Portland's Big Coffee Scene

I recently moved to Portland, Oregon.  Before choosing this city as my new home, I visited here on a weekend to make sure I liked it.  I already knew the city loved coffee, and while that certainly turned out to be true, it was beyond my wildest expectations.  If you follow me on Twitter (please follow me on Twitter), you may have noticed that my "coffee walkabout" the day after I arrived was my busiest day of tweeting since I opened my account.  Yes, the caffeine had something to do with it.Here is just a flavor of what I ran into that day...[ad#Google Adsense - use me]Embarrassingly enough, my coffee adventure started in the hotel room.  Hey, it's not always easy to get this body moving.From my hotel room, I made the shortest walk to a cafe across the street called Kobos Coffee, a Portland-bred roaster with a few locations and roastery in the city.  I had the Black and White Blend at their SW Market location, and sat down outside their store to enjoy it and consider how the rest of the day would go.  I decided to cross the downtown core of Portland to make my way to one of Stumptown's locations - by the end of that walk, I figured I would need another.For some, Stumptown Coffee Roasters is THE name of coffee in Portland, due to their signature ambiance, appeal with local residents, but also consistency in their product and service for the numerous locations that they've opened.  I was also intrigued by their Direct Trade program, where the company's purchasers meet directly with the coffee farmers to ensure quality and consistent growing practices.  This seems the natural evolution of Fair Trade, as long as you're big enough to afford the direct sourcing.  Stumptown is one of a handful of roasters in the country that can afford it.I would hit a second Stumptown location in downtown Portland before the end of the day.My next stop was to hit a Portland staple, an actual attraction, Powell's Used Book Store, the largest used book store in the country.  Don't laugh, for a city that loves reading (hey, it's one way to pass the time with all the rain), it's a natural attraction.  And for another, it is truly a giant book store.  I suggest checking it out when you're in Portland, but have a genre of book in mind, it's way too big for browsing.  Located inside is World Cup Roasters, where I bought a 12oz cup of their Drip Coffee.From there, I ventured back towards the downtown core.  By this point, I had sat down to enjoy two of my four coffees and walked with the other two.  One was served by pump container so hard to say how it was prepared.  Two were served by French Press, and the last was served by Drip Brew.  You know you're in a city that loves coffee when they even tell you on their menu how it was brewed.If you live on the west coast, you'd probably wonder why I would stop for a coffee at Peet's.  After all, with as many homebred microroasters as Portland has to offer, why go for the chain?  That's because I'm not from the west coast.  The Major Dickason blend from Peet's was one of the first coffees that made me realize how good coffee is supposed to be.  I've gone on to different coffees from there, but never forgot how much that particular blend opened my eyes (and tastebuds).  Since I had never seen a Peet's outlet for myself, I had to stop and get one.  This was my first coffee of the day that I confess I didn't actually want.  I needed a break, but couldn't turned down a fresh-brewed Major Dickason coffee.I knew I was heading for a major caffeine crash at some dreaded later point in the day.  In the meantime though, I was full of energy.  Enough that I walked through downtown Portland to the Willamette River and crossed it to check out the south side of the city.  With all the energy I had, I would've swam across the river if it was warmer out.My last stop of the day was at Coava Coffee Roasters, a roaster I would've never found had I not stumbled upon it, and one that you will hear much about in the blog posts to come.  It was the second time that a coffee was prepared for me by pourover (the first time being at Planet Bean in Guelph, Ontario, Canada), and the first time that day.  I sat down and enjoyed my coffee there until a wedding reception arrived to take over the floor space.  With all the coffee I'd drank, I couldn't be sure if I was hallucinating the whole thing.You'll be reading alot about Portland, Oregon in the months to come, and the amazing and unique coffee it has to offer.  It is a great city that loves their coffee, and offers their coffee lovers many options and venues to choose from.  Forget Seattle, this is the capital of the coffee world!