Short-Take: Portland’s Coffee Central · Wednesday July 2, 2008 by colin newell
Portland is that third city on the West Coast that is similar to Vancouver and Seattle.
Comparable in size to Vancouver, both cities share many similarities: industry, port city, wet winters, trendy urban districts, fiery-hot real estate markets…the list could go on.
The Portland coffee scene seems to be on-par with Vancouver’s as well. Two weeks ago, I visited the city for an annual sports competition I compete in, and made some time to check out the city and the coffee scene within.
After some research and mapping out good coffee spots around the city relative to my hotel, Stumptown Coffee Roasters looked to be the spot. Cruising through some of Portland’s more historic neighborhoods in the Hawthorne district, I arrived at Stumptown.
The original location where roasting occurs daily, I thought this would be the location to take in the full Stumptown experience. Housed in an old low-rise brick warehouse, the location is in a quiet residential neighborhood; the perfect setting for a great coffee meeting place. I decided to start the tasting off with an espresso macchiato, a good choice to test out the espresso.
Hair Bender is their espresso mainstay; it is a lighter roast, sort of a northern Italian style. These guys know how to prepare a proper bar drink as well. After cruising around the back of the retail store and snooping around their roaster and bins of ready-to-roast green beans, I gained the sense that these guys are really into the source of their product.
Cruising through their website, the focus on supporting sustainable growers and the socio-economic aspects of coffee overseas certainly appears to be a focus for this company. I then grabbed an Americano for the road, and 1lb. of Hair Bender whole beans to enjoy once back in Vancouver.
There are five locations of Stumptown in the Portland area, and two locations much closer to me in downtown Seattle. I came away from my visit making some very similar comparison to a few coffee shops in Vancouver. JJ Bean and 49th Parallel could be seen as the Vancouver equivalents of this Portland shop. I will say that the Stumptown espresso is right up there with the best I have had on the West-Coast (considered to be coffee-central for North America). As well as checking out a few more independent coffee shops in the Portland area, I can now say that this city has just one more thing in common with it’s two Pacific-Northwest sister cities to the north.
Dave Reimer is a Vancouver resident, gold medalist rower, itinerant dude and all around great guy. His contributions periodically grace the coffeecrew blog.
Summer all food, fun and drink marathon - Vote for your favorite cafe · Wednesday July 2, 2008 by colin newell
When you are sitting in one of Victoria B.C.‘s many fine cafes, you cannot help but notice the very hipness of the scene here. We are, arguably, in the middle of a rennaisance in cafe culture and Victoria is a leader in style and overall quality – comparable to Seattle, Vancouver and Portland, Oregon – 3 important intellectual leaders in the coffeehouse happening.
So, there is lots to pick from in this city.
But if you are a fan of the coffee scene in Victoria, which one really appeals to you above all others?
Another good question is: Are your coffee needs being served here? Although we have all kinds of java joints, seemingly something for everyone – it is entirely possible that something is missing. If so, let us know.
In the meantime, pop over here and take our feature poll.
Conversely, you can blip us in the comment fields below.
Thanks!
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The quirky the funny the silly in Canadian living · Monday June 30, 2008 by colin newell
We get a magazine from time to time… with our daily paper. It comes along maybe once a month.
And not everyone gets it. We get it because we live in a somewhat Chi chi neighborhood… and we are renters… for now. heh-heh heh-heh heh-heh.
This magazine is a tome to conspicuous consumption, to gratuitous excess, to the joy of being all that you can be… better. It represents about 1/10 of 1% of the local population in terms of net worth.
Photo below – The magazine picture above is a spoof of the one that I am talking about. Click it for the full meal deal
So, if you are not driving a Mercedes-Benz, or a Bentley, or a Jaguar – then your are definitely not worthy of reading these gold stained pages.
But it begs the question – who the heck reads this stuff and buys all these gilded products; botox treatments, solid gold-plated bathroom fixtures, kilo-buck spa weekends and real estate listings that boggle the imagination?
Anyone?
It is Un-Canadian. Canadians are a modest lot – and we do not flaunt it… whatever it is. And yet this magazine exists. Full of ads of Real-Estate agents that only sell zillion dollar houses… and lawyers for rich people that have gotten themselves into a pickle and plastic surgeons for those occasions when the lawyer cannot get you out of the pickle and you need to change the appearance of the pickle.
Get my drift? No?
Anyway – in this, the first in a continuing series on Canadian oddities in our society, I will peck very gently at the delicate gold plated under carriage of Canuck society.
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Summer all food, fun and drink marathon - Bard and Banker Pub · Sunday June 29, 2008 by colin newell
If I was to take a snapshot of one moment in time on the Government Street arcade in Victoria B.C. Canada – it would include thousands of people; people with ice-cream cones, people on honeymoon, locals experiencing the color, buskers making a sweet noise, the less fortunate and the too fortunate.
Smack dab into the middle of this conflagration is the brand new Bard and Banker Public house. The Bard and Banker is one in a chain of locally owned and operated pubs; including the likes of Irish Times (2 blocks away), the Penny Farthing in Oak Bay village and others…
Like coffee houses, T-shirt emporiums and real estate – it is all about location.
And the Bard and Banker is within that oh so precious sweet zone along Government street that supports the tourist foot traffic. Like everywhere else, people who stay in downtown Victoria (at one of our many fine hotels) walk up Government Street probably as far as Pandora or Fisgard – and that is it.
The Bard and Banker has been open for about 24 hours so ours was the first visit. Their menu is traditional pub grub with some unusual twists (I will go more into that on my second visit and follow-up). I had Steak and Ale pie with a fine Kilkenny Irish Cream ale – and Andrea has the Bison Burger with a Boddingtons English Ale. Despite the fact that they have been open a night maybe two, they were on their game. All the wait staff appeared to be sharp and responsive; girls in tartans somewhat more modest than their Irish Times counterparts and the boys in kilts – a nice touch.
I loved my meal. There are few comfort foods more satisfying than Steak Pie – this particular version is like a thick Irish stew with lots of baby carrots and mushrooms – bite size chunks of sirloin in an impossibly rich Bass ale infused sauce. I would not hesitate to order this again… and again… and again.
Andrea would tackle her Bison burger again – its caramelized onions and Stilton cheese were great components – I think she would have preferred her fries a little thinner in the cut and perhaps all dressed.
The Bard and Banker is a winner – the layout, staffing, menu and kitchen are obviously in order and it is a heck of a great place for people watching with numerous interesting site lines.
Come on down. For a pint and some great pub grub.
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