wilder

NEITHER/NOR

Disappointments on a rainy Sunday.

Coffee in Madame Bovary

These fellows were home-roasting way before it was cool.

FEAST PORTLAND x STUMPTOWN

Oh hey, I forgot about these -- from the Feast Portland x Stumptown event from last fall. Read the article here.

a coffee cupping

Lately my kitchen counter has been overflowing with more bags of coffee than I know what to do with, so today I had a little cupping with the gentleman pictured above. We narrowed down our selection to just six (simply because we only had six matching cupping bowls on hand), and decided to go with three Colombians and three Kenyans. Roast dates were all completely off -- I think the Coffee Collective was from mid-December -- so it wasn't perfect, but we worked with what we had.

The coffees:

1. Colombia Hulla El Desarollo, The Coffee Collective, Copenhagen, Denmark

2. Colombia San Sebastian, Handsome Coffee Roasters, Los Angeles, California

3. Colombia Vereda Pedregal, home-roasted by Thomas, Portland, Oregon

4. Kenya Gichathaini, Heart Roasters, Portland, Oregon

5. Kenya Nieri Kieni, The Coffee Collective, Copenhagen, Denmark

1. Kenya Nyeri AB Gatomboya, home-roasted by Thomas, Portland, Oregon

(Thanks so much to Barista Lab for sending me the Handsome Coffee, and to coolest Wille of Heart for the Coffee Collective.)

Tyler admitted he was pretty skeptical about the home roasts, but he was surprised to find that they were actually rather good. Both of the Colombians by Handsome and Thomas tasted like beef broth or stew -- kind of like French onion soup, I thought (but what do I know) with an up-front Kenya-like acidity. Tyler thought the TCC Colombian had a tartaric, fruit-like acidity, but was kind of one-dimensional, and Thomas's Kenya was crisp, tart, sweet with a rhubarb, vegetal quality. We all agreed that Heart's Kenyan was our absolute favorite -- that watermelon hard candy description is completely spot-on, and it had a delicious butterscotch finish. 

Afterward, caffeinated and quite hungry, we went for a walk near Mount Tabor before the sun went down, pink-nosed and sniffly from the cold, then found a place for dinner. A lovely way to spend a winter afternoon with very good company.

the best hot chocolate

Hot chocolates (the best you'll ever have) on a December afternoon, Coffeehouse NW, Portland, OR.

a gem

A late-afternoon visit to Analog Coffee. We chatted with a nice fellow named Gabe who happens to work for the start-up roastery Slate Coffee, which I'm excited to hear more of.

söndagsmorgonfika

Late-morning fika with Dave and Thomas on the rainiest of Sundays, Coava.

lowell

Coffee breaks in unexpected places, Lowell, Portland, Oregon. We were greeted and offered  Water Avenue coffee by the cutest of shop owners. The coffee wasn't the most delicious, but the shop was so charming that we didn't mind at all!

De La Paz Coffee Roasters, San Francisco, CA.