Word: sorensons
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...coffee frontier: espresso-delivery technology, international partnerships and generally changing the idea of coffee from a staple commodity, like corn or sugar, to something closer to wine, with seasons and terroir and varietals as different as Burgundy chardonnay and Austrian riesling. But most of all, Stumptown has Duane Sorenson, its charismatic founder and the most visible (and polarizing) figure in contemporary coffee...
...Sorenson, his zeal (he comes from a Pentecostal family) is what made Stumptown what it is. "We started Stumptown with the idea of getting to the source," he says. "That was the concept, and that excitement is what we wanted to bring to our customers." Every Stumptown bag has a card in it that describes the elevation, location, varietal and tasting notes of the beans it contains. Then you turn it over and there's a profile of the area as well as technical information ("In addition to improved cherry selection and a return to double fermentation...
...Sorenson, despite being famous for his dismissal of coffee infidels, takes a more diplomatic tack: "Starbucks laid the path. They made people aware. They offered better coffee in their time than was out there. But now there's far more specialty coffee out there today, and there will be even more so five years from now that will give the consumer - Midwest, West Coast, East Coast, wherever - a lot more options than Starbucks." (See the top 10 food trends...
...Sorenson, it's all about the willingness of Americans to pay a little more. "The first day we opened [in 1999], we weren't in the position to pay what we do for a pound of coffee. But within a few years, people tasting our coffee experienced it as they never had." And, as Strand points out, "even when it costs more, you're still talking about getting an incredible experience for $2." (See pictures of what the world eats, Part...
That's the logic, of course, which led to the $5 latte, which probably seemed equally outlandish when coffee was 50 cents a cup at most diners. But you don't have to take Duane Sorenson's word for it, or mine, or anybody else's. Try this kind of coffee, and soon. Even if, like me, you're a brute who puts evaporated milk and Sweet'n Low into it, you'll find that your days will start better drinking coffee of this caliber, and not just because of the caffeine. (See the 10 worst fast-food meals...