cloud that you find in many coffee shops around Portland.

I really like how they used a wooden table with holes to be nicely finished to be part of the style of the shop, it gives the "homy" feeling yet provide clean and modern style.

Their coffee is just amazing as well. The one I tried from Columbia has very smooth earthly taste but with enough coffee aroma to cover up the earthiness.

When you are feeling "local" today, I suggest getting a local coffee and some local produce to appreciate what we have around in town by visiting Coava Coffee Roaster, Portland Oregon.

Ristretto Roasters, Portland, OR - Pleasant Medium Roast

Looking for good aroma of coffee? I personally guarantee you there will be no regret after a sip of a cup from Ristretto Roasters (RR), Portland OR (3808 N Williams Ave Portland, Oregon 97227 Link)

The aroma of Ristretto Roaster coffee is unforgettable

Their coffee is one of my favorite ones around the town as the aroma of the coffee really show up on each cup. As their name suggests, "Ristretto" means short shot of espresso coffee made with the normal amount of ground coffee but extracted with about half the amount of water. The word "Ristretto" means "limited" or "restricted" in Italian. (Source: Wikipedia) Ristretto coffee usually has more concentration of coffee chemical as the first part of any extraction take out more chemical from coffee.

Ristretto Roasters opened their door in 2005 and now have three locations in Portland. Their coffee is distributed throughout Portland area through their wholesale operation. I have visited the location on Williams in North Portland area. They are also featured in my favorite book Left Coast Roast: A Guide to the Best Coffee and Roasters from San Francisco to Seattle.

Modern style building with sign

Their Williams location is an up-rising Portland area where you see a lot of new constructions. The neighborhood is very alive with young cloud where you can clearly see the rise of new Portland Generation.

As you approach the coffee shop, you can smell the good aroma from the corner of the street. Just by walking by, it is hard to resist to try out their coffee as the smell of coffee almost hypnotize you to step into their clouded shop.

Inside coffee shop has no seat, indication of popular hang-out spots for locals

Once you walk into the shop, you notice the cleanses and openness of the shop. Pleasantly looking new modern style design are very attractive to stand to wait for coffee. I find no seat to sit down as this shop is clearly a popular hang-out spot for the local folks.

I like the cleanses of the design the shop provides.

I get their coffee and their roasted coffee bean as well. Signing credit card on iPad with Square seems to be the trend for many of these coffee shops these days; the "new" style matches their modern design shop.

I take a sip, and I find the paradise in mouth. Their coffee is non-fruity but very pleasant medium roast with very strong aroma of coffee. I would come back anytime for this cup.

StumpTown Coffee Roasters, Portland OR - Perfect Corner Coffee Shop

In Belmont area of Portland, another roaster that I love to go often is StumpTown Coffee Roaster.

StumpTown Coffee Roasters - Belmont, Portland OR (3356 SE Belmont Street Portland, OR 97214 Link)

StumpTown started out in Portland in 1999, and they now have 5 locations in Portland and expended to locations in Seattle, Los Angles and New York. I like their Belmont one for couple of reasons; the local feel and located in perfect neighborhood to walk around with a cup of coffee.

Outside StumpTown Belmont Location gives a nice local feel

Inside StumpTown - truly a "corner coffee shop"

Their Belmont location of StumpTown is close to Oblique Roasters that I mentioned earlier; StumpTown is located on the corner of the busiest area of Belmont Street. Across and around the shops have some nicely aged buildings which make you feel like you are back in 80s.

A nice neighborhood to walk around

Just four blocks North of Stumptown is Laurelhurst Park where many of the locals walk around with dogs; it is surprisingly large park in such a conjested residential area. The park also has a little pond, and it is very nicely maintained. It is perfect walking distance from StumpTown to enjoy a togo cup of coffee.

Laurelhurst Park is located just 4 blocks North of StumpTown

The location is great, but what about their coffee? Even better. StumpTown is featured in the book : "Left Coast Roast: A Guide to the Best Coffee and Roasters from San Francisco to Seattle" which I have been using to navigate around Portland to find the best Coffee Roasters. The book mentions that "they spend nine months each year in twenty different coffee-producing countries visiting some farms as many as three times annually." In each of the bag of coffee bean they sell, it is marked "Direct Trade" with a nice little card explaining about the coffee grower. Just a simple card make me feel connected to the grower and made each cup special and the taste and aroma differently support it.

Coffee bean from StumpTown has a pocket

Inside a pocket is a little card explaining about the coffee grower

Feeling like a nice walk with a very nice cup of coffee? I suggest an afternoon at StumpTown and the neighborhood that support them.

Stumptown Coffee can be purchased also at Portland Airport (PDX) right inside the security check-point. It would be a nice Portland gift when visiting other areas.

12th Fan Coffee - Seattle, WA

Superbowl is over, but the heat from the Superbowl is still not gone when visiting Seattle. Seattle is the city of coffee, and the home to the Seahawks; there is no doubt that "12th Fan Coffee" is a big hit.

When you walk in the town of Seattle, you see the number 12 in color of blue and green all over. For people who are not familiar with football, you might wonder what this means. The number 12 represents 11+1 where 11 is the number of the players in the team and 12 represents the "fan" supporting the 11 men on the field. Seattle is known to be one of the most passionate NFL fan base, and hence you see 12 all over the city using color of blue and green representing that they support the team. Coffee is no exception.

12th Fan Coffee, Blue Thunder Blend

Seattle Gourmet Coffee now sells 12th Fan Coffee which they label as Blue Thunder Blend. It is six bean blend that is roasted quite dark. People from Seattle have tendency to prefer darker coffee, and this surely is a very well roasted coffee that attracts local fans.

Seattle Gourmet Coffee is a family owned business from Kirkland (city within Greater Seattle Area) started out as espresso stand and now a large wholesale distributor. If you are in Seattle, you do often see the name, and they do roast fine coffee. 12th Fan Coffee is also a very nicely blended dark roasted coffee which I would love to have in the morning after a nice heated game.

Starbucks Reserve, Seattle WA - A New Tourist Spot for Coffee Lovers

I admit; I do like Starbucks.
Portland where I live has a very local-oriented environment where the whole community supports local businesses, and big corporate names like Starbucks in such communities are almost taboo to talk about. I visit different local coffee roasters (like ones from my previous blogs about Roasters in Salem and Portland), and I should almost even never mention the "S" words (I mean Starbucks) in those shops.

But I have to admit that I like coffee from Starbucks, and how they have changed the entire industry of drinking coffee around the world is absolutely amazing and I admire. Their new venture of Starbucks Reserve is surely something more than worth a mention as a coffee lover.

The first Starbucks Reserve store opened in 2011 in UK; the concept of the store is a place where you get to visit the actual roasting facility of Starbucks where you can try their premium coffee roasted right there in front of you. They just opened one in Seattle, WA in December 2014 where their headquarter and the first store is located. I had to visit, and so I did.

Starbucks Reserve, looks like some jewelry store from outside

Starbucks Reserve is located near Seattle's First Starbucks at Pike Place Market. On their website, they make it sounds like it is just blocks from the First Starbucks, but it does take about 15 minutes to walk between; and in the rainy city of Seattle, cab or Uber might be a better options when visiting both (both areas are not an easy spot to find parking lot).

Huge roaster is being displayed nicely inside

Once I step inside, I notice that there are so many... people. I visited right after they opened for the public for the first time, so their entry way was a long line of people waiting to get their coffee.
The store does look amazing; their decor is just nicely and pleasingly done; they have left the rustic taste of old roaster "look" and yet they manage to have a touch of modern feel with shiny pipes running around in the huge open space of 15000 square feet (Their tasting room is 6654 square feet).

They give out freshly roasted beans to customers where we get to smell and touch the warm bean right out of the roaster.

Tank that holds the bean, but it is really a piece of beautiful art.

The whole experience of being right at the roasting process is a visit to remember, and I can assure that many of travel guidebooks will add color pages of this place for Seattle visitors. I can think of many of my coffee freak friends back in Japan who would love to visit this place.
Well, I have to say that they should have thought better for the system for people lining up to get the coffee though. People are just lining up in an open area; it is nice that once in a while a barista brings sample coffee to try out, but that gets quite annoying after waiting for 30 minutes just for a cup of coffee. They should have thought of some system like Disneyland where people can come back in time to ride rather than just standing and waiting.

During the 30 minutes wait, you are presented with "menu" of today's coffee choices where you get to choose which bean you want in your Latte or their selected drinks. Their already heavy labor intensive espresso making is being accented by yet another complex process to add more values and obviously more cost. My premium latte now costs me $7 with 30 minutes wait.

The result? Yes, it does taste wonderful. I felt that the coffee aroma is augmented a lot, and yet has that distinct Starbucks dark roast touch that I like.

Worth the 30 minutes wait? The cup does look premium and nice!

When you are in Seattle, WA, I do recommend a visit to the new Starbucks Reserve, and my only suggestion is that you make sure you have enough time to enjoy the whole experience.

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.