Compass Coffee Roasting

Owner is not the friendliest, but he makes Great coffee and employees great and nice people. They also offer gluten free treats to go with your coffee

Compass coffee sets a high standard for coffee, and any customer stands to gain new insights into coffee roasting. I use to be a barista for a few years, but I’ve learned more about serious espresso extraction from just drinking coffee and asking questions of Mike, and his caffeinated associates. The year I have been frequenting Compass Coffee has changed my palette for the better. This location has super scrumptious scones as well but is lacking on the variety and quality of other pastries.

Hands down, this is the best coffee in the greater Portland area. Compass coffee is my absolute favorite place to find coffee made by people who know what they are doing!

One of the best roasters in SW Washington. If you love 3 generation coffee, this place will exceed your expectations. You can buy fresh roasted small batch beans here and the staff is really knowledgable.
You can’t beat their cold brew and you can buy it by the growler now.
Go out of your way to try this place out and you will find yourself becoming a regular.
They also have a downtown Vancouver location.

The Mullet owner is the prick du jour. Good coffee but not for the price of having to deal with that asshole.

I give this place 4 stars:
The good —
*absolutely amazing coffee, great quality and taste, best I ever had so far
*reasonable price
*has chess and other games to play while enjoying coffee
*they have their delicious coffee for sale to make at home
*VERY knowledgable about coffee, they live and breathe it haha
The so so —
*they didn’t really focus on the interior but not big deal
*don’t expect average nice guys for service, they are more «real» lets just say :)
Over all we keep coming back for good coffee!

When you walk in here, expect great coffee, many kinds, all fresh. And you’ll have the opportunity to have your espresso shots pulled by a master roaster who can tell you what he’s aiming for in each single origin and blend.
Other reviewers have put Mike down for being a coffee snob, criticized him for rudeness, and so on. I’ve visited twice now and seen regulars come in the door. He knows them all by name. He’ll gladly serve cream or add syrup to your drink, whether or not you’re a «regular.» At first you might find him a little gruff, but let that go. He’s actually a very nice fellow if you understand that he’s doing all the roasting himself for the love of the craft while some people may walk in the door not knowing the difference between the quality he’s serving and some big chain operation like *$. What’s most refreshing here is Mike hasn’t lost his enthusiasm for the bean and roasting it to bring all the flavors forward.
His coffee costs what it does because he’s sourcing the very best greens and his prices are very much in line with this level of specialty café. It isn’t commodity coffee. If you order a single origin expect it to have a characteristic flavor profile, like you’ll find with fine wines of a particular varietal and vintner. His blends balance those flavor subtleties toward what people may typically like. His Handlebar espresso is a somewhat darker roast that is just great for milk drinks. But you’ll also be able to drink his beautifully nuanced Delirium blend and even try prized auction lots like Panama Esmeralda Gesha.

With school closed (Tuesday, Dec. 11^th) my daughter and I found ourselves meandering down St. Johns and decided that we should check out this place called Compass Coffee. Overall, the coffee is on par with other top notch beans and roasters found in the best pacific northwest venues. The building and atmosphere is fairly bland, with emphasis on simply providing the best latte (and in my case — breve) one could possibly imagine in our neck-​o-​the-​woods. My daughter really enjoyed the Christmas music being played in the background, and as my home-​audiophile curiosity got the better of me, I discovered that Mike (the owner) had a sweet pair of old school Bang and Olufsen speakers pushing some Trans Siberian Orchestra into the air. Now, as I understand form others on this review, the owner may not be the best «people person» out there, and I know that much of what folks expect when ordering a top notch latte is to expect your happy-​go-​lucky (sometime overly sweet) attitude from other competing barristas. However, I think I struck a fond chord with Mike, as I mentioned that I have a great appreciation of the classic audiophile components he has performing on the wall. But back to coffee — Mike’s experience with flavor, tone, and characteristics of coffee beans seem right on as I piqued some interest with him regarding some questions I asked regarding his sources of yirgacheffe and Nicaraguan beans. Would I come back? You bet. I left with a 12 oz. bag of the Santa Theresa (poor man’s Kona) and was quite impressed with the light/​medium roast quality as well as a very fine, almost pea-​berry sized bean. In short, I’m a return customer for both the over the counter drip «to go» as well as their finely roasted products.

While I appreciate the freshly made-​to-​order drip coffee, I was not very impressed with the $ 3.50 I paid for the 8oz drip. The flavor of the coffee was not out of this world either; it tasted average.
The guy who served us was quite rude too. I asked if he had any creamer and he responded sharply that «It was in the fridge where it belonged. Otherwise it starts harboring bacteria if its left on their counter and then they would fail their inspection… blah blah blah.» Dude, I understand how bacteria works; I’ve done my fair share work in microbiology labs. I just was politely asking for some cream.
Some suggestions directly to the owner: I gathered you know quite a bit about coffee; flavor profiles; its origins; how to properly roast, store, and serve it; etc. That’s an awesome skill to have (especially around Vancouver/​Portland). People, like me, come in to experience it first hand. However, the combination of your terse and egotistical attitude was a huge turn off for me and the others I came in with. If you had been a lot more polite in the way you handled our inquiries and obliged us to share some of your knowledge in a more friendly manner then I would have been much more delighted to pay a higher price for coffee. Unfortunately, I was unimpressed with the service; thus, I will be taking my business elsewhere from now on. It seems other Unilocal reviewers have experienced similar things to me… might I suggest heeding some of our advice.

Let’s talk about the coffee & pastries first. Fantastic all the way around, far exceeding much of what neighboring Portland has to offer. Is the owner a little too into himself & his coffee? Perhaps. Just humor him, he actually knows what he’s talking about.

Coffee good owner Mike is an arrogant coffee snob. If you want me to pay $$ and tip let me order my coffee with flavoring. I shouldn’t go to a place that is supposed to be service orientated and be criticized!

I’ll agree with Barb. The guy was a complete snob about the coffee he was serving up and had an attitude. I asked if he had of the coffee for sale that I could sample and he responded NO!, it would then have stale coffee sitting around. Ok. Easy guy. I ended up buying a bag of beans but will not do business here again just based on the guy’s attitude. On top of all that, the place is not very clean.

Snobbery, not in love with what we were served, Oh and rude too.
Not a place I would go to twice.

These people take coffee serious and made me more of a connoisseur of fine coffee than I ever was. At work we started taking turns purchasing different bean from local roasters and this place always comes up as one of the best.
I highly suggest everyone give this place a try and get off the mainstream bean kick that a lot of people suffer from. After tasting good coffee, it is really tough to go back to the places that surround us.
Check them out downtown for weekend tasting and spend some time talking to Bryan to get an education on good coffee.

This place is unassuming from the outside, but the inside is great, and they are SERIOUS about coffee here: very knowledgeable, the coffee is great, and they both roast and train in this facility.
My only complaint is that the owner. He has a sarcastic answer or a downright grumpy answer for anything. For example, their bathroom is in the back of the shop, and you have to walk through the cash register area, etc. to get to it. I asked him if I could use their restroom and his response was «that is what it is there for». I asked how business was going. His answer, «none of your business». I asked if the two guys that (used) to regularly work there were still there. His response, «If you are asking if I still have employees the answer is yes.» Okaayyy… «When do they work?». Answer: «When their schedule tells them to.» He just isn’t a nice guy. I tolerate him because the coffee is good, but I am 100% confident that he turns a lot of people down. He has limited social tact and business skills from a «people friendly» standpoint.
If it wasn’t for him, this place would get 5 stars.

This is a good as it gets for coffee spots. Doesn’t look like much on the outside, but the service, selection and most importantly, the coffee is great.

Great, fresh coffee to sit down and enjoy or buy a pound to take home. I recommend the Delirium for espresso or press pot as well as the Guatemalan, can’t go wrong with either.
Very knowledgeable staff eager to answer any coffee related questions you may have.
Not recommended for people who like «fast food» coffee and lots of syrups. These guys take their time and do it right, a true artisan approach.
I also enjoy the latte art.

The special thing about this location is that it’s where the roasting is done. You step in and the first thing you see is the roaster and burlap sacks of green beans laying about.
It’s more than just a good place to get a nice pull or a pour over.
* You can spend some time talking shop with to very knowledgeable (and sometimes over-​caffeinated) staff.
* It’s the only place I am aware of (in the ‘Couve) that will sell green beans to home roasters like myself.
* It’s a good place to get a bit more «behind the scenes» for those interested in «how the sausage is made» in the coffee business.
Worth the trek in my book.