{"id":850,"date":"2018-07-12T04:00:08","date_gmt":"2018-07-12T14:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/2018\/07\/12\/at-portlands-sterling-coffee-the-space-is-bigger-but-the-intimacy-remains\/"},"modified":"2018-07-30T15:18:35","modified_gmt":"2018-07-31T01:18:35","slug":"at-portlands-sterling-coffee-the-space-is-bigger-but-the-intimacy-remains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/2018\/07\/12\/at-portlands-sterling-coffee-the-space-is-bigger-but-the-intimacy-remains\/","title":{"rendered":"At Portland\u2019s Sterling Coffee, The Space Is Bigger But The Intimacy Remains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sterling<\/p>\n

\"sterling<\/p>\n

Moving your headquarters from one location to another can often galvanize a business and create a stir of excitement. However, moving from a small space to a (much, much) larger space can present new challenges.\u00a0Portland, Oregon’s Sterling Coffee<\/a> has built quite the following as a shop known for cozy, intimate locations. Their previous space was shared with a wine bar and could fit just ten people comfortably. But in late 2017, it opened the doors to a new location, which is nearly ten times the size of the last shop.<\/p>\n

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Naturally, the fear that quality of service would decline was a worry. The former space provided a close consumer connection\u2014would it be possible to retain that chemistry in a larger space? Co-owner Aric Miller and his team quickly quelled these worries, and Sterling appears to be thriving in its new home, right across the street from its former location. Miller says Sterling tried to retain the same sense of intimacy the old shop\u2019s smaller footprint necessitated. \u201cIt still feels the same,\u201d Miller says\u2014largely because the customers are still the same.<\/p>\n

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Aric Miller<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Originally from the east coast, Miller jumped into the specialty coffee scene after working in the restaurant industry for some years. He originally wanted to get into coffee roasting, and started working at Coffeehouse Northwest<\/a>, off NW Burnside Street, with his current business partner and co-owner, Adam McGovern. Fast-forward to 2010 when McGovern and Miller opened Sterling Coffee, an espresso stand in an alley next to Trader Joes on NW 21st Avenue. From the moment they first put on their signature vests and ties, their objective was to provide customers with a great coffee experience and outstanding service to all customers.<\/p>\n

Despite the formal attire, Miller \u201cdidn\u2019t want to be known as the coffee shop that is like the old-school record shop with the condescending record clerk,\u201d he recounted, \u201cwhere we come off as know-it-alls.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"sterling<\/p>\n

The community has fully embraced Sterling\u2019s narrative as they\u2019ve hopscotched around NW 21st Avenue. Sterling has great coffee, but the relationships they\u2019ve built through customer service have seemed to be the key to their success.<\/p>\n

The staff of baristas at Sterling are sharp. They quickly remember your drink order after a couple of visits and often present it to you tableside. If their customer service isn\u2019t memorable, their wardrobe just might be\u2014the suits are a \u00a0departure from Portland\u2019s casualwear norms and an ode to old school Italian coffee culture.<\/p>\n

Miller is focused on every detail. If he himself is not dialing in espresso, he can be seen around the shop conversing with everyone in attendance.\u00a0\u201cAt the end of the day we just want to be a good neighbor. It\u2019s important because I am a neighbor, I live in the area,\u201d says Miller.<\/p>\n

Miller attributes Sterling’s high quality to a prized six-kilo Giesen<\/a> roaster, is located a couple of miles away in their roasting facility. In the shop, baristas pull shots on their Synesso Cyncra<\/a> two-group espresso machine. They also have three Mazzer<\/a> Robur E Grinders, and a Mahlk\u00f6nig EK 43<\/a> for bulk grinding. Rounding out their gear is a Wilbur Curtis<\/a> brewer and water tower.<\/p>\n

\"sterling<\/p>\n

\"sterling<\/p>\n

Aside from square footage, hospitality has also expanded beyond normal business hours Sterling has begun hosting socials on Monday nights that highlight other businesses in the area. These socials range from wine tastings to a slew of pop-up events coming this summer. Sterling is now leveraging every square foot of event space\u2014something that was not possible in their former location. Some might say Sterling has transcended from their initial goal of being a part of the fabric of the community to become the blueprint of what businesses strive toward.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sterling Coffee is located on 518 NW 21st Avenue, Portland<\/a>. Visit their official website<\/a> and follow them on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Giovanni Fillari is a social media manager and the publisher of\u00a0@coffeefeedpdx<\/a>.\u00a0Read more Giovanni Fillari for Sprudge<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The post At Portland’s Sterling Coffee, The Space Is Bigger But The Intimacy Remains<\/a> appeared first on Sprudge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Source: Coffee News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moving your headquarters from one location to another can often galvanize a business and create a stir of excitement. However, moving from a small space to a (much, much) larger…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,41],"tags":[63,45,65,47,61,49,59,67,55,57],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":857,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions\/857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}