Ristretto Roasters

My visit to this small Beaumont coffee house was on a sunny, albeit cold, Saturday afternoon to visit with an old friend.  This is a local roaster just off of NE Fremont St near 33rd Ave.  When I visited, they had 5 roasts total: three blends, one decaf, and one espresso.

The roasting room and the counter took up more than half of the space, leaving little room for the seating area, which was quite cramped.  It had only half a dozen small tables, one booth, and two short counters with a few stools.  Luckily the booth cleared just as I was ready to sit, and it was quite comfortable being the only window seat in the house. 

Upon my arrival, the staff was friendly, and welcomed me with a smile.  This being my first visit, I inquired as to what the barista preferred between the Bali Blue Moon and the Mexican Chiapas Organic.  After a quick description of each, and a taste of one, I decided on the Bali in a French Press.  After fresh grinding the coffee in the roasting room, the press was brought to the table, and when four minutes was up, they let me know to press the coffee down.  I found the Bali to be very flavorful, with an earthy bite and a chocolate overtone while remaining not too acidic, but the finish was unfortunately bitter. 

Along with the coffee, I ordered a ham and cheese croissant out of the small food case, but when I asked if it could be warmed I was informed that they did not have a microwave, so I had no choice but to eat it cold.  This, however, did not detract from the quality of the food, which can only make me think how delicious it would be warm!  The croissant was soft and buttery, yet crispy on the outside, and they used a soft cheese that did not harden even when room temperature, allowing the flavor to remain intact and robust.

My suggestion to this roaster would be to get a bit larger space to allow more people to come and congregate.  As it is, there is very little room to come in and stay.  It does seem that given the small selection of food they are not catering to this crowd, but rather to the in and out coffee drinkers of the area.  In this area, they have done it right.

While the coffee is better than many chain roasters, I would not go out and buy myself a pound for $14 of the particular Bali roast.  I did enjoy the coffee, however, and most certainly will be returning for another pot of French Press when I am in the area…and possibly another croissant!

Ristretto Roasters – 3520 NE 42ndAve Portland, OR 97213