What's the best coffee in Seattle? (Bellevue, Starbuck: club, shop, food)

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Me? What? I have you on my ignore list? It ain't true. Why would I ignore you?
And I completely agree with you. It's not just the roast, it's also the quality of the beans and how they're processed. For roasting at home, Sweet Maria's always has great quality beans. But lately I've also been hitting up Ethiopian grocery stores and buying their green Sidamo beans. But, as far as quality goes, I think I don't know a whole lot. I've had some of the Civet Cat coffee, I've had Jamaican Blue Mountain, Kona, all very expensive, highly sought after coffee. And my reaction was "Eh."

Sorry Ira.. Well, I sent you a private message and didn't get a response, so I thought perhaps I was bothering you and was on your ignore list.. Please accept my apologies.

I agree with you that so many supposedly high quality coffees are garbage.. Once you taste the good stuff it is very hard to match the taste.. I've been impressed by one of the micro-roasters, Kuma, here in Seattle. He seems to really get his stuff right.. I'd be so eager to taste the type of stuff you roast and eventually try roasting my own. . It is at the point where it seems its getting harder and harder to find a good cup of coffee now that my expectations of the perfect cup are becoming so high.

[jddssc121]

Stumptown or Cafe Ladro

[fnh]

Friends, before I would have said any old coffeehouse is great as long as the atmosphere is pleasant. Which is still largely true. I'm admittedly no connoisseur and have been a cheerleader for my own Broadcast Coffee on Yesler. It hits the spot with a smooth Stumptown brew that isn't as harsh as others.

BUT, I recently had a conversion experience. (In Houston, I'm afraid.) I ordered an after-lunch coffee at Paulie's and was asked if a pour-over would be acceptable. Um, sure, I'm not that fancy. When I fetched it from the counter and asked for cream, the barista pleaded I at least try it before adding anything.

How do I type out the sound of nirvana? I have never had such a wonderfully creamy cup of coffee that was so delicious with absolutely nothing added. Plain coffee tasted like a million amazing calories. It was so perfect that I dared not add a thing. All I know is that the coffee was from Rwanda.

I will still frequent my beloved Broadcast, but I am paying attention to these threads with a whole new perspective. So thank you.

[billy98102]

for me, Cafe Ladro on 15th Avenue East hits the spot.

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by fnh

Friends, before I would have said any old coffeehouse is great as long as the atmosphere is pleasant. Which is still largely true. I'm admittedly no connoisseur and have been a cheerleader for my own Broadcast Coffee on Yesler. It hits the spot with a smooth Stumptown brew that isn't as harsh as others.

BUT, I recently had a conversion experience. (In Houston, I'm afraid.) I ordered an after-lunch coffee at Paulie's and was asked if a pour-over would be acceptable. Um, sure, I'm not that fancy. When I fetched it from the counter and asked for cream, the barista pleaded I at least try it before adding anything.

How do I type out the sound of nirvana? I have never had such a wonderfully creamy cup of coffee that was so delicious with absolutely nothing added. Plain coffee tasted like a million amazing calories. It was so perfect that I dared not add a thing. All I know is that the coffee was from Rwanda.

I will still frequent my beloved Broadcast, but I am paying attention to these threads with a whole new perspective. So thank you.

You put cream in your coffee!! Heresay!! Cream and sugar are for people who hate coffee, but love sugary rich caffeinated drinks.. Coffee is a very unique and intricate beverage, where the quality can only be comprehended by the perfect balance of good quality bean and roast. If you need to add cream to the coffee, the coffee has already failed the litmus test of quality.

[skidamarink]

I only drink cappuccinos, and so far the best I've experienced has been Bauhaus in Capitol Hill. I recommend them for cappuccino.

[Hemlock140]

Now that we have been to Dutch Bros. In Everett a few time, we still like them best, but that location on Broadway is hard to get into. They always have a long line of cars and the line blocks traffic. Fortunately, the new Renton store opens May 18th, and is much closer. From 5am to 10pm that day they offer free medium drinks, so I would avoid the area unless you have a lot of patience (Hardie Ave near Rainier Ave S.).

[RotseCherut]

Dutch Bros BLEHHHHHHHHHH

Best Espresso in Seattle is Vivace from what I remember, but I don't go there too much. Actually, Chocolati makes some spectacular mochas and espresso drinks thanks to their high quality chocolate they make in house. Yes, they use LIghthouse, but it's ok as an espresso with lots of chocolate and steamed milk. However, I do go to a local coffeeshop in my hood and it uses one of my favorite roasters, but because I am a regular there I will not broadcast it on the forum.. It is a spectacular coffeeshop though and one of the smaller and less known ones.

There are many great places to get espresso drinks in Seattle, but very few places that actually have good quality micro-roasted artisian single origin coffees. The only good roaster I have had in Seattle that is usually consistent is down in Olympia.. Olympia COffee ROasters, IMO, is the best roaster in the Puget Sound for single-origin light to moderate roasted coffee. Their Big Truck Espresso is also very good quality and Certified Organic.

I've never been impressed with the coffee in Seattle and it seems most of the big roasters are just becoming such big operations that they have let the quality of the coffee go down hill. Caffe Vita can be hit or miss and most of the coffee I have there I am not impressed. Caffe Ladro can be very good at times and I have noticed that the coffee they have been roasting lately has been of a much higher quality and they have been balancing out the acidity in some of their fruitier blends. Caffe Ladro would be my 2nd pick next to Olympia. Caffe d'Arte makes really good espresso drinks ,but please don't order any non-espresso drinks at the coffeeshop, as the coffee is way too heavily roasted for drinking as straight coffee. They do make exceptional espresso drinks though. Kuma is another decent little roaster, but his consistency has been sketchy. There has been some naturally processed Kuma coffees that have been so sour that I literally had to throw the coffee out and couldn't drink it without adding lots of sugar and cardamon to it to try to help balance it. Some Kuma coffees have been highly exceptional.


Zoka produces some decent coffees, time to time, but most of their stuff is grossly overpriced and I find that a lot of their coffee can be overly acidic as well as they put more effort into the roasting process, but seem to neglect the aging and ripening process of the coffee. Any decent coffee you buy from Zoka you will pay twice as much for as the same quality from a very honorable roaster like Doma Coffee in Northern Idaho.

Seattle Coffee Works is hit or miss, but I feel they have been improving a little, but their coffees tend to be on average way too tart and acidic for my tastes. However, they have produce some eye-opening and exceptional coffees in the past.

Herkimer used to be good, but their quality went downhill the last time I tried them a few years ago. However, maybe they have changed their ways and have improved again. Will have to visit again and decide. I remember their cold brews being real a**-thumping and good. But, I never gauge a coffeeshop's quality based on cold brews, which is not really the same beast as hot brewed coffee.

Victrola, Lighthouse, Umbria, Caffe Lusso are all very crappy, over-roasted and poor quality coffees. Victrola is notoriously sour, although they have a few "elite" coffees that are not exceptional, but are exceptionally expensive, like Zoka.

People rave about Elm, Slate, Ventoux, Seven, Storyville and some of other other small-scale micro-roasteries. I have yet to have any coffee from these places that have impressed me. It just seems they think roasting some decent quality beans is all you have to do to become a great roaster, when in fact the process of aging and balancing out the roast is very complex and requires dedicated skills and serious precision. I think many of these people get lazy and just want to whip stuff out and too busy focusing on being coffeeshops and pumping out as much espresso beans as they can. We just have to face the sad truth that Seattle is much more of an espresso than a coffee town and most roasters put more effort into pumping out large quantities of espresso and devote their efforts to running cafes/coffeeshops that make espresso drinks. The quality of their coffee suffers because of that. Most people don't even know what good coffee is so they just dump sugar, milk and whatever in it and think because of the fancy and hip packaging of the coffee or coffeeshop that the coffee is of a good quality.


Finding good coffee is a chore in Seattle. Ironically, I have been really impressed with coffees coming from the Bay Area, Dallas, Texas, Kansas City, MO, Durham, NC, Post Falls, Idaho.

Some of my Favorite Roasters:
2nd Best Roasters in Kansas City (Some of best coffee I have ever had)
Doma Coffee (Post Falls, ID) One of best and most consistently high quality roasters I have had.. I order lots of their coffee
Full City and Cultivar Roasters (Dallas, TX) (Forgot which of these I had, but remember the one I had was astonishingly good)
Counter-Culture Coffee (Durham, NC)
Heart Coffee Roasters (Portland, OR)
Water St Coffee (Portland, OR)
Olympia Coffee (Olympia, WA) *Easily, best roaster in Washington state*

Many people do not realize that some of the best and award winning micro-roasters are actually all across the country and almost none (unless Oly Coffee Roasters won awards I am not aware about) are in the state of Washington.

[elkotronics]

I'll have ta give 2nd Best Roasters here in town a try. Thanks for the coffee tip, Rotse!

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by elkotronics

I'll have ta give 2nd Best Roasters here in town a try. Thanks for the coffee tip, Rotse!

Ah, so there is a reason for me to go to Kansas City, after all.. Tell me how you liked their coffeeshop. I would be eager to know. And, I will say that it was perhaps the best cup of coffee I ever had in my life and I have had some pretty good coffee over the years..