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Best Brewed Coffee in Portland

I drank espresso drinks for about fifteen years. And while the quality of an espresso drink can vary widely from one coffee shop to the next. and indeed from one barrista to the next, there are a large number of factors that go into that quality variation aside from just the coffee: the calibration of the espresso machine, the quantity and quality of other ingredients that go into the drink, the ratio of ingredients, and the actual process of making the drink. The coffee bean variables include the type and quality of the bean, and the roasting process.

By comparison, brewed coffee has far fewer variables: it's just the bean, the roast, the grind, and the brew. And because there are less other ingredients to obscure the coffee, the quality of the finished drink is that much more dependent on the coffee.

So after fifteen years of espresso drinks, I switched to brewed coffee. And I found all my old haunts: Jim and Patty's on Fremont (the founders of Coffee People), Portland staple Stumptown (on Hawthorne), and the tiny Ristretto on NE 42th, all somewhat lacking. They make good, but not great coffee.

By comparison to all of those very worthy competitors, Extracto on NE Killingsworth and 30th makes mind-blowing awesome coffee. In fact, the one single downside of going to Extracto is that you may never be able to drink coffee anywhere else again. It's really, really good. Give it a try.

Posted by will hertling on December 10, 2009 9:02 AM |


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