Ristretto Roasters Blog

The Northwest's Best Cup of Coffee

  500 Things to Eat Before It’s Too Late: And the Very Best Places to Eat Them
Jane Stern and Michael Stern. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $19.95 paper (448p) ISBN 9780547059075
Veteran road dogs and James Beard Award-winning food journalists Jane and Michael Stern (Roadfood, Two for the Road) have what may be their best offering yet in this easy to use, consolidated guide to America’s best off-the-beaten-path eateries. Along the way, the Sterns identify the best of everything crave-worthy: regional specialties like cheese steaks in Philly, southern sweets like banana pudding and key lime pie, as well as (admittedly subjective) national rankings for classics like ribs, burgers and French fries. They even scour elusive vendors like Connecticut hot dog wagons and San Francisco taco trucks. Other notable suggestions: a cool glass of the Latino rice milk beverage Horchata at Guelaguetza in L.A., the Northwest’s best cup of coffee at Ristretto Roasters in Portland; and the best cherry pie in Michigan at Beulah’s Cherry Hut. Homebodies can make do with a handful of recipes (including Cincinnati five way chili, and Massachusetts’s Dirt Bomb, a cinnamon and sugar-rolled muffin), but the Sterns’ lyrical and enthusiastic field reports, topped off with suggestions for after-meal exploring (Philadelphia’s medical anomalies museum, New Orleans’s Audobon Insectarium), should be enough to get any reader with a taste for mom-and-pop Americana hungry for the road. (June)

Coffee-Cheese Pairing, May 10

Ristretto Roasters Williams is delighted to be hosting a cheese-coffee pairing on Sunday, May 10 at 1 PM.

Cheese and coffee?

Yeah, that's what we said, until Tami Parr, cheese mistress extraordinaire and founder of the Pacific Northwest Cheese Project suggested she bring over a little aged Gouda, maybe some Valdeon bleu, to see how, or even if, they matched with coffee.

All we can say is: wow! The sparks that flew between the coffees and cheeses, how some were to extraordinarily complementary and others... were not; the sweetness, the smoothness, the creaminess.

We thought you'd like to see for yourselves. Parr will be bringing the cheeses, including Rivers Edge Fresh Chevre, Beemster XO aged Gouda, Uplands Cheese Co. Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Cypress Grove Midnight Moon, and Valdeon (blue). We're providing coffee. You bring your tastebuds and sense of wonder.

Parr will also be bringing copies of her new book, Artisan Cheese of the Pacific Northwest: A Discovery Guide

As with all Sunday Ristretto Roasters events, participation is free.

Din in the Mix

Mix magazine, that is, an article about Portland's micro-roasters. Super-nice piece, though I, as his wife, must mention that, while Din likes the photo of himself, he is much more handsome than that!

The Messiah Hails from Portland

A story about Stumptown's Duane Sorenson, from New York Magazine. The lede:

Duane Sorenson is six foot two. He wears Chuck Taylors, has a beer belly and an unruly brown beard, and ends many sentences with “fuck.” The 37-year-old founder of Stumptown, the Portland, Oregon–based coffee company, is hard to ignore, partly because of his physique but more because of his bordering-on-obnoxious insistence that he knows, better than anyone, just how coffee should taste.

Crossing

Ristretto Roasters is pleased to host one of the North American screenings of Crossing. The film, which the Wall Street Journal calls, "A 'Schindler's List' for North Korea," is sponsored by LiNK, Liberty in North Korea -- you can read about their efforts to establish justice and freedom in one of the most repressive regimes on earth, here. It's the first time we've hosted a film and we hope you'll join us. Admission is free.

Crossing, 7 PM
April 17 and 18
Ristretto Roasters
3808 N. Williams Ave.
Portland, OR
503-288-8667
www.ristrettoroasters.com

Crossing - Trailer from LiNK Global on Vimeo.

Sahagún Gianduja on Toast

So we’re at a wine and chocolate tasting the other night, and there is the beautiful chocolatier Elizabeth Montes, of Sahagún Handmade Chocolates, offering little squares of country bread spread with… what is that?

“Gianduja,” says Montes, pronouncing it “zhan-DOO-yuh,” and explaining that she makes it, from organic Oregon hazelnuts, Valrhona milk chocolate, and fleur de sel, at her lovely little shop at 10 NW 16th Ave., and pipes it into a bittersweet shell and calls it an Oregon Kiss. Though really we recall this from memory, because at the time we were too glazed over, too transported by the gianduja, the sweet, creamy, salty, chocolaty-ness of it, and knew, right then, we needed it. On toast. And thought you might, too.

Add a ramekin of Sahagun gianduja to any toast order for a dollar.

photo by Susan Seubert for AAA Via 2006

$3.50 for a cappuccino... do I get a bowl of soup with that?

Paul Rudd on why not to go to Starbucks. Note: our cappuccinos are $2.60

Ristretto Roasters Sunday Events

Want to learn how to make better coffee, or find out all that goes into making it, from farm to cup? Come to Ristretto Roasters Williams, the first and last Sundays of each month, for classes and workshops from basic brewing to meeting the farmers themselves. First Sundays, learn what you need to know to make great coffee at home. Last Sundays, dig a little deeper into coffee culture, learning its characteristics, origins, and worldwide impact and influence.

January 4, 2009 – 11 am: Brewing method of the month: French Press

It’s elegant, it’s easy, it’s hands on; it’s French Press. Leticia Ramos will lead a one-hour demonstration on how to get the most from any size French press, using several types of beans. Ramos will also discuss the best ways to buy, store and preserve the quality of coffee beans.

January 25, 2009 – 11 am: Monthly Coffee Workshop: Cupping

All coffee roasters must cup in order to decide which beans they’ll buy, but what the heck is it? The simplest explanation is, it’s like wine tasting, with coffee. It’s also fun and delicious and anyone can do it. Leticia Ramos will lead a one-hour cupping, using some of Ristretto Roasters’ new coffees, including those from Brazil and Bali.

All classes are free, and held at Ristretto Roasters Williams coffee lab, 3808 N. Williams Ave., 503-288-8667. More information on our website, www.ristrettoroasters.com

What, No Multiple Choice?

We expect Ristretto baristas to be great with and knowledgeable about coffee; also, punctual, clean, friendly, smart. I also love it when they bring ideas to the table; when they look at what we're doing and feel at liberty to say, "I think we can build a better mousetrap" and then, show the enthusiasm to help build it.

Other cafes in Portland apparently want other things, as detailed in this New York Times piece, which focuses on one cafe, Ladybug, and its requirement of "a five-page job application form that includes 10 essay questions intended to weed out all but the most devoted and cheerful baristas." I'd never heard of Ladybug, and was curious as to why it merited a detailed article in the Times. That said, we know the Times loves Portland; that all manner of coffee culture is currently hot, and the piece is, I guess, as much about getting and keeping a job in a tough economy as one's literary prowess.

Anyway, ten questions of job applicants, in general. What would you ask?

Holiday Hours

Beaumont Cafe:

Christmas Eve: 6 AM - 4 PM
Closed Christmas Day
New Year's Eve: 6 AM - 4 PM
New Year's Day: 8 AM - 2 PM

Williams Cafe:

Christmas Eve: 6:30 AM - 4 PM
Closed Christmas Day
New Year's Eve: 6:30 AM - 4 PM
New Year's Day: 9 AM - 3 PM