Tuesday was a day that a coffee connoisseur would have enjoyed. I ended up at three different Portland cafés—Public Domain, Water Avenue Coffee and Coava Coffee—not quite the original plan, but it worked out well.

After participating in a webinar about social media, I had to hustle to catch the bus to downtown. I arrived at the #19 stop just as the bus did. The ride took about 35 minutes and dropped me off at Pioneer Square. I crossed the square and headed toward Public Domain. Located on Broadway and Alder, Public Domain is a café owned by Coffee Bean International, one of Portland's larger specialty roasters. You might not know much about the company, since much of what CBI does is produce private label coffee for other companies. CBI’s own brands are Panache, Public Domain, Café Tierra and Un Momento.

Public Domain

I walked into the brightly-lit shop and looked around for a minute. I asked the barista about the available espressos. He pointed me to a sign on the counter. There were two available: an El Salvador single-origin from Sterling and CBI’s own Prometheus blend. I chose the Prometheus and went  to sit down.