I was at Ristretto Roasters yesterday and noticed the barista really putting her body weight into tamping an espresso shot. Among coffee geeks, this kind of thing is controversial. Some insist that the coffee should be no more than lightly tamped. The "consensus" is that one should tamp with about 25 to 30 pounds of downward pressure (you can even buy a tamper that has a built in device for measuring exactly 30 pounds of pressure). So one might see a nerdy eyebrow or two raised about the Ristretto barista's tamping gusto. But any critics would be silenced by the resulting shot: nutty aroma and big caramel malt flavors with impressive mouthfeel.They do not actually roast at this particular Ristretto Roasters; that is done at another of their handful of locations. Like many small roasters in Portland, Ristretto's focus is on medium roasts, while apparently eschewing the black-oily french and italians that once seemed to define gourmet coffee. Their Beaumont Blend is a good choice when making espresso at home, but they also have an ever changing selection of single origin beans.
This store is a personal favorite. The staff is knowledgeable and infectiously enthusiastic about coffee minutia. The space may be a little too clean, and every customer (I mean every single one!) seems to be on a Mac Powerbook. That's balanced, though, by the ragged voices of Bob Dylan and Tom Waits on the stereo. The store also has an impressively huge four head espresso machines with naked portafilters. And who can resist that?
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