All The Perks

On the hunt for more cafe's serving different brands of beans, we came across a small shop in a strip mall near Albertsons in Happy Valley that serves Longbottom Coffee and Tea. We have passed by this place several times going back and forth between home and New Seasons, yet wasn't sure if it was indeed All The Perks or another cafe given there are two signs on the front of the facade. One is quite large and says, "Coffee House," or something to that effect, while the other reads, "All The Perks" yet it is very small and impossible to read from the road. Given there aren't many coffee places in Happy Valley we figured it was a safe assumption that we had found the place we were looking for and finally stopped in yesterday to check it out.

The inside was quite surprising and impressive. The coffee bar is gorgeous and we really liked the booths they have. Pastries appeared fresh and tasty, although we behaved ourselves and didn't order any. The barista was very nice yet asked the dreaded question..."Would you like that more 'wet' or 'dry'?" This came after the fact that I had to order a 12 ozs. cappuccino as it was the smallest size they offered...and it was put into a paper cup. 3 strikes and you're out, baby. We were a tad crushed. Neither of us has ever had Longbottom Coffee but in reading about their espresso beans on their website, they seemed like a good one to try. Plus, we were hoping to find a cafe closer to home that we could hang out in from time to time and enjoy a cappuccino made by someone other than me. Okay, maybe I wish for that more than "he" does given I'm the one that always makes the cappuccinos in this house. Unfortunately, my cappuccino was obviously a latte and there was no way to even get a sense of how the beans tasted. We didn't think to ask if All The Perks sells the Longbottom espresso beans so I may swing back by there and find out. I also forgot that Longbottom offers several blends of espresso and am unsure as to which one was served in our drinks.

Sadly, when we arrived home I dumped mine out and had to make our own.

Ristretto Roasters

Ristretto Roasters is one of the few coffee shops in Portland that does not serve Stumptown beans. And while we love Stumptown, we also love variety. In trying to find a cafe that served a different brand of espresso, we came across Ristretto's. They roast their own beans right in the cafe. Thus this was next on our list of places to try. We stopped in at the cozy shop, situated right across the street from a really old schoolhouse, on a Saturday afternoon. Like many coffee houses this one bears the typical decor of eclectic furniture and art, however behind a wall in the back lies the roasting room. This is where the magic happens. Albeit stinky magic...or so I'm told.

We placed our order, two cappuccinos and a muffin for me. The girl working the register asked me what size I wanted. That definitely caught me off guard as I'm not used to being asked this question in the more "serious" coffee houses. I had to think for a moment and answered, "The smallest size you have." Then we specified that it was "for here," paid, and grabbed a table. It seemed to take awhile for our cappuccinos to be made, especially given there was no one else in there. Finally one of the gals told us our coffees were up so "he" headed to the counter to get them. Unfortunately they were in paper cups. Nooooooooooooooo. Que disappointing. I think we all know how I feel about paper cups both for taste reasons and size reasons. That big 'ole cup meant there was no way to truly sample the taste of their espresso. Sigh. What we could taste was nice. Sadly it wasn't enough to get all the complexities and flavors like we should have.

So once again we'll have to put off a real review until we can try a proper cappuccino from Ristretto's. I guess it gives us a good excuse to make the trek back up there, yet we'd prefer to make it again because we loved what we were served...not because we didn't get to sample it the way we should have.

Stumptown - Belmont

Sticking with trying all of the closest Stumptown's, our next stop was at the cafe on Belmont St. Just a quick jaunt up from the one on Division, this one was a tad smaller than the other. The building is, as you would guess, typical Stumptown. Exposed brick, a mix of different chairs and tables, original artwork gracing the walls, and killer light fixtures. When we came in it was fairly quiet. As per our usual we ordered two cappuccinos and grabbed a table. Sadly, mine ended up being a tad bitter on the first sip or two. Again, this doesn't seem like the norm at the shops downtown, and I really hope I just hit a couple of off days in the two cafes. "He" said his was good which I never know if that is code word for "passable" or if he truly likes it. I wouldn't have been surprised if his was better than mine, however. The man is full of dumb luck and if ever there is a chance for him to get something better, well then he's the one who is going to get it. That's just how it is. I'm still waiting for that to wear off onto me. A girl has to dream!

We'll visit this one again and possibly do another review. In the meantime we'll just keep picking up Stumptown beans and brewing our own at home.

Tag...I'm it!

Jen tagged me. And because I totally dig her, despite never having met her, I will do this for her. Really you guys all want to know more info about us (me), right? RIGHT??

So the guidelines are that I am to tell you seven things about myself that are true. Do I add "him" in too? Nah, he's not as interesting as me anyways. ;)

1.) I wanted to be a veterinarian from the time I was 8 until I was in high school and found out how long I'd be in school for. Oh, that and I suck at math and science. Bummer.

2.) I cannot stand to have my wet hair get under my shirt when I'm getting dressed after a shower. It freaks me out. Ick.

3.) My favorite color is yellow, however there isn't much of it in my house.

4.) If I had the option I would have at least two more dogs. Total animal lover!

5.) I used to hate beer, especially dark beers, until I met DH and he taught me how good beer can be. Now I actually like trying all the new beers we come across and looking for certain ones to try.

6.) When I was in labor with our son, I watched Jaws. I love that movie.

7.) I have no fashion sense. My typical outfit consists of jeans with a comfy top and shoes that I like. Or pajamas. I love me some pajamas.

That was so riveting. I had you on the edge of your seat, didn't I?! I.am.so.fascinating. Look for me to be named one of People's Most Fascinating People soon. It's coming...I can feel it!

I'm supposed to tag people, yet I don't know who to tag. So I'll leave that part off. I'm such a slacker!

Stumptown - Division Street.

Now you all know how much we adore Stumptown Coffee Roasters. We would do just about anything to have a creamy cup of cappuccino from them. Almost anything. Driving downtown, finding a parking space, and then walking forever to one of their locations isn't nearly as romantic as it is when we stay overnight "in the city." Before we moved here, everytime we stayed in Portland we were always downtown and made a point to hit at least one Stumptown once a day. Things have changed now. One of the very first things we did even before we made the big move north was to find the closest Stumptown to our new home. While it isn't super far away (in the grand scheme of things) it's not close enough to make the trek daily. That's probably a good thing for us! All that matters is that we can buy their beans, freshly roasted, at our new favorite supermarket - New Seasons. Still, being who we are we simply HAVE to check out all their locations, right? So first up we stopped in at the cafe on Division Street.

Here is where I should back up a bit. "He" and I came up to look at houses about 2-3 weeks before we were set to move. The trip was a quick one and only afforded us one opportunity to grab some coffee. On our second night in town we figured we'd grab an early dinner and then head over to the Division Street Stumptown for some after dinner joe. Plus, this gave us a chance to time how long it would take to get from Stumptown to the new place. We pulled out of Olive Garden's parking lot around 6:30 p.m. Using the handy dandy GPS we arrived to a lit up, hip looking building around 6:50'ish. On the way in we noticed several people making an exit and before we crossed the threshold I took a quick glance at the hours of operation and saw they closed at 7 p.m. I stopped. He stopped. We left. Neither of us wanted to torture the baristas who were dutifully cleaning up by ordering two cappuccinos a scant 5 minutes before the doors were to be locked up. It was tough...believe me it was tough. Both of us had been craving a good Stumptown cuppa for a long time and you know once you get your heart set on something it can be difficult to let it go. Alas we did. This is partly why the Division Street Stumptown was the first one we checked out.

The place itself is very cool. Old, authentic, Stumptown'ish building with people coming and going, or settling in to read, write, talk, laugh. The line to the counter was LONG. And slow. Three baristas were working that day, yet it took over 10-15 mins. before "he" was able to place the order. I noticed that our cappuccinos looked very different from each other. His looked as if the foam had properly mixed with the espresso, whereas mine appeared to have separated somewhere along the way. Mine was a tad bitter for the first few sips which is not something I've ever come across at a Stumptown before. He was quite happy with his. Overall mine was good, way better than some places we've tried for sure, but for me it wasn't nearly as wonderful as the Stumptown's downtown. We'll be back to the Division cafe for sure and maybe I'll be able to change my thoughts.

Ch...ch...ch...changes

Okay Cuppa fans, we have big news! After much consideration and life changes, we decided to make the move to Portland (still Oregon, not Maine). It was a tough decision as we have many friends in Bend and have called it home for over seven years, but in the end we think it was the right choice for us.

Now what does this mean for the website? Nothing except that any "local" reviews we do will obviously be based in the Portland-Metro area. We will continue to buy coffee from other places around the US and write about them as well. I am hoping to keep the site updated more often given we will have more places to try out and I will be working less these days (woohoo!!). So keep checking back for new blogs to come and maybe even one or two when I make trips back to Bend.

Some like it hot

Some not so much. Nothing burns me (pun intended) more than being served any hot beverage that removes the taste buds from my tongue upon first sip. You would think that after the lawsuit McDonald's suffered that companies/baristas would learn to keep the temp at a reasonable level. Unfortunately that's not always the case, especially when it comes to coffee drinks. Aside from the obvious problem most folks have with their tongues being scalded, you run into taste issues. At around 160 degrees the protein in milk starts to break down and it looses its sweetness. You can actually smell the difference once you've hit that 160 degree mark. It smells...well...scalded. I won't get into the whole chemical component of frothing milk, but suffice it to say that over-heated milk is not only bad for your tongue, it's bad for your espresso or coffee. The two won't compliment each other and that's just sad. Harmony is what we're going for here. Harmony that doesn't make you run screaming for a faucet so you can dowse your mouth with cold water.

Personally, when I'm making cappuccinos I like to keep the temp of the frothed milk to around 140 degrees. I can drink it straight away with no taste bud removal and hand-holding the cup is not a problem. Anytime I order coffee and have to get an extra cup plus a coffee sleeve, I know I'm in for huge disappointment. The same can be said about tea. A few weeks ago "he" and I went up to Portland and stopped in at a kickass tea place called Teavana. After sampling a few of the already brewed teas they had as tasters, we decided to each order a cup to go. Now you would think that "he," being an educated and smart man, would have known that since the cup he was holding was incredibly hot that the contents inside said cup would be incredibly hot as well. Course being a man he probably thought his tongue was immune to temperatures that matched the sun. One sip was all it took. Later that night he was lamenting about how he couldn't taste his food very well due to half the skin on his tongue being removed. I, being of the female and logical persuasion (stop laughing), waited before even attempting to taste mine. It took much restraint as the tea smelled oh so good, yet I had no desire to deal with the aftermath of indulging too soon. I had to wait a long time. A very long time...about 30 minutes, which is a long time when you are talking about enjoying a drink that smells like heaven. But I was rewarded later at dinner when "he" was complaining and I was happily enjoying my Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo from Olive Garden. Of course even with all that patience it sucked. No one wants to wait 30 minutes to take their first sip of anything. Plus, my hands seriously hated me despite constantly switching the cup back and forth between the two of them. While I don't know a ton about tea I do know that it too has temperature sensitivities. Black teas can tolerate higher temps than green, and green more than white, yet all of them have a brew no higher than "x" temp recommendations. I can only imagine that the taste of the tea was altered because of the high temp it was brewed at.

So if you're ever handed a cup of coffee, or cappuccino, or latte, or what have you, and it's horribly hot then realize that the taste will definitely not be nearly as good as one prepared at the proper temp. The point of having a cappuccino (or any coffee drink) is to be able to consume it right away and to enjoy it. I like certain things hot, some hotter than others, but not my cappuccinos. Neither should you.