Day 4 Portland, Oregon

Ok, so I skipped Day 3 because nothing really interesting happened.  We had another full day of lecture, which covered very important topics for the specialty coffee business.  I ended up going straight to my hotel after class with the intention of going back out.  However, I wasn't really up for facing the cold rainy weather again, so I ended up staying in my room the remainder of the night.  Then I started to get hungry, and since this hotel oddly doesn't have a restaurant or a single vending machine at the least, I went straight for my yogurt granola bar box.  Surprisingly, I discovered that the cleaning lady stole one of them!  And after I was just thinking how well of a job she had been doing on my room...  I didn't say anything because it's not really worth making a big deal about it, but still!!!  

Today, Day 4 of the trip, was pretty fun.  I started off with a delicious breakfast in the morning at the hotel - raspberry yogurt, a raspberry cream cheese pastry, fruit and orange juice.  Then I took some coffee to go and another cream cheese pastry to eat on the way...I can't seem to control myself with the pastries or anything sweet for that matter :/  After walking to school in a surprising beautiful sunny morning, I was given a freshly prepared latte.  SO GOOD.  I didn't even have to add any sugar, which is what I'd normally have to do.  Seriously, I don't think I'll ever revert back to Starbucks...not trying to be a coffee snob or anything, but after tasting what the stuff should really taste like...um yeah.  We spent most of the day learning how to grind, tamp, pour the perfect shot of espresso, steaming milk correctly and equipment maintenance.  I still need practice but what I prepared was at least tolerable to drink.  After class, Laura and I tried out Cypress for dinner, a Greek restaurant by the waterside.  The food was great but the prices where even better!  I later ventured off on my own to explore other parts of the downtown area.  I ended up stopping at a place called "Dena's Cafe," and ordered a latte just to compare their quality with what I had just tasted today at the school.  I notice their technique of preparation was slightly different.  More specifically, their tamping technique was the exact way we were told not to do it, lol.  The latte art wasn't too impressive but the taste of the latte wasn't horrible either.    Alright, I'm out!