Rob Wright’s bass guitar on Nomeansno’s “Wrong”, carefully carved figureheads arched back in mid-scream on wooden work boats, and Bruce Lee’s 1964 one-inch-punch are the sorts of things that can lead a person to appreciate the calculated artistry that Stumptown employs in its roasts. Coffee roasting consists of a balance of right-handed timing and intuition; it is an art that flows through the rigidity of time and temperature, but yields to the organic nature of craft.
The same sort of duality extends to our raw beans which are selected by poring over samples from all over the globe. Each sample gets sniffed, slurped up and vetted through silver spoons hundreds of times a day in our cupping laboratory. The delicate hand-picked seeds containing sugars and natural perfumes are roasted in our old-school, cast-iron German Probat machines. The green beans go through a metamorphosis in the hands of our roasters who guide them through a constant evaluation of colors, aromas, sounds, and shapes while tumbling through our vintage double-walled steel drum roasters. Finally, the beans are released out into the world when sweetness and nuance meet up in our cooling trays. The coffee literally sings.
But you don’t have to take our word for it. You are invited to come watch our crew roast at our Division café in Portland, or our 12th Avenue café in Seattle, because this is what we’re into. All day long.
