Every Saturday, Dave & Jess Ratliff walk a few blocks to our Sandy store, grab their drinks (Dave: milk, sugar, coffee, in that order. Jess: Cafe au lait), and sit facing the street while they decompress from the busy work week and enjoy each others' presence. It's a weekly ritual they've been holding since a couple months after the store opened and they consider our staff family. "Dave and I aren't really coffee drinkers," says Jess with a laugh. "This is the only place we drink coffee." When the couple first visited the shop, they were recommended by their granite installer to check out the countertops at Case Study, and while it may have been stone that drew them, it was the...
What happens when a much-maligned coffee variety tastes delicious? We're exploring that question, with fun results, by serving the Colombia Finca El Naranjo in all three cafes. Chris, our co-owner and Head Roaster, says, "I cupped this coffee blind at origin at Banexport Coffee Mill in the Cauca region of Colombia. I was blown away by the distinctive mint characteristic (both in flavor and refreshing aftertaste) in this coffee as well as the balance of sweetness and acidity with a big, round body. This coffee reminded me of the Colombia Finca Sinai from this time last year, but in an exaggerated version in every way - especially the mint!" With Coffee Rust obliterating Central American coffee farms on every hand, biologists...
Florida native Matthew Lee believes in signs. "The morning I walked in Case Study Coffee, I knew it was a place I wanted to be," he says, and adds that the months he worked with us were "Amazing. It's been my best experience with coworkers ever." A roamer at heart, Matthew entered the coffee world through the frappuccino door, as so many of us did. "Honestly? I just needed an easy job, and Barney's Coffee & Tea down the road was hiring. I didn't care about coffee, but over the next few months I did build a foundation of coffee skills." Barney's transitioned to CoffeeKitchen and brought in Ultimate Barista Challenge winner James Duncan to train the top employees. Matthew...
For us at Case Study, Nicky USA's Wild About Game event is a huge highlight on our catering calendar. Initially conceived as a small thank you from the folks at Nicky Farms for the chefs and vendors they worked with, it's grown into a premier competition, with chefs from eateries like Ned Ludd and Matt's in the Market winning categories like "Squab", "Protein", and "Elk". The venue is Timberline Lodge's Wy'East Lodge, and the setting the breathtaking view from the peak of Mount Hood. The time was early autumn. Liza, Eli, Chris, and Wes brought one of our La Marzocco GS3 espresso machines, some Yama cold brew towers, LOTS of our famous cold brew, and Kalita Wave pour over cones. Eli says, "For me the biggest memorable...
Who knew that tree climbing, aerial gymnastics, and an athlete's stamina would be necessary to pull off decorating our three shops in three nights? Determined this year to coordinate a multi-shop seasonal change, we started planning months ago. This, friends, is the face of a winter wonderland in the making. Emily is not ashamed to admit she's enamored of the season. Comes from growing up in a Victorian house and singing Christmas carols around the wood fire every holiday. Turns out, Christine is our resident bow-tying expert. She certainly tied upwards of a hundred bows. It didn't help that our scissors snapped partway through--but we are nothing if not resourceful. Shandy helped. Credit for much of the hard work goes...
