Stumptown Coffee Stark St.

In 1999, Stumptown Coffee took Portland caffeine lovers by the storm. What started as a single roastery on Southeast Division Street quickly expanded to the rest of Portland and, more recently, New York City and Seattle. The Ace opened in 2007, in the lobby of Portland’s Ace Hotel. Stumptown emphasizes direct trade and highlights the different flavor profiles of coffee varietals. While grabbing a latte from Stumptown may take longer than going to Starbucks, the gorgeous latte art, not to mention the singularly Portland vibe, will more than make up for it.

Hang around Stumptown long enough, and you’ll soon see what we’re all about. You might get a sense of it sitting in one of our cafes watching the barista dial in an espresso dose while having a conversation about stoner metal with one of our regulars. Or maybe you’re hanging out at the new headquarters in industrial Southeast Portland, observing the crux of the operation in full swing.

There you might see Jim Kelso, our head of quality control, looking dapper, sampling this season’s Costa Rican day lots, talking cupping scores with head roaster Steve Kirbach, still in his cycling cap. Walk across the airy space, which once housed a timber processing facility, and you’ll find Jonathan Sielaff in the training lab, bedecked in a dark denim Italian apron, experimenting with new brew methods and equipment, leading a barista polishing session, helping to perfect the consummate swirl when steaming milk.

Walk past the long tables of the break room, most likely heavy with Voodoo donuts, as an Amtrak train passes out the window and spy the production crew, blaring 70’s funk music, weighing, bagging and tagging, working towards their post-shift beer. Either way, you’d see that not much has changed since we opened our first cafe and roastery on Southeast Division in November of 1999.