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Desperately seeking espresso in Portland, Oregon

You'd think finding espresso in Portland, Oregon—the current coffee capital of the world—would be easy. Not so. I had lunch with a friend at Green Dragon today. After our meal we asked for a couple of Americanos. A few minutes later our waitress came back to tell us that someone had turned off the espresso machine, putting it out of commission for "quite a while." So off we went to grab some somewhere else.

We drove to the Bakery Bar. They had closed at 2pm. From there we drove to Redwing. They had just closed at 3pm. Growing frustrated, we headed to Genie's where they opened a coffee shop next to the restaurant a while back. They'd just closed—both the restaurant and the coffee shop! (Their website wishes me a happy Thanksgiving and helpfully informs me that they'll be open on Thanksgiving Day, but won't be serving espresso...). We walked over to a new cafe where Ramekin's Cafe used to be—and they were closing. All just after 3pm on a Saturday afternoon! What town am I in?!?!?

Just as I was starting to think we were going to have to drive to Seattle for espresso we remembered jáce gáce over on Belmont. And they were open! So that's where I'm going first from now on. Sheesh!

Great espresso from a toy company

Many readers are probably familiar with the Aerobie flying disc - "the astonishing flying ring." The Aerobie was used in 2003 to set the Guinness World Record for "the "longest throw of an object without any velocity-aiding feature." Erin Hemmings threw the Aerobie 1,333 feet (406 meters) - more than a quarter mile. It was airborne for 30 seconds.

I don't think the company will set any Guiness World Records with its foray into the world of single-cup espresso making, but it is winning converts. I saw a single AeroPress sitting on the shelf at Sur La Table in downtown Portland. The rave reviews on the box made me want to at least take it for a spin so I bought it. I have to say, I'm not disappointed. There are some great reviews online so I won't bother going into great detail, but I will say that in addition to making the smoothest home-pulled espresso I've had, it is extremely fast and easy to use and clean. It's now my default espresso maker at home.

Click the image for a larger view.

Links:
Official product page
Aerobie quarter mile throw
Great review from SingleServeCoffee.com

Portland Barista Personality Index 2007

Lest there be any confusion, Fresh Pot sits in the just right area of the index. They're not plastic perma-grin baristabots, but they're not more-crema-than-thou jerks, either. They're just cool peeps who know their stuff.

NOTE: "Espresso Nazi" is a reference to The Soup Nazi:

"The Soup Nazi" is the title of the 116th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, which was the 6th episode of the 7th season. It first aired in the United States on November 2, 1995.

The Soup Nazi is also the name of the character played by Larry Thomas. The term "Nazi" is used as an exaggeration of the over-regimentation he constantly demands of his patrons.

The Soup Nazi | Wikipedia

(I suppose the over-regimentation he constantly demands of his patrons would actually be more true of Starbucks... I'm always impressed by how when I ask for a double tall americano with room the bilingual cashier instantly translates it from English into Starbuck-speak so the apparently monolingual Starista can understand and make the drink...)

Overheard: Now no more singing!

I'm sitting at a coffee shop in Southeast Portland and there's a guy with a guitar playing and singing. When he finished the song he was playing a little kid at one of the tables shouted—to the now silent coffee shop:

Now, no more singing!

Awkward silence. Then he started playing and singing again.

Overheard: We have Starubucks in Atlanta, but nothing like Tiny's

Overheard at Tiny's Coffee on SE 12th in Portland:

Customer: Is Tiny's a chain?

Barista: There are two locations in Portland.

Customer: Well I'm from Atlanta, Georgia -- as you can tell by the accent -- and we have the Starbucks and Caribou, but nothing like Tiny's. This is so neat!

Barista: Well welcome to Tiny's!

[Editor: Note to self: Never, ever go to Atlanta, Georgia. If forced at gunpoint to go, insist on being allowed to pack a french press. And a pound of Hairbender blend.]

Overheard: Why so... black?

I'm sitting in a coffee shop on Southeast Belmont (Portland, Oregon). I was working on my laptop, engrossed in my project, when I sensed someone approaching me. It was a white-haired man who appeared to be in his seventies. He was grinning from ear to ear and said,

"What happened?! Everyone is wearing black! It looks like you're all in mourning or something!"

With that he chuckled and headed for the door. He was wearing white pants and a red and white sweatshirt.

I turned to look around. Sure enough—all 15 or so of us in the coffee shop were wearing all or mostly black, from head to toe. Three more people came in over the next 10 minutes or so—all wearing black.

Muddy Waters Coffeehouse: Best coffee shop in Portland?

Muddy Waters Coffeehouse on Southeast 29th and Belmont (Portland, Oregon) may just be the all around best coffee shop in town. That's a huge claim to make in a town that many consider to be the new coffee capital of the world.

I make this statement at a time when I was about to give up on trying to work at coffee shops at all. I work from home and like to get out for a few hours a day, but it seemed like no one shop could get it all right. Muddy Waters is as close to perfect as I've found.

I use instant messaging, e-mail, Web conferencing and voice over IP telephony, so the most important thing for me is bulletproof wireless Internet access. Muddy Waters has DSL and encrypted Wi-Fi and they change the password every week or two. This keeps all the homes and businesses around them from using them as their free ISP—typically a heavy hit on the bandwidth at a lot of free hotspots. Muddy Waters connection is usually excellent. They've had a couple hiccups, but they were on the phone with their provider immediately to resolve the problem. More importantly, one of the staff went around to everyone in the shop with a laptop to acknowledge the problem and let us know they were working to fix it! It's the first time I've ever seen that in years of working at various wireless coffee shops.

They serve CBI (Coffee Bean International) coffee. You probably haven't heard of CBI. They're headquartered here in Portland and are "one of the nation’s leading specialty roasters of fair trade and organic coffees." CBI hasn't displaced my favorites (Stumptown, Victrola, Café Umbria), but it's very good. I've never had anything but americanos and drip coffee, so I can't say anything about their specialty drinks like mochas, lattes, etc.

It's a very comfortable atmosphere with a lived-in feeling that belies the fact that they're only a couple months old. The tables and chairs are comfortable and plenty, as are power outlets. They have a couple of couches in a section in the back. The high ceilings and big windows make the place feel light and airy, even on gray winter days. The music is typically of the easy-listening variety, played at a volume that allows private conversation while not being too loud to put on headphones and listen to what you like. The staff are friendly and eager to take good care of their customers. They bring your order out to your table.

One thing that definitely merits mention is the food at Muddy Waters. It would stand on its own anywhere, but it's particularly good for coffee shop fare. Their bagel sandwiches, soups, wraps and regular sandwiches are all excellent. I've eaten both breakfast and lunch there a number of times. And it's all very reasonably priced. They bake their own pastries fresh each morning and make their own flavored cream cheeses, as well.

Lest this look like an ad more than a review, there is on thing on my wish list for Muddy Waters: a self-serve water dispenser. They'll give you a large glass of water if you ask for it, but I don't want to have to keep asking every time I want a refill. Though they're very friendly and happy to oblige when I do.

[UPDATE: They now have a big, self-serve water dispenser.]

If you want a solid Internet connection, good coffee, great food, and a pleasant environment, Muddy Waters is your place.

Read more about Muddy Waters Coffeehouse at WiFiPDX

Update: Three Friends Coffeehouse & Cafe does it right

Just over a year ago I posted a review of Three Friends Coffeehouse where I said that everything about the place was wonderful—except for the dismal Internet connection. I decided to give them another try today and I'm very glad I did. They seem to have fixed the problem. The connection is one of the fastest I've found and very solid so far. They're playing good, unobtrusive music at a volume perfect for both conversation and studying. I'll definitely be spending more time here.

The village is not your babysitter!

I could do an entire series on the bizarre phenomenon of some people seemingly passing all functional brain matter in their first trip to the bathroom after having a child. Okay, okay—I know that's incredibly harsh. But I'm feeling pretty harsh at the moment. No offense to the many wonderful parents out there—I know many.

I'm at what was, until about 30 minutes ago, a very pleasant, relatively quiet coffee shop on Southeast Belmont (Portland, OR). The shop was pretty much full to capacity, mostly with people who looked like they were doing homework or working. Then a woman walked in the door pushing a Baby Assault Vehicle (BAV). She weaved through the spaces between tables and chairs, impatiently rearranging the furniture to clear a path. When she passed me she shoved the chair next to me in and said, "Excuse me!"

As my luck would have it, she sat down in the chair immediately in front of me, across the table from a guy who'd been sitting there working on his laptop computer. He greeted her and then looked, with stifled surprise, at the toddler in the BAV. "Sorry," she said unapologetically, "You know how it is." Turns out she was here for a business meeting!

The child almost immediately starting pitching a fit. She asked the guy to hold on and pulled the kid out of the stroller. I could see where this was going. She went back to giving her associate her undivided attention and the kid started digging through the bag she'd brought. Presto! Tupperware container 'o cereal! This became a rattle for the next five minutes with the kid running around shaking it and making everyone in the vicinity both annoyed by the noise and worried that they might be showered in Capn Crunch at any moment. That emptied a couple of nearby tables...

Too Much Coffee Man Opera Animation

It's hilarious.

[Psssst! Be sure to read the 'Italian' subtitles.]

View it here:
Too Much Coffee Man Opera Animation

If that link doesn't work, try this one:
http://www.tmcm.com/opera/animation/