Specialty Coffee Review
The Portland roaster that helped define specialty coffee in America. Still setting the standard 25 years later — or has corporate ownership softened the edges?
Still excellent. Hair Bender remains one of the best espresso blends in the country, and Holler Mountain is an outstanding everyday drip coffee. The Peet's acquisition hasn't hurt quality. Highly recommended.
Duane Sorenson opened the first Stumptown cafe in Portland in 1999. At a time when "specialty coffee" meant Starbucks, Stumptown was introducing direct-trade sourcing, publishing the prices paid to farmers, and building personal relationships with growers in Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Colombia.
That commitment to sourcing is still the foundation. Beans are traceable to specific farms or cooperatives, and the roast dates on every bag reflect a genuine commitment to freshness. In the specialty world, these aren't marketing claims — they're baseline expectations — and Stumptown has met them consistently for over two decades.
Hair Bender as espresso: pulled at 19g in / 38g out over 28 seconds — bright, stone fruit up front, dark chocolate in the finish, clean aftertaste. As a pour-over, the complexity opens up further. This is legitimately excellent coffee.
Holler Mountain in a drip machine: clean, bright, with a honeyed sweetness. Lower in complexity than Hair Bender but highly drinkable. The best option if you want Stumptown quality for everyday home brewing.
Cold Brew bottles: the Nitro variant (canned with nitrogen) was the standout — smooth, creamy texture without milk or sugar. The regular cold brew is solid but not dramatically better than competitors like La Colombe at the same price point.
Stumptown
The flagship blend. Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Central America — medium roast, stone fruit and dark chocolate. Exceptional as espresso or pour-over.
Stumptown
The everyday blend. Latin American beans at a lighter roast — bright, clean, and approachable. The best Stumptown option for drip machines.
Stumptown
Ready-to-drink cold brew in 11oz bottles. Low acid, smooth, and genuinely shelf-stable. The best RTD cold brew at grocery retail.
Stumptown was acquired by Peet's Coffee (itself owned by JAB Holding) in 2015. Quality has remained high — the Hair Bender and Holler Mountain blends are unchanged, sourcing relationships are maintained, and the roasting quality is consistent. Some hardcore specialty coffee fans lament the corporate ownership, but the coffee in the bag is still excellent.
Hair Bender is Stumptown's flagship espresso blend — a medium roast combining beans from Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Central America. It produces a complex shot with stone fruit and chocolate notes, and works beautifully as an espresso or as a pour-over. It's been Stumptown's bestseller for over two decades and is considered a benchmark for specialty espresso blends.
Stumptown is widely available: on Amazon, at Whole Foods, Target, and most specialty grocery stores. Stumptown cafes operate in New York, Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Chicago. Online orders ship from their roasters in Portland and New Orleans.
Start with Hair Bender. If you have an espresso machine, it will produce the best shot you've made at home.
Shop Stumptown on Amazon