This post is an homage to the effort Northwest coffee professionals make to share their knowledge with the public. While most of us in the Northwest fancy ourselves at least fairly familiar with the craft of coffee brewing, the simple fact of the matter is that there will always be more to learn. So, whether you have always wanted to discover how air-roasted coffee is made or just want to brush up on your latte art, there are resources out there that can help you to achieve your coffee-related dreams. Furthermore, happily, numerous Northwest roasters, and baristas want to help. Here is where to find them.
Public Brewing School atCaffe Vita, Seattle: Once per month, free, and all about making better coffee at home. These classes cover the basics of manual home brewing methods (Bialetti, Chemex, pour-over, French press, vacuum pot) and provides an open forum to talk “all things coffee.”
Home Espresso Classes at Clive Coffee, Portland: Outside of an extensive online “Knowledge Base” of brand resources, brewing guides and related videos, the well-known Portland purveyor of home brewing equipment offers hands-on classes for two to four people, which cost $39 and cover grind, dosing, tamping, steaming milk and pulling perfect shots.
Slow Bar at Seattle Coffee Works , Seattle: The alternative to the classic coffeehouse “Express Bar,” The Seattle Coffee Works Slow Bar offers a comprehensive range of single-origin coffees, blends, six brewing method options and plenty of advice for patrons to undertake a systematic examination of each element that affects the turnout of a cup of coffee.
The Annex at Stumptown, Portland: A tool for wholesale buyers as well as the public, The Annex at the Stumptown Portland headquarters serves as a “hub for coffee education” and a place to try the new offerings from the roastery on a variety of brewing equipment. The space also offers $15 roastery tours at 1pm on Wednesdays (with a half-pound of fresh-roasted coffee included) and free scheduled public tastings every day at 3pm.
Tastings & Roastery Tours at Mt. Hood Roasters, Rhododendron, Ore.: Family-owned and operated in Rhododendron, Oregon, Mt. Hood Roasters happily schedules tastings and tours of their unique roasting facility, where they roast in 10-pound batches on a Sivetz Fluid Bed Air Roaster.
Deconstructed Espresso at Slate Coffee Roasters, Seattle: Break down the art of the latte into its constituent parts at Seattle Slate, where ordering a Deconstructed Espresso will get you three wine glasses – one with espresso, one with sweet steamed milk, and one a combination of the other two. The bar is run by a talented team including afore-featured coffee consultants, all eager to share their expertise and samples of behind-bar experiments.
Brew School at Cherry Hill Coffee, Kelowna, BC: Roasting in Kelowna, BC since 1986, Cherry Hill focuses solely on certified organic coffee and offers periodic seminars on a variety of topics with an ever-present end goal of brewing a better cup of coffee.
