Stumptown Coffee - Portland legend

Stumptown coffee is probably Portland’s most well known coffee brand and i think they are the inventors of the now super popular nitro coffee which is cold brew coffee infused with nitrogen. Drinking nitro coffee feels like downing a great cup of Guinness with caffeine instead of alcohol. When I used to work at big tech firm, I would always grab a cup of Stumptown nitro coffee to keep the afternoon productive.

Stumptown is the business of providing pleasure in every cup, it is different from McCafe’s business model. You may wait a few minutes longer for your cup of coffee but enjoyment is guaranteed. In fact, I have never had a bad cup of coffee from Stumptown. Each bean and batch is different and Stumptown roasters take meticulous care in sourcing, selecting, roasting and brewing. It is similar to wine making where vinters can adjust the flavor, adjusting for acidity, taste, complexity. That’s why Stumptown gets a cult like following, similar to some of the prized wineries in the world.

The ever so famous La Marzocco machine.

Perfect latte, perfect shot and milk with the right temperature. Milk frothed too hot will cause the sweetness of the milk to evaporate and leave you with a burnt milk taste.

Stumptown coffee roasters latte and iced latte

The making of the nitro coffee is very similar to how beer are stored. The nitro coffee is poured from the tap and served fresh. Here you can see the preparation of the can.

First one has to prepare cold brew coffee. It is called cold brew because the coffee grounds are soaked in cold water usually overnight and filtered in the morning. The cold coffee makes the acidity and sourness stand out in the coffee so a lot of care is used when selecting the roast used for cold brew. With the added nitrogen to the coffee, air,creaminess and texture is added to the drink. Imagine drinking a flat soda, not quite the same as the soda fresh out of a dispensing machine pumped with CO2.

Stumptown coffee roasters cold brew + nitrogen