Mmmm, coffee!

Quote Originally Posted by salsabike View Post
There are a lot of us Seattleites who try hard to go to the indie coffee places rather than the megaempire Starbuck's. And I think they DO overroast their coffee so it's fairly bitter.
Yes, ditto on all counts. SBux will do in a pinch, but I always prefer to look for local coffee shops. Preferably ones that roast their own. And if the baristas can't make microfoam, I don't come back.

For Portland, Stumptown is my favorite for downtown coffee. Fresh Pot would have to be a close second, but it's a little less convenient for me as I'm in Beaverton. Speaking of the burbs... some surprisingly awesome coffee can be had at Java Mama in Beaverton on Scholls Ferry Road @ Nimbus. Don't be fooled by their generic suburban strip mall location behind the Booger King. They roast their own beans every weekend and bake wicked muffins & treats from scratch (which I can sadly no longer eat due to gluten).

For home use, I've got a manual espresso machine (La Pavoni) and a Solis burr grinder. Sometimes I will buy freshly roasted beans but I have to say that my favorite coffee ever is Spanish Espresso torrefacto roast. You can get it online here. The beans are lightly coated with sugar before roasting, and this caramelizes on the outside of the bean. This originally started out as a way to stretch the value of coffee beans during shortages, since sugar is cheaper than coffee and it increases the weight of the roasted beans. Typically they mix 20-30%sugar-roasted torrefacto beans with regular roasted beans. The result is a smooth caramel espresso.

PS: Y'all may like to visit http://www.coffeegeek.com/