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Water Avenue Coffee – The Unsurpassed Standard of Coffee

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Miguel Menendez, owner of 9 coffee farms in El Salvador

There’s nothing like handcrafted coffee to help you start the day. Portland Pedal Power is proud to deliver for coffee roaster Water Avenue Coffee, a local coffee pioneering the unseen frontier of micro-roasted craft coffee from countries around the world. Check out how Water Avenue Coffee got its start, and how it’s become a Portland Phenomenon. 

Water Avenue Coffee (WAC) was founded in the early days of 2010 with the goal of becoming Portland’s neighborhood coffee roaster and offering the best handcrafted coffees from around the world. They purchased a 1974 Samiac coffee roaster from its Swiss owner and set to work providing Portland with fresh roasted fresh crop coffees.

WAC’s father and son ownership team of Bruce and Matt Milletto have a wealth of experience in the coffee industry. Bruce began his coffee career in the 1980’s by opening his own espresso carts, but quickly moved into education, founding Bellissimo Coffee Infogroup in 1991 and the American Barista and Coffee School in 2004 to help others follow in his footsteps and pursue their dreams of owning their own coffee business. In the ensuing decades he and Bellissimo have published books, DVD’s, and educated thousands of budding entrepreneurs.

With a father recognized as an industry luminary, Matt started his career with a wealth of coffee knowledge already at his disposal. Beginning in Eugene and Corvallis in the early 90’s, Matt started as a barista, café manager, and barista trainer before joining his father at ABCS, and later opening WAC. Together they have assembled a team with further years of experience and passion for coffee to help produce the best coffees. WAC’s goal is to share the best of the world’s coffee crop, working as closely with coffee producers in countries of origin as possible. Through careful roasting and extensive research it is their goal to offer these coffees at their freshest and best, celebrating the seasonality and diversity that is inherent with any agricultural product.

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Finca Las Delicias in El Salvador

WAC’s menu has something for just about every coffee drinker. It features many seasonal single origin coffees for the more adventurous, changing regularly as coffee producing countries begin exporting their produce. For those looking for a coffee that is consistent month in and month out Water Ave also offers two blends, the El Toro Espresso and No 7 House, designed to appeal to the more traditional coffee drinker.

Education is also key to WAC’s mission. They strive to provide as much information and traceability about their coffees as possible. Their roastery crew posts about new offerings on the company blog full of information, and the friendly staff in their café are always happy to help with brewing tips!

Ready to get some Water Avenue Coffee? Take a look at our menu, where you can order coffees from distant locations and delivered right to your office!


Enjoy Beer Week with Whole Foods in the Pearl!

BeerWeekBannerIn a city like Portland where craft beer reigns supreme, you have to imagine that dedicating a week to beer would be a pretty serious endeavor. After all, where do you even start planning that kind of week? And where do you go first to celebrate?

Rest easy, Portland. Whole Foods has Beer Week covered! Starting on June 12th and going until the 23rd, Whole Foods is dedicating the week at their Pearl District Location to the craft beers of Portland. This event will directly benefit Harpers Playground, and organization dedicated to building a better playground for kids and adults alike. Whole Foods will be hosting a number of events and invites the city to celebrate its unique blend of local flavors.

Hold up, you might think. There are craft breweries all over the place. Does Whole Foods really have the expertise and knowledge to dedicate a week to Portland Beers? The answer is a resounding Yes.

Kris McDowell of Beer Musings recently had a chance to take a look at the selection at Whole Foods, and was pleasantly surprised by the selection you could find in their Craft Beer refrigerator. In her blog post where she talks with Jason Jaime, the beer specialist at Whole Foods (Talk about a dream job!) Kris found that Whole Foods is “committed to making sure they have a great, current selection of new and seasonal beers.” In a city like Portland, it’s no wonder that would be a full time job. Take a look at Beer Musings from Portland to read more about Kris’ interview with Jason.

Check out a few of the events you will enjoy when you come celebrate with Whole Foods:

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Brewery Tour – 
Ever wonder how something as delicious as Craft Beer is created? Whole Foods can show you how! During the tour, you will find out how so much goodness can be created from hops and barley.

Block Party – To really kick things off, Whole Foods will be blocking off a portion of NW Couch for a block party dedicated to Craft Beers! Come try some of the best local flavors, award winning labels, and perhaps a few new releases.

Special Release – To perfectly commemorate the occasion, Whole Foods will be unveiling a special label at the event. Be the first to see the unveiling during Beer Week.

Soiree Party – Enjoy the finer things in life with a Soiree! Whole Foods will have a selection of oysters, cheeses, and the finer things in life including some select craft beers to perfectly accentuate the flavors at this party. Black ties are completely optional.

Come enjoy this fantastic occasion! Our riders are going to be out on the road telling everyone about what you can enjoy during Beer Week. When you see us on the road, flag us down and ask for a schedule of how you can enjoy this coming Beer Week.