With its tiny cafe nestled inside its massive roasting facility and warehouse, Nossa Familia Coffee Roasters welcomes passersby in Portland's Pearl District to stop, chat, sip a bit, and enjoy. But the cafe is also ground zero for anyone who wants to dive deeper into the world of coffee roasting.
Nossa Familia ("Our Family" in Portuguese) is owned by Brazilian-born Augusto Carvalho Dias Carneiro, the descendant of award-winning coffee farmers. Fantastic Brazilian coffees anchor Nossa's offerings, all sourced directly from farms well south of the border, but they also offer outstanding single-origin beans from elsewhere. And every Tuesday at 12:30 p.m., the shop offers a public cupping and a tour of the roasting facility.
New this month, Nossa Familia director of coffee Rob Hoos has released a comprehensive handbook on roasting. Targeted at both home roasters and professionals, "Modulating the Flavor Profile of Coffee: One Roaster's Manifesto" is a 64-page handbook built on Hoos' five-plus years roasting countless varietals of beans on an assortment of machines.
But even if you're more interested in drinking your coffee than knowing how it was roasted, Nossa's tiny espresso bar is stocked with inviting details: the barista action figure welcoming each new visitor, the deep red shell on the La Marzocco espresso machine, and the welcoming smiles of the real baristas.
