Stumptown Coffee: Now Brewing in Arlington

Gelato and coffee, a match made in heaven. (Julia Beizer - The Washington Post)

Coffee lovers, geek out on this: Stumptown coffee -- product of a rave-inspiring, award-winning Portland company -- is now available in the D.C. area. The pair behind Clarendon's Boccato Gelato & Espresso made it happen.

"We're really fired up," said Rob Shelton, a low-key dude who owns the year-old gelateria with the energetic Cristian Velasco. Wanting to raise the bar on the shop's coffee program, they tasted around and settled on Stumptown for the balanced flavor in its beans. The company's so particular about its product that it sent trainer Jules Manoogian from New York last week to train Boccato employees on the fine art of making espresso drinks and its specific processes for buying, washing and roasting beans.

So, how does it taste? I was most partial to the indulgent lattes made with full-fat milk, but you can also order the drinks with soy milk or hemp milk. (The latter's dubbed a "Cheech and Chong"). I also dug the rich, fragrant Hair Bender blend when served out of a French press.

Cups of coffee run $2.50 to $2.75 and espresso drinks are $3.75. You should be able to buy bags of beans in the next week or so.

--Julia

Boccato's espresso machine began serving Stumptown lattes last week. (Julia Beizer - The Washington Post)