It’s easy to gripe about the surly service – hire a hipster to sling your coffee and you’ll get hipster-style service from them. But that’s not a Stumptown exclusive; it’s the case with virtually all of this city’s independent, non-family run, coffee shops. My problem with Stumptown is that their coffee is truly awful. I don’t drink much espresso. I drink black coffee. Stumptown prepares their coffee in a french press. It sits in the pot for too long (perhaps because the staff is busy striking poses and snarling at customers, or maybe because the music’s so loud they don’t hear the bell on the timer) so it’s over extracted and bitter. The mess is then transferred to air pots. The bilge spewed from the air pot is bitter, sour, luke-warm, and gritty. All of this leads me to believe that they don’t give a damn about the coffee.
Portland 5-page barista application makes the New York Times
A story covered by Portland blog More Hockey Less War a month ago is now being covered by the New York Times: An Application for Baristas That’s More Than Milk and Beans.
North Portland’s Ladybug Organic Coffee Company (8438 N Lombard) asks prospective employees to fill out a (pdf) five page application form that includes such non-traditional questions as:
What is the most important thing that you have ever learned, and how has it changed your life?” one question reads. “What is something that you do on a regular basis to make the world a better place?” And, “What is one thing that you think would make Portland a better city?
The article’s gist is that Portland is obsessed with coffee, and in this difficult economy Ladybug Organic Coffee Company has a better chance of finding cheerful and competent employees using this unorthodox application process.
Personally, I think a large number of potentially fantastic employees won’t bother to waste their time on a 5 page application with essay questions. If I were looking for work such an application would be a red flag indicating a potentially obsessive, micro-managing boss.
Steve, at More Hockey Less War, sums up the reaction a lot of potential applicants might have:
What one thing makes you absolutely stand out above the rest? Why should we hire you over applicant X? (Because I wasted an hour of my life answering these ridiculous questions?)
Read the rest: So you want to be a barista.
Portland food and drink trends I’m unhappy about
These don’t all qualify as trends, and they are not all Portland specific, but I need to get this off my chest.
Bacon for dessert
It’s just a bad, faddish idea. Soon it will go the way of 80s era yogurt and muffin shops and we’ll wonder what were they thinking?!
Overpriced fish and chips
Most places charge upwards of $13 for “fish” and chips the Gorton’s fisherman would be ashamed of. Kudos to Kells and Horse Brass for real fish and chips which they pegged at $9 for years, though they’ve both creeped up to around $10.
Bars with multiple taps dedicated to IPAs
I know I should count my blessings and appreciate the amazing selection of quality beers we have around here, but how about replacing one of the half dozen IPAs on tap with a porter, an amber, a farmhouse ale? There are lots of other beer styles to choose from!
Stumptown coffee
Sure they have excellent espresso; best Americanos in town. But their air-pot french press coffee sucks. In their defense the other day one of their employees was actually pleasant and friendly . . . I think. I can’t be certain because I couldn’t hear what she said over the absurdly loud disco music. [Ed: You kids get off my lawn!]. And don’t even get me started on the Clover-machine hissy fit.
Gourmet salt
Give me a break. Are wine, chocolate, coffee, and olive oils not enough for you to be snobby about?
Stumptown to open two cafes in New York City
The crown jewel of Portland’s coffee roasters is opening cafes in Brooklyn and Manhattan soon.
There was speculation last year that Stumptown was looking to expand to NYC, but the plans hinged on finding a location to roast beans. It appears they have found a spot.
From yesterday’s New York Times:
Duane Sorenson, who owns Stumptown Coffee Roasters, based in Portland, Ore., packed up a U-Haul last month and moved to Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, just a short hop from the coffee roastery he will soon open in Red Hook.
Once his two 1950s-era Probat roasters are running, he plans to open a cafe there and another at 29th Street and Broadway, in the old Breslin Hotel, which is scheduled to be reborn as the Ace Hotel later this year.
Stumptown in New York City?
That’s the speculation in the the City Room blog on the New York Times website.
The chain was not giving anything away about its New York plans, if it has them. Matt Lounsbury, Stumptown’s director of operations, said: “We’ve had discussions, but nothing’s solidified. Our eyes are open for opportunities, but so far our expansion is mostly focused on the Pacific Northwest.”
Sounds like the deal might hinge upon whether there’s enough space for a roastery, as Stumptown’s policy is that the beans must be roasted no more than 45 minutes from the serving location.