Clutch Coffee Roasters

All bags of whole bean coffee are on sale for only $9.99 for the month of January at all Clutch retail partner stores. That’s right, it’s time to stock up! Visit the Where Is Clutch page to find the store nearest you.

First off, yes, there is such a thing as vegan footwear. If this seems odd to you, just spend a minute thinking about it and you’ll see why it is important to some people.

Okay, lets get underway.

As quoted from our friends at Sprudge:

“…a sixth generation shoemaker “from one of the oldest shoe-dynasties in Europe”—is using only eco-friendly, 100% vegan components; along with the reused coffee, the shoe incorporates recycled PET bottles, cork insoles, glue “free from animal products,” real rubber, and “signature reflective glass details.” The unisex Coffee Line comes in both low- and high-top versions, both with just a faint smell of coffee. Finally, shoes you don’t have to worry about spilling coffee on (I think it only makes them stronger)!”

If you’re in the market for some potentially drinkable shoes, read more at sprudge.com/these-400-vegan-shoes-are-made-of-coffee-138246.html.

Our friends over at Sprudge recently reported on a Japanese resort offering guests a coffee spa. Yes, you read that correctly–a big pool filled with coffee that you relax in. You know… like… soak in a pool coffee. Because, why not.

Quoted:

“According to The Travel, the Hakone Kowakien Yunessun Spa and Resort in Hakone, Japan is home to multiple food- and drink-based spas, including wine, tea, “ramen”, and of course, coffee. And it’s not just brown-colored water, it’s actually coffee—low heat Nel Drip style brewed coffee per the website—though I have had many a coffee that I would classify as “brown-colored water” and I can’t say one way or the other how this brew stacks up to those. I don’t plan on finding out either. The Hakone Kowakien Yunessun Spa and Resort wisely suggests you not drink the coffee. Or the tea or wine or ramen broth.”

Read the complete article by Zac Cadwalader on sprudge.com.

Unless you drink 400 cups a day, every day of your life. But then, 400 servings of just about anything every day of your life would probably cause cancer. Not to mention a host of other issues.

Why has this become a topic? Especially in a time when the health benefits of moderate coffee consumption have become widely known?

California has this nifty law called Proposition 65 that requires the state to publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects. That list currently includes approximately 800 chemicals. Under Prop 65, businesses are required to notify Californian customers about significant amounts of these chemicals in the products they purchase. The list includes a wide range of naturally occurring and synthetic chemicals used in things like pesticides, household cleaners, food, drugs, dyes, solvents, construction materials, furniture, etc. Businesses are required to provide a “clear and reasonable warning” before exposing anyone to a listed chemical. To read more about Proposition 65, read this.

Makes sense, right?

Until it doesn’t. Acrylamide, a naturally-occurring byproduct of the cooking and browning process of foods (AKA: Maillard Reaction), is present in just about every food that develops a brown, tan, or brown-ish color when cooked or otherwise heated. That includes coffee—It changes from green-yellow to brown when roasted. Acrylamide is on the Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects.

Recently, a Los Angeles judge ruled that California law should require coffee companies to label whole bean coffee and coffee beverages with a cancer warning label due to acrylamide content. A not-for-profit group had sued coffee companies and triggered the hearing. In reply, the coffee industry claimed that the chemical was indeed present in coffee, but at harmless levels and therefore should be exempt from the labeling law. To read more about the hearing, read this.

On one hand, this all sounds good and proper. Until you learn that the amount of acrylamide in coffee (which occurs naturally during the roasting process) is less than the amount in a lot of common foods and that those common foods have not been court-ruled to require the Prop 65 cancer label. We’re talking foods like French fries, cookies, a ton of other baked goods, and more. The French fry comparison is especially interesting, so check out the infographic below for more on that.

Long story short, even the American Cancer Institute has released a report stating that the acrylamide levels found in coffee are so low that they do not in any way cause cancer with normal consumption, but those low levels are actually undetectable by lab test equipment. Yep, there is so little acrylamide in coffee that it doesn’t even show up in lab testing. People are just assuming it’s there because of the browning process. And yet, a judge in California has ruled that coffee has to be labeled as cancer-causing.

Go figure.

Good question! The coffee processing method is frequently listed on bags of specialty coffee at the store. Words like “washed,” “natural,” and “pulp natural” are common terms you’ll see. And, if you’re a super-nerd about coffee, you know what those mean.

For the rest of us who aren’t super-nerds, we’ve found this handy guide to coffee processing. THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO COFFEE PROCESSING, by Asser B. Christensen and published on The Coffee Chronicler, lays it all out in terms we can all understand and explains the details and effects on the world’s favorite beverage.

Wanna know more about how your coffee is made? Read on!

The good folks at Coffee Shrub seem to have partnered with Mill City Roasters to produce a handy coffee video series introducing the concepts of coffee roasting. We will post episodes as they come available. In the meantime, here is the first introductory episode! Scroll down for updates.

  Update: Here are numbers 2 and 3. Super informative and helpful!

  Update 2: Taste

There’s no better feeling than sipping on an amazing specialty coffee in your favorite café – but what if you could enjoy that same cup of coffee at home?

Learning how to make coffee will take your love for this beverage to whole new heights. You’ll not only be able to enjoy delicious brews whenever you want, but you’ll also be able to explore more of the intricate world of coffee: why do Costa Rican honey processed beans taste different from Rwandan washed beans? Why does a French press taste different from a pour over? And why is grind size important?

There’s a lot to learn, but I’ve got good news for you: today, we’re here to help you out. I spoke to several coffee professionals and asked them for their tips for beginner home brewers. Let’s take a look at what they had to say.

This article about coffee brewing methods is re-posted from and linked to our friends at Perfect Daily Grind. Click here to read the full article.

As originally reported at Daily Coffee News, a green coffee from Panama recently sold at auction for $2273 per pound. We can only imagine what the final price will be after roasting and packaging.

Ultra-specialty coffees like this Geisha varietal are popping up more frequently, albeit at considerably lower prices. In this particular case, the grower had been experimenting with unique variations in the fermentation process that ultimately yielded “unprecedented complexity in the cup” and “…the sipping of the coffee evokes feelings of ‘multifaceted inspiration, erotic innervation, epiphany, possibility’ and ‘femininity.’”

That’s a big responsibility for a cup of coffee.

This article is re-posted from the folks at Clive Coffee, written by Adam Raper. Click here to read the full article on their web site.

To summarize: The four enemies of whole bean coffee are heat, light, water, and air.

Coffee is hygroscopic. That means that it will absorb water from the air. It can also absorb odors and flavors carried by that water. Neither of these lends to enjoying the coffee as it was meant by the roaster. When coffee absorbs water, it displaces the essential oils in the coffee and accelerates aging.

Second, fresh-roasted coffee expels a lot of CO2. It’s a natural byproduct of the roasting process. The key to keeping coffee fresh longest is allowing CO2 to leave while preventing oxidation. Oxidation accelerates with more surface area so ground coffee will oxidize much faster than whole bean.

Coffee is a food product. Food likes cool, dark places to stay fresh. Just like freshly baked bread, if coffee is left out in the sun, it will go stale very fast.

Lastly, coffee loves heat when it’s ready to brew, dissolving the flavor compounds and oils in the grounds into a delicious drink. However, if it is exposed to heat before brewing, it will start to break down and lose that punchy flavor.

So – now let’s dispel the myths:

Don’t store coffee in the freezer. It’s a moist and smelly place. Coffee will pick up all of that moisture and smell. Further, it has not been proven to extend the life of the coffee, but freeze/thaw cycles have been proven to introduce moisture. Recent research has suggested that colder beans will grind more uniformly, but trying to control humidity outside of the lab seems like a big gamble for the home enthusiast.

Airtight containers are better than nothing. However, the Airscape containers are better. It mimics what the coffee bags do – which is keep oxygen out but let C02 release.

Roasters (generally) know what they are doing with packaging. Most of our favorite roasters: Onyx, Verve and Greater Goods package their coffee in nitrogen flushed valved bags. This is the absolute best way to store coffee. So, buy smaller bags and keep them sealed until you are ready to use.

Cold brewed coffee is hot this year. And now Clutch has 3 flavors.

There are more companies getting into the market and more bottled and canned coffee beverages on the retail shelf than ever. That includes Clutch Coffee Roasters.

We developed our cold brew back in November and began to find ready and eager customers at pubs and bottle shops almost immediately. Those pubs that already had a cold brew had chosen their supplier simply by whatever one of the beer distributors had on offer. Then we walked in, stated our case, and left a sample of Clutch. Our pitch was simple: Try ours. If you like it better then we look forward to having your business.

We got the account 4 out of 5 times. There are now 22 places in the Portland area that you can buy Clutch Cold Brew.

Simply put, customers like our product better than most of the others available. It’s smoother, easier to drink, and doesn’t have that harsh edge that so many of the others have. If you find yourself reaching for creamer and/or sugar almost every time you have a cold brewed coffee then you may want to try Clutch—it’s mellower, smoother flavor tastes great without anything added.

And now we have 3 flavors of cold brewed coffee! In addition to Clutch Original we have Clutch Maple Cold Brewed Coffee and Clutch Spiced Cold Brewed Coffee.

Clutch Maple is lightly sweetened with pure, grade-A maple syrup. There’s just a hint of maple flavor and sweetness in each bottle. Clutch Spiced is infused with a selection of chai-like spices and then sweetened with pure, grade-A maple syrup; This time a little sweeter. If you’re a fan of flavored lattes then Clutch Spiced Cold Brewed Coffee will be your new jam. Seriously.

If your favorite pub, bottle shop, or neighborhood market doesn’t offer Clutch Cold Brewed Coffee then tell us. We’ll stop by, offer a sample, and make our simple pitch: If you like Clutch better then we look forward to having your business.

Click here to see where to get yours today.

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By Tufayel Ahmen, Published on Newsweek.com. Originally titled “What Wine Goes With Your Coffee Order?”

It can be overwhelming to decide which wine is for you when confronted with multiple shelves of reds, whites, rosés and sparkling varieties from all corners of the world at your local shop. What if you could pick the perfect wine for your palate based entirely on your coffee order?

Wine expert and former wine merchant Joe Fattorini reveals to Newsweek the most enjoyable wines for lovers of Americanos, lattes and more. He has been using his coffee taste test for several years, once convincing a friend who said she “only drinks Sprite” to put down the soda and relish a glass of Riesling instead.

Fattorini says the link between taste in coffee and wine stems from the number of taste buds we have, and from individual tolerance to bitter flavors. “Some of us have very few taste buds, about 2,000 of them,” says the wine connoisseur. “Some people have what we call hypersensitive taste buds—about 8,000 of them.”

Tolerant tasters, who have fewer taste buds, “need very loud drinks to excite them,” while hypersensitive tasters want “a quiet, gentle wine which, to them, feels balanced. They find big, powerful wines overwhelming because the volume is turned really high.”

Read the rest of the article on Newsweek.com to learn how Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot drinkers might prefer an Americano from the coffee shop, vice-versa, and other coffee/wine preference combinations that might surprise you!

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We are super excited to announce we are adding more retail partners for you to buy Clutch Coffee!

These new Clutch Coffee Roasters retail partners are ready to offer you freshly roasted whole bean coffees, Clutch Bottled Cold Brewed Coffee, and our amazing line of culinary products!

Beaumont Market is a great little Neighborhood Market serving the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood at 4130 NE Fremont St in Portland. The market offers a full produce selection, tons of dry goods, a meat counter, and other great stuff. Naturally, that now includes the full line of Clutch Coffee Roasters products: All five varieties of whole bean coffees, cold brew, Clutch Coffee Barbecue Sauce, our signature Coffee Seasoning Blends and Dry Rubs, and the one-and-only Clutch Coffee-Infused Pure Maple Syrup. If you haven’t had the maple syrup yet then get on down to Beaumont Market, take a bottle home, and prepare to transform your breakfast! [mind blown]

Not to be outdone, Spoke & Vine Wine Bar & Bottle Shop at 1451 N Skidmore St also serves Clutch Bottled Cold Brewed Coffee and brews up a delicious cup of hot coffee with Clutch Kenton Blend. And, because customers keep asking about that amazing coffee, S&V also has bags of whole bean coffee for you to take home. We think this makes Spoke & Vine pretty much the best wine bar in Portland.

Meanwhile, in downtown Vancouver, Cellar 55 Wine Bar (I sense a theme) at 1812 Washington St now offers the complete line of Clutch Coffee culinary products. Once their remodel is complete and some new equipment is in place Cellar 55 will also feature Clutch for hot coffee and bags o’ beans to take home.

We saved the awesomest for last! The Spot Bar & Grill at 7225 NE Fourth Plain Blvd in east Vancouver is pouring Clutch Coffee Roasters French Roast Blend for breakfast, lunch, and classic Irish & Spanish Coffee cocktails. The Spot is an institution in this part of town and they still have live music, so you can’t go wrong. They offer classic pub food and great breakfast grub to get your day started right. Our favorite part is the rad leopard illustration on the sign. Because… You know—Leopard spots! Get it? Leopard Spot(s)? HA! Oh yeah, I crack myself up.

Stop by and pay our new retail partners a visit whenever you’re in their neighborhoods!

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