Willamette Week contributing journalist and coffee-lover Hanna Neuschwander spent a lot of time trolling the burgeoning microroaster movement here in Portland to give a nice overview of true coffee geekdom The article here.  Nice job Hanna!  We hope her caffeine jitters have calmed down by now....my only emendation as far as Badbeard's is concerned is her incorrect lumping me in with the "NW-style" espresso crowd, since I pointed out to her quite fervently my adherence to Northern Italian-school, Brazil-based blends a la Spella Caffe.

My best bud and partner Andrea is officially opening his new location in downtown Portland, a testament to perseverence and perfectionism.  We got a nice soft opening today with el generoso Andrea offering free coffee drinks, chai and Stella gelato to a lot of his loyal patrons from the cart on 9th and Alder as well as new friends from downtown.  The magic word was Yirgacheffe and I'd say the newbies did really well pronouncing it!

The Carrara marble tops, 3-group lever pull Rancilio macchina and nifty chandelier give it the real traditional Italian coffee bar touch, not to mention the "real deal" espresso, latte, macchiato tastes of Italy which have been Andrea's holy grail for all the years of hard work in the business.  Bravo my brother and staff, who are trained in real barista tradizione.  This is what you won't get anywhere else in Portland.  Given that this is the tradition which drew me to coffee...5 weeks living in Italy in 2000....thank heaven for tradition.  Bravissimo!

Street level in between SW Alder and Washington Streets on 5th Avenue.  The original Spella Caffe will still be operating, on the corner of Sw 9th and Alder.  Pix to follow....