September 17, 2007

Bean There, Done That

Stumptown Coffee Opens

In this town, you can’t throw a penny without hitting a coffee shop. (Unless, that is, a hipster or hiker gets in the way.)

When it comes to a cuppa, it takes something special to grab your attention.

Dear caffeinated cynic, meet Portland’s beloved Stumptown Coffee, which opens its Seattle flagship shop and roastery today.

After a lengthy wait, the indie roasters are bringing their iron-clad ideals and urban aesthetic to 12th Avenue. (A second Pike/Pine location is in the works.)

Using a handcrafted Mistral machine (one of a precious few made each year), baristas treat each cup with kid gloves. So order an organic blend for your needs-to-be-latte-laden hand, while choosing just-roasted Columbia la Esperanza or Rwanda Musasa beans for the other.

Stumptown sponsors schools and nutrition classes in its growers’ communities around the world. You’ll be wooed as much by their integrity as the joe’s rich, complex taste.

It’s worth all the brewhaha.

Stumptown Coffee, 1115 12th Avenue, at Madison Avenue (206-323-1544 or stumptowncoffee.com).