Hanna Neuschwander - Left Coast Roast: A Guide to the Best Coffee and Roasters from San Francisco to Seattle

Left Coast Roast

HANNA
NEUSCHWANDER

A GUIDE TO THE BEST COFFEE AND ROASTERS FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO SEATTLE

Portland . TIMBER PRESS . London

COPYRIGHT 2012
BY HANNA NEUSCHWANDER.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

DESIGN BY BREANNA GOODROW
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALLISON BERG & RYAN BUSH

PUBLISHED IN 2012
BY TIMBER PRESS, INC.

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PRINTED IN
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Neuschwander, Hanna.

Left Coast Roast : A Guide to the Best Coffee and Roasters from San Francisco to Seattle / Hanna Neuschwander. -- First [edition].

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-60469-284-6
1. Coffee. 2. Coffee--processing. 3. Coffee brewing. 4. Coffee industry--Pacific States. I. Title.

TX415.N48 2012

641.3373--Dc23

2011050644

FAVORITE

The people and companies profiled in this book gave much more freely of their time and knowledge than I had any right to expect, teaching me every step of the way. Coffee is complicated; in order to try to simplify it in my own mind, I turned countless times to the writings of Tom Own and Maria Troy (of sweetmarias.com) as well as to the older but still exhaustive writings of Kenneth Davids. Anyone with an interest in coffee would do well to start with the treasure trove of information penned by these individuals.

I am deeply grateful for the people who taught me to love coffee in the first place, especially Chris and Celeste Brady, and for the friendship of many wonderful baristas and roasters. For their insights and feedback, I thank Adrian Hale, Hannah Wallace, Anna Wolk, Justin Johnson, Paul Thornton, Jared Linzmeier, Oliver Stormshak, Andrew Barnett, Mark Hellweg, Connie Blumhardt, and Marcus Young. For helping me understand that writing about coffee is nearly as much fun as drinking it, thanks to Ben Waterhouse, Kelly Clarke, and Sarah Allen. For his patience and advice, John gets a thousand gold stars. And to Mom and Pete: your love is an inexhaustible source of strength. Thanks also to this books editors for their guidance, Juree Sondker, Mindy Fitch, and Eve Goodman.

IN ONE OF the last conversations between coffee kingpin Alfred Peet and his master roaster John Weaver, Peet said he wished to see more small coffee companies sprinkled throughout the land in place of the big corporate leviathans lumbering about.

Peet passed away in 2007, but in many ways his vision is just coming to fruition. In the pages of this book, you will find profiles of dozens of those smaller roasting companies, many of which have opened shop since 2005. But you will also find profiles of some of the leviathans responsible for building coffee culture as we know it on the West Coast and across the U.S., and without whom small roasters wouldnt exist.

For me, coffee is two wonderful things: a social ritual and an aesthetic experience. As I learn more about coffee and the people who produce it, I find the ritual becoming richer and every cup somehow tasting better. Knowledge is a vivid sweetener. I hope that in the course of reading this book you discover a little something that sweetens your cup. I also hope you find yourself inspired to dig in on your ownlearn the name of the barista or coffee roaster who makes your favorite cappuccino, try something youve never tried, take the time to make your own coffee on a Sunday morning, or roast your own on a Saturday afternoon.

This book celebrates the incredible variety of options available to coffee lovers on the West Coast, but of course it can only scratch the surface. The fifty-five roasters profiled here are but a small fraction of the action taking placeat least fifty coffee roasters reside in Portland, Oregon, alone, where I live. I selected these particular roasters for many reasonsbecause they are iconic, historic, unusual, exceptional, cutting edge, or in some cases because I felt personally drawn to their approach. I also considered the individual story of each roaster. Collectively these profiles tell a larger story about West Coast coffee culture and its evolution since the 1960s.

The introduction and Coffee Primer examine changes in the coffee world and provide some basic information on what coffee roasting is (and how to roast your own), where coffee comes from, and how to make a decent cup at home. Other useful information, like where the flavors in coffee come from and how to keep track of when coffee is in season, is sprinkled throughout.

The meat of the bookprofiles of coffee roasters in California, Oregon, and Washingtoncan be used however suits you best: as a guidebook, travel guide, or catalog for online shopping needs.

Favorite

My own favorite roasters are indicated with a star. They are favorites for various reasons, but they generally share a passion for the seemingly endless variety and nuance of coffee, and this passion infuses every aspect of their work. From thoughtfully designed cafs, to information-packed websites, to careful preparation, these roasters are committed to beautiful coffee and the stories behind it.

Each roaster profile lists the most noteworthy locations at which you can find the coffee (for example, the roastery, original caf, or flagship caf) and provides information about whether the roaster operates other cafs or offers coffee online. Most roasters also supply their coffee to some combination of local grocery stores, independent cafs, or restaurants, though such wholesale accounts are too numerous and changeable to list.

If you are able to visit a caf operated by the roaster, you will be treated to a remarkable experience. Roasters who have taken such care to find the best beans and roast them to their peak potential dont generally drop the ball by ruining the coffee at the counter. So, if you can, visit a roaster-operated caf.

Short of that, buying coffee online is easier than ever, and the cost of shipping is made up for by guaranteed freshness. All but a handful of the roasters profiled in this book offer their beans online. Those that dont, make coffee too tasty to exclude, even though you have to show up in person for a cup. Many roasters also feature clubs or subscription services, which provide you with your favorite coffeeor send something new and differenton a regular schedule. A few websites also offer subscriptions combining coffees from different roasters. Check out Citizen Bean (citizenbean.com), Craft Coffee (craftcoffee.com), and Go Coffee Go (gocoffeego.com).

Coffee changes all the time. The availability of it changes as seasons, governments, weather, shipping companies, and economies allow. Growing, harvesting, and processing methods change and evolve. New farmers come along. None of the coffees described in this book will be available forever, and flavors change from roast to roast. But imagine buying the same bottle of wine every time. Comfort and habit are great, but coffee is bettertry something new. Roasters websites are the best source for up-to-date information.