STUMPTOWN from Stumptown Coffee Roasters on Vimeo.

The latest film from Stumptown Coffee Roasters gives the viewer a closer look behind the scenes of the landmark Portland specialty coffee roaster. Filmmaker Trevor Fife (whose library of films for Stumptown is indeed impressive) uses sweeping shots of the Stumptown process paired with voice-over monologues from employees in sales, finance, operations, retail, roasting, and founder Duane Sorenson. You really get a sense of what makes Stumptown so special.

A few of our favorite moments:

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“How you do anything is how you do everything. I really believe in that and I try to live my life that way.” – Katie Bernstein, Barista

“I think a good roaster needs to have humility.” – Steve Kirbach, Roaster

“We can deal with just about anything that comes our way, and much like your family, good and bad, you just deal – and you also end up getting through some of the most difficult things in life. That’s the way a lot of us operate as a team.” – Matt Lounsbury, Operations

“For the most part, if I just drink it with cream – it tastes like a frickin’ candy bar that’s helping your brain energize and blow up. I love it. It’s delicious.” – Tim Root, Barista (and artist)

“If something is going to be special, you’ve got to go outside the lines and outside the box.” – Duane Sorenson, Founder

“Stumptown is on the map because we get amazing coffee, roast it well, and make a great cup. Our coffee is some of the cleanest, sweetest coffee on the planet and I don’t think anybody can argue with me on that – and I do believe it’s the best fucking coffee I’ve ever had in my life.” – Skip Colombo, Accounts

Here’s more on filmmaker Trevor Fife from the folks at Stumptown:

The accomplished filmmaker Trevor Fife once again explores the inner workings of Stumptown Coffee Roasters. For years, he has helped us to tell the story of our producers, shedding light on what goes on behind the scenes on the ground at origin. For this project, Trevor turns the camera inward to distill the essence of what it means to be a part of the โ€œStumptown Family.โ€

Trevor has been a long-time collaborator with Stumptown: traveling to source with Duane starting in 2006, shooting films on farms like Guatemala Finca El Injerto, and traveling across Colombia, Ethiopia and Kenya, blending clean, pristine digital images with gritty and textural Super 8 and 16mm film. His work is not only easy on the eyes but captures the living, breathing spirit behind the coffee farms and the surrounding communities. Heโ€™s perhaps best known for the swampy sexy cool True Blood opening sequence shot on Super 8. We feel lucky to work with him and look forward to future collaborations to come.

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