Search CPDX

Coffee News and Information
Tags
ABWG adventure advertising AeroShot airplanes ambition America Angel-in-us art Australia bakery barista barista championship baristas basketball beer Beijing birds blogging bonk book book review Boston bravery Brazil brewing methods Briggo buildings bus station business cafe cafe review Cafe Show caffeine caffepdx cappuccino Case Study celebrations censorship championship cheese China Chinglish class Coava coffe coffe shop coffee coffee book Coffee Fest coffee review coffee shop coffee shops coffee tour community competition contest courage create culture cupping cups dating Datong Dayton decaffeinated decisions diversion dreams driving dunkin' eating economics economy education entrepreneurship environment espresso ethics exercise family farming five questions flowers food Fox News freelancing friends funny goals Godin graffiti Great Wall green coffee Greyhound grinders Guillebeau guitar hacking Happy Cup harmony harvest Heart heat HFC history holidays hood river hostel how to brew how to roast humbug humor iced interview Italy Johns Landing judging junk food keep it weird kid-friendly kind strangers Kobos Korea languages latte life links love marketing Massachusetts mead Milletto MIlstead MistoBox Mongolia Trip music new perspectives new year news Nicaragua non-conformity Nossa Familia nutrition NWRBC obesity pastries PDX people persistence philosophy picture pictures poetry politics Portland power presentation private equity quality rain Ralph Waldo Emerson rant restaurants reuse review Ristretto roaster roasting running San Francisco SCAA SCAA 2012 Seattle self-reliance Seoul service shakerato shopping single origin sivers Smyth snow social media society sounds specialty coffee Starbucks Steampunk Sterling Coffee Stumptown subscription suburb success sustainability Tacoma tasting tea technology Torque tour traffic travel traveling Trust30 USBC Vancouver varietals videos wandering water WBC weather whisky wine winter work writing
This form does not yet contain any fields.

    Connect and Share

    Follow CaffeinatedPDX on Twitter facebook button

    Tweet, tweet...
    Archive
    « Keeping it Weird | Main | Coffee Fair (PDX) »
    Monday
    Nov082010

    Coffeehouse Northwest

    I struck out the other morning for Coffeehouse Northwest (CHNW), one of the leaders in Portland’s single-origin espresso movement. I was confident that I was going to drink some good espresso and learn more about coffee, which is something that I would not have guessed from its appearance. The first time I saw the café, I was walking along Burnside and had just passed a bunch of taverns, so I didn’t give it much credit as a café. I wrote it off as just another Burnside dive. I was grossly mistaken. Fortunately, Brandon Arends corrected me. The people inside Coffeehouse Northwest are very knowledgeable and passionate about their coffee.

    You might not realize what's inside

    When I got to CHNW, I asked about the espressos “on grind.” The barista told me that they had two—both single origins. The first was from Buena Vista, El Salvador (I missed the roaster’s name). The second was also from El Salvador, but it was from Finca Malarca and roasted by Ecco Roasters in San Francisco (I wish that all cafés had a board or at least a piece of paper with the name and description of the coffees on grind for the day. It would make my job easier and it would help transmit the information better to coffee junkies like myself ).

    I told him I wanted to try both so that I could compare the two. Learning about coffee is a never-ending process and drinking the espressos one after the another would give me a good comparison.  One of the cool things about CHNW is that if you order two espressos, they only charge you $3. Normally, each espresso would be $2 each. A dedicated espresso drinker like myself really appreciates this.

    I had a cold that day, so I was worried about being able to taste the flavors, but my sense of smell was still strong enough to pick up some interesting things. The first thing I noticed on the first espresso (pulled at 24 seconds on the Synesso, according to my barista) was that the crema was very tart, almost sour. As I drank down a little farther, the coffee was much sweeter. I also tasted some chocolate notes that my barista said should be there. When I added sugar, flavors filled my mouth. There was definitely acidity present, but I wasn’t able to ascribe it to any particular fruit.

    After an hour in the café, I went back to get my second espresso. It was quite different. The crema was very nutty, almost like peanuts. When I drank a little bit deeper, I wasn’t getting much more than a toasty, slightly smoky flavor, but then suddenly out of nowhere, a burst of fruit hit my taste buds. After another sip or two, I identified the flavor as cherry. It was a sweet, bright fruitiness without much tanginess. It was very different from the other El Salvador coffee and very good as well.

    An inside perspective

    Overall, I think Coffeehouse Northwest deserves its reputation as one of  Portland’s better cafés. If I ever lead a tour of Portland’s best cafés, I would make it a priority to take people there. The café space is straight-up Portland and has character. There is a lot of exposed red brick in the walls and the hardwood floor looks like it has been walked on for a hundred years without being refinished. The espressos are top-quality and they change frequently so it’s like an espresso treasure hunt to go there and see what they are serving. If you are just walking by, you might not think much of Coffeehouse Northwest, but step inside and you won’t be disappointed.

     

    Vitals
    Address:1951 W. Burnside Street (map)
    Phone: 503-248-2133
    Hours: Monday-Thursday 6:30am-8pm          
                Saturday-Sunday 8am-5pm
    Coffee: Varies
    Free Wi-Fi? Yes
    Recommend it? Yes
    Website: sterlingcoffeeroasters.com

    PrintView Printer Friendly Version

    Reader Comments (1)

    I really enjoyed their hot chocolate and cappuccino.

    November 28, 2010 | Unregistered CommenterJunu

    PostPost a New Comment

    Enter your information below to add a new comment.

    My response is on my own website »
    Author Email (optional):
    Author URL (optional):
    Post:
     
    Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>