Stumptown, NY
In relatively quick succession, Stumptown Coffee Roasters of Portland, OR opened a brand new roastery here in Red Hook, and a flagship espresso bar at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan. New York coffee aficionados have reason to celebrate.
Stumptown’s presence in New York City is surprisingly recent; they began supplying the city less than a year ago. Yet their expansion should hardly come as a surprise to those familiar with the descrapancy between the East and West coast coffee scenes. Look no further than the small but growing group of New York gourmet coffee proprietors currently suffering an identity crisis in a city filled with ‘coffee shops’ that have nothing to do with their namesake.
The appearance of West Coast coffee in New York City is not entirely without precedence. Even Starbuck’s harshest critics (present company included) must credit the Seattle-based multinational for introducing, or rather re-introducing, the average New Yorker to espresso-based coffee drinks. Never mind that a Starbucks macchiato more closely resembles a midwestern milkshake than anything served in an Italian cafe - at least they reminded us that automatic drip is neither the only, nor the ‘best’ way to serve roasted beans. I’ll end the comparison there because professional baristas have about as much respect for a cup of Starbucks as winemakers have for glass of Yellowtail. Starbucks’ impressive business model has unfortunately little to do with the coffee itself. “They burn their beans”.
For those unfamiliar with the brand, Stumptown sits atop an uncrowded pedestal in the gourmet coffee world, and their business model has everything to do with coffee. In 2006, Roast Magazine awarded Stumptown ‘Roaster of the Year’ for its uniquely holistic approach to the industry. “Rather than focusing on marketing, we focus on unbelievable quality” says Duane Sorenson, Stumptown’s founder. How unbelievable?Stumptown is one of the only roasters insists on impossibly high standards at each step of the process, from growing to milling to transporting to roasting to grinding to brewing. That’s because Stumptown knows each step can have a distinct and severe impact on the final product.
Roasters of every scale now commonly source their beans from farmers all over the world because origins have a dramatic effect on flavor. To identify and understand those unique flavor complexities, roasters must regularly taste their beans and adjust their roasting accordingly. They do this by cupping the beans, and that’s precisely how Stumptown roasters here in Red Hook begin their day. Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of joining the roasters for one such cupping. Needless to say, I learned a lot.
What’s important to understand about coffee roasting (from a consumer’s perspective) is that 1) flavor is geographically specific, down to the smallest farm (as in winemaking, this is know as terroir), and 2) each batch of beans should be roasted according to its unique potential. In other words, the roasting process should adjust to the terroir of the beans at hand, as opposed to forcing the beans towards a pre-defined roasting outcome.
Industry veterans are quite familiar with this concept, but that doesn’t mean they can so easily implement it. Why not? The answer is cost. Many roasters, like Stumptown, establish direct relationships with their growers. Direct-sourcing allows roasters to influence how their beans are grown and milled (such as mandating organic practices) and assures customers of a fair-trade relationship. But controlling the quality of the harvest is only a third of the battle. Roasters who take the time to directly-source their beans need to make up for the additional cost - most easily using the economies of scale. Starbucks also directly sources their beans, but they lose the subtleties of terroir by roasting their beans into macro blends. By contrast, Stumptown is amongst a select few roasters in this country that small-batch roast their directly-sourced beans, and therefore succeed in preserving the terroir from harvest through roast.
Yet still the process is not finished. The final step - controlling quality from grind to brew to service - might actually be the most difficult. Timing is everything, and the barista is central. Using freshly roasted beans is at least as important as grinding them immediately before brewing, yet I am consistently encounter cafés that serve week-old, or even month-old beans. And even if a roaster ensures that their beans are served fresh, the best coffee results from expert brewing. The ideal barista interprets the roasted bean’s potential and adjust their brewing accordingly. That barista is amongst the rarest employee in the food service industry. Don’t believe me? Ask your next barista the date that their beans were roasted. A good barista will know.
For as much effort as they put into their coffee, not even Stumptown can assure every brew will achieve such great heights. Until today, Stumptown supplied a few dozen New York cafes and restaurants with their beans. Some of those establishments care a lot, such as Sweetleaf and Cafe Pedlar. For others, carrying Stumptown seems to be just a sideshow, such as Baked here in Red Hook (they more than make up for their mediocre espresso with the best baked goods imaginable). The point is Stumptown beans don’t guarantee exceptional coffee because they rely on their clients to complete the third crucial step. The only way to taste Stumptown purity from farm to cup is to visit one of their three company-owned cafés in Portland (1) or Seattle (2). Until today.
When Stumptown opened their New York flagship store today, they achieved holiest of coffee grails. They raised the bar for coffee excellence in this city, setting a new gold standard how coffee can (and probably should) be prepared.
The new store is beautiful: elegant hardwood furnishings, custom brass fixtures, shelves filled with miniature animals, and most importantly, twin La Marzocco Mistral machines. The baristas, costumed in spiffy vests and ivy caps, underwent three weeks of intense training at the new roastery to ensure the café opened with a bang. And I’m pleased to report the coffee is superb.
P.S. I never explained how Stumptown gets around the prohibitive cost of their direct-sourced, small-batch roasting business model. The answer is that they pass the cost on to you, the consumer. At $18.00 per pound of beans, you might find the cost hard to swallow. I assure the resulting coffee is not.
