Espresso time again? What? How Portland has mocked me so...

The mantra still rings true. As my wife had said, it's easier to get an espresso in Oregon than it is a gallon of gas. I awoke to start on a very busy day all set to hit the imbibing trail. Maps and scribbles were in tow, the location of the bike rental was set, geometric internal compass was calibrated, all that was needed was.. a morning fix. I wrote earlier about another great coffee place earlier called Barista. Well I figured I would be done with nice coffee places and figured things would be more low key today as I asked the front desk at my hotel where I could go close by to get a good cup of coffee and perhaps a snack.

"Oh you should head to Public Domain, just go this way on Broadway and turn right and you'll see it." mentioned the hotel staffer. I arrived and figured out... well... why didn't I come here first (simply cause it was closer to where I was staying). I approached the front and saw a similar sign. Here are the "espressos" available. Oh god please no... I can't do this again... This time there were 4, and I had no time to try them all.

I jokingly mentioned to the staff that I would try all four if I had the time. "Oh well...", she said. "Actually if you come later today on Thursdays we have espresso happy hour between 4 and 6. It's half off."

Now this was beginning to sting. It was as if Portland was beginning to punish and mock me.

I did notice the weather had changed also. It was no longer a sunny day, clouds roared in hinting of a large rain pour to come, and there was a chill in the air. Perhaps this was a sign that things were too good to be true, and that dourness could come at any time in imbibing. I quickly saw lemon zest as an item and asked for the Peru San Ignacio. And there it was just like the last lemony espresso I had, only bolder. Good lord how is this possible??? It was an espresso lovers dream to be in these places. I glanced at the machine saying to the barrista, "yeah I can't quite make this at home I guess huh!" He smiled and replied, "well a machine like this one costs about several thousand so don't expect to", he cloyingly mentioned in playful terms. He did say the model name which escaped me. The name however did sound more like an Italian high end sports car, than anything that should be making espresso. Which probably explains why the name of my machine at home sounds more like a lawnmower. Public Domain is located at 603 SW Broadway in downtown Portland.