Hidden River Roasters in Camas. (Rachel Pinsky/for The Columbian) Photo Gallery
I heard about Hidden River Roasters from my friend, Monika Spykerman, whom I recently met right after she visited their coffee shop in Camas. We met at another coffee shop that shall go unnamed.
As she took a sip from her espresso, she made a face like she had just swallowed sewer water — the same face she once made when I convinced her to try some green juice.
“This is like going from silk sheets to burlap,” she said.
A week later, I went to try this silk-sheet coffee. Hidden River currently offers only single-origin coffee — no blends. Four to five types of beans are typically available. I tried the Honduran beans (a medium roast) as a brewed coffee and the Costa Rican (dark roast) as a brewed coffee and an espresso. The Honduran coffee was full bodied with a caramel finish. The Costa Rican, as a brewed coffee, was robust with notes of dark chocolate. The Costa Rican, as an espresso, had a bold flavor with a nice crema on top. Sipping the espresso transported me back to Rome. I felt as if I should be drinking it standing (as the Romans do) while ineffectively eavesdropping on conversations in Italian.
Brandon Pasa, Aaron Baldwin and David Metzner of Hidden River Roasters were friends for years before they decided to open a coffee roastery and coffee shop in Camas.
Pasa explained: “Let’s go back, way back to the beginning, which was the beginning of ’16 or end of ’15. So way back then, I had a wild idea to start a coffee roaster. It was my wife’s fault; she bought me a coffee roaster the year before. Aaron and I have known each other for years. Dave and I have known each other for years. We knew each other from church, and Aaron and I knew each other through friends — they go to a different church.
“In December 2015, I literally started building a room off my house to put in a roastery while my wife was out town so she couldn’t stop it. She could’ve tried to stop it, but it would have been worse.”
After Pasa set up his home roaster, pure coffee nerdery took over. Pasa, Baldwin and Metzner became obsessed with roasting coffee, and starting a business became inevitable.
A fourth member of this team is Steve Sims of Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders in southern California.
“We get our green beans from Bodhi Leaf coffee in Orange, Calif.,” Metzner said. “Steve has a fascinating story about how he started the company. He’s been absolutely fantastic to work with.
“He’s a licensed curator, and he goes to all these countries. Most of these coffees are direct trade — he builds a relationship with the co-op in the country or the actual farmer himself.”
Their connection with Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders allows them to take a farm-to-cup approach that ensures the beans are the highest quality. Detailed information about the regions where the beans are grown and the farmers or co-ops that grow them can be found on Hidden River’s website.
When the green beans arrive at the shop in Camas, the beans are carefully sifted and roasted on site.
If You Go
• What: Hidden River Coffee Roasters.
• Where: 536 N.E. Fifth Ave., Camas.
• Info: Coffee memberships are available through the website. Coffee members get a first taste of all new beans.
Pasa explained the Zen-ish/Pacific Northwest outdoors-y name of the company on their website: “We want our coffee to transport you to those moments of peace — those hidden rivers — where you can escape for a moment from the grind and the busy-ness of life.”
Go to Hidden River and find your hidden river. Coffee this terrific is a rare treat — not something to just guzzle and spill on yourself on the way to work. This is coffee that requires you to take a mini-break from reality — to sip and to savor and allow yourself to be transported to your happy place.
Rachel Pinsky can be emailed at couveeats@gmail.com. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @couveeats.
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