Stumptown are the source of one of my most troubling coffee experiences, one that still haunts and nags at me today.
No one in the coffee industry really likes decaf. We excuse its taste, we get annoyed at how fast it stales, we treat it as a second rate coffee experience. I was in that camp too for a while. Coffee no good? Well, it is decaf…..
According to the owner of the stoneworks auction website, I was one of up to 3000 users watching or participating in the latest auction. It went on for 9 hours and you had to feel very, very sorry for the Japanese who would have started bidding at 10pm and finished around 7am. (though you suspect they probably had access to sufficient caffeine)
I am not going to go through who won what (it is there on the website still) but there are a couple of things about this auction process, about the success of this farm, that I want to write a little about and get some feedback on from the community.
First of all I was quite surprised that the Petersons decided to auction off so many small individual lots. The high prices achieved in the past were a function (in my mind) of both quality and scarcity. I don’t debate the mesmerising cup this coffee is capable of producing, but I don’t think that it would have reached $130/lb last year if there had been 10 times the volume available. Granted, the small individually processed batches have drive the price up on the top lots to similar heights but this then leaves the issue of how to communicate the difference between Stumptown and Sweet Maria’s $105.25 lot and a $6 lot. What key areas would the consumer respond to and be willing to massively increase their spend for?
The variation in price also implies a variation in quality. This is not a criticism of the farm – no farmer in the world is going to claim they produce nothing but exceptional coffee. I do worry, however, that there is potential to damage the brand. (and I have no doubt that it is a brand now) I have seen more extreme examples of this in other super-farms such as Daterra. Daterra is a cutting edge farm, capable of producing stellar coffee, and the research they are involved in is invaluable. I know they did a great deal of work on tracing aroma in the cup back to the crop with Illy and I hope eventually some of that research will see the light of day. What surprises me is that they have not distinguished very strongly between their best lots (like the reserve) and then other lots which don’t taste as good. I have seen several roasters proudly claiming the Daterra component of their blend without specifying which one it was and the coffee not tasting great. I thought the idea of the Esmeralda Especial worked well, but was still being muddied by some people so if anything I would have thought they would have distinguished lots even more aggressively.
I feel very strongly that for us to really move forward in speciality coffee we must consistently deliver on our promises to the consumer. Asking them to pay a high price for a cup promises that it will be worth it, and making proud boasts about the coffees we use promises that they will taste something that will be starkly different, discoverable and satisfying. Will every single roast of the Esmeralda be great this year from all the different companies? Does a new, but interested consumer, tasting an average cup of Esmeralda leave them very confused about the prices of the higher lots? Do we risk looking exclusive rather than inclusive to those teetering on the edge of becoming interested and excited about great coffee?
My other thought on the success of the farm has been the double edged sword of the visibility of the Geisha varietal used. I travelled a little bit in Costa Rica last year and every farm I visited had at least a little Geisha planted. Some were more cautious than others in the space they were giving over to the gamble. In three or four years will we see a sudden flood of Geisha on the market (which will immediately drop its desirability) and will it be any good. A while ago I dug through my coffee text books to see if I could find any references to the varietal. I found very little except for a small study carried out abotu 40 years ago in Costa Rica comparing the success of various varietals of which Geisha was won. It lost out primarily because of its lack of yield – less of a problem if you have quality and scarcity on your side, but with lots of people suddenly producing lower yields from their farms scarcity becomes void. No notes are made in the study about increased cup quality, but that study could still easily be dismissed as techniques have moved on and you could also argue that Costa Rica’s quest for yield held it back as an origin producing distinct and amazing coffees until the more recent micro-mill revolution that we are seeing signs of. (if people want me to dig up the study I can do)
On this subject I am very happy to concede I might be wrong. I haven’t spent enough time at origin to feel completely confidant in the above statements, and if Peter or Geoff or anyone else who has spent a lot of time at origin are reading and want to correct me I would be very grateful. I really just want to learn more, and hope that we aren’t all debated-out on this issue which covers just about all of the coffee industry.
We arrived into Portland in time to shower, feel human for half an hour and then head into town to meet various peoples for a beer or two.
I have no idea what the bar was but it was a great place. The beer (Ninkasi I think – some wise Portlander should probably correct me) was fantastic and it was good to see a load of people again – like Duane and Kyle as well as to meet David, Stephen Vick, Katie ‘fucking’ Carguilo and others before heading down to the Horsebrass pub (the excuse being I might feel more at home there) where I would meet Ryan Wilbur, Sarah Allen as well as Phuong who was down from Lava Java. It was a great evening and Portland taxis drivers showed themselves (that night and others) to be the most pleasantly mental people you can hope to meet….
(credit to Ryan for the Photo)
The next day it was pretty hard to get into a coffee frame of mind. I blame Alistair and his enthusiasm for beer. We hung out in the Ace in the morning and chatted quite a lot to Shane of Habit who was down for a few days. His place sounds amazing and he had so many great ideas and such great attention to detail.
The Ace is great too. Compared to some of the places we’ve stayed it is ridiculously cheap, I love the individuality of each room and having Stumptown in the lobby is such a good idea. The massive table in the lobby was always occupied by people drinking coffee, usually Clover rather than espresso and it was a nice friendly place that wasn’t stressful should one have accidentally drank too much the night before and feel a little delicate. The machines look so beautiful in there and I love the Stumptown logos in the machine panels:
Eventually we went by the main Stumptown roastery which was great.
They had a group of trainees in with Kyle and we got a chance to chat with Stephen Vick a little more. After a very necessary visit to the massively tasty Taco truck (I did mention the Mexican theme to our food right?) over the road we drove up to the old roastery on Division to see Joel. Joel is great, not only a lovely guy but when he talks about roasting you get a strong sense of his understanding of the process.
They still have an old UG-15 from the late ’50s up there which they still roast on. Whilst there he offered us a coffee and I had my first of the day – just a single to be difficult. It was stellar, a genuinely great shot (I have no idea who pulled it). Everything balanced, everything nice and clear and a real pleasure. I had no more coffee that day.
That evening was the screening of the American Barista School’s new DVD called Training with the Champions. On the DVD were Billy, Phuong, Bronwen, Kyle and Klaus, as well as others and footage of the last NWRBC all introduced by Sarah Allen. It was the first time I’ve met Billy which was very cool, and it was nice to see lots of other people there. I was also surprised and pleased to meet Terry Z who popped over quickly to say hello and give me a tamper and then I didn’t really get a chance to speak to him the rest of the evening which was a bit rude on my part (sorry Terry if you are reading this! And Thank you!). It was also good to meet Zachary and I was quite relieved that later on that evening when we were in the bar eating and drinking his battery ran out half way through me getting taped. It was good to chat to Katie a little more too.
The next morning we went by to see Joel again and to chat to him as he was roasting. After a few roasts we headed to the Annex for the 11am cupping. It was quite busy with staff members so we quietly joined in the line of eager cuppers. There were six coffees on the table and whilst many people went for the Panama Don Pache which was really interesting, I really liked the Honduran Micro Lot they had in whose name I must double check. Really interesting coffee, great acidity that gave superb clarity to the cup and it remained excellent even when it finally reached room temperature.
We met up with Sarah and Ken from Barista Magazine for some pizza then we headed up to North Portland starting at the Fresh Pot. I really liked the place, nice feel to it and Michael, the general manager greated us with espresso and some freebies (how we love the freebies – especially when the t-shirts are as good as Fresh Pot’s!). This cafe really rammed home people’s attention to detail that is so missing in most of the UK. Care goes into the feel of the place, little touches to give character to these places that make them home.
From there we snuck over to Ristretto roasters (we had to see another roaster than Stumptown!) and had a few drinks. The cafe is pretty small and the roaster is in a separate room with a big window into it, looked like a Probat L12. They also had a Strong espresso machine which I hadn’t seen outside of Google Video.
A sneaky espresso in Extracto before heading over to meet Billy in the Albina Press. Billy was supposed to be on vacation but very kindly offered to come for us and pull us a few espressos. It was interesting to taste the Hairbender done a different way to the Stumptown cafes – they give the coffee a couple more days rest and pull slightly shorter shots which shows a different side to the blend. His shots were consistently excellent and he is great to watch work behind a bar.
Having had plenty of good coffee and having picked up a few t-shirts we headed back to the hotel to relax and then that evening we went out for some dinner with Anastasia from Clover and Sarah Allen before hot footing it over town to meet up with Stephen Vick and David George who had been working late. One last drink in Portland and some great stories (credit to Stephen) and then we headed home. I could have spent another week in Portland quite easily. So much to discover and explore, and we had so little time.
I can see why Stumptown makes such a strong impression on people. I’ve worked with a lot of coffee companies in the UK and I’ve seen a fair few in other places and all would be impressed by not just the coffee but by the whole company. I look forward to coming back, especially as they are such great hosts.
Full photoset is here