I don’t know about you, but when Coffee People went down earlier this year the options for a decent espresso in Northeast Portland got slim indeed (and they weren’t that great, anyway). Fortunately for us java lovers, that isn’t the case. But, where to look?

The Oregonian ran a story a few days ago about Eric Schrepel, who, faced with this important challenge when on the road, started EspressoMap, a Google-Maps-powered site that would track truly worthy coffeeshops. Apparently he lives really close to us (his house is on the map; he’ll make you an espresso by appointment), and there’s a few local coffeeshops that make the grade.

Nashville, my next trip, apparently hasn’t met our standards yet. Perhaps someday.

I checked out Albina Press this morning, described thusly:

1st and 3rd place 2006 NW Barista Competition champs. Stumptown Hairbender coffee, very cool old building. Consistently the best espresso in Portland.

While “very cool old building” is in the eye of the beholder (kinda falling apart, in my judgement), the latte was, in a word, awesome. Incredibly smooth, the delicate rosettes looked like a painting.

This will be an excellent resource on the road, too - usually we’re relegated to local Starbucks, staffed with locals who don’t know beans about pulling a work of art.

Posted in Life