A Cup Divine
Five steps to brewing the very best coffee you've ever had the pleasure to sip
When Sunday morning dawns, dark and damp, sometimes the only motivation for abandoning your down-comforter cocoon is the promise of a good cup of coffee. But have you ever wondered, while padding about your kitchen, waiting for the pot to expel its brew-ending burp, whether your coffee is really the best it can be?
We did. Thus began our noble quest for the perfect cup.
Luckily we live in a city that’s ideally suited for such a crusade. Portland’s coffee intelligentsia includes more than 30 roasters, four coffee-obsessed magazines, competition-winning baristas like Albina Press’s Billy Wilson and one of the largest coffee schools in the world, where javaphiles can spend an entire weekend learning how to pull a shot.
For this group of apostles, coffee isn’t just a career; it’s a calling.
From their sermons about terroir and roasting and tasting and brewing, we extracted these commandments, which we now serve to you in this handy five-part primer. We apologize in advance if, while perusing, you become a bit of a coffee snob along the way, but even if you only embrace one or two of our tips, such as buying a burr grinder or brewing fresh-roasted beans, you’ll taste the difference (especially after you’ve educated your palate; see p. 91). Take the full tutorial and that morning brew will be a drink transformed—from a cup that merely stimulates to one so heavenly you’ll want to throw off the sheets, from a cup that’s only adequate to the Holy Grail of goodness, what we call a cup divine.
Read More A Portlander’s guide to coffee shops for caffeine fiends of every ilk
Published: March 2007
