Rant About Overall Disappointment in Seattle
First off and upfront let me say I didn't get to go to some places that receive a lot of praise (Vita, Herkimer, Victrola) but I did get to go to some others that receive a lot of press and praise and I was painfully unimpressed with the coffee scene in Seattle.
I assume I'll receive a fair amount of negativity from this post, but I suppose I'm okay with it.
Overall, I was just amazed at the lack of passion. It didn't seem like any barista wanted to talk about their coffee in any way. One barista used the same exact 3 tasting terms to describe two different blends "cream, balanced and chocolaty" for their milk blend and "creamy, balanced and chocolaty" for their straight shot blend. Really?! Not to mention the fact that the straight shot blend tasted like carrot stew (which wasn't necessarily unpleasant, just certainly not what the barista described). When I ask, "What are you pulling today?" please don't stare at me blankly as if I just asked what your favorite frappaccino beverage from Starbucks is or something like that. It's an honest question. Also, "Oh it's just our house blend" isn't really describing your coffee in any way.
I wasn't served a whole lot of bad coffee (although I was served possibly the worst Clever I have ever tasted at one roaster) it's just that no one seemed to be excited about their coffee. There wasn't anyone doing anything experimental or intriguing or fun... just... house blends. The places that were doing interesting S.O. things were doing them poorly.
One positive note: I had one of the best Hairbender shots I've had since landing on the West Coast last December at one shop. It was like someone was juicing an orange in my mouth.
Ultimately, the trip made me realize how spoiled I am here in the Portland area. I am surrounded by innovative roasters that are willing to bend and break rules and baristas that are tuned in and excited to work with some of the best coffees the world has to offer. I'm not out to make a "which is better Portland or Seattle" thread, because I have certainly been disappointed with some beverages I've been served in PDX, but overall Seattle was just... kind of a let-down.
-bry
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Ayers on
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I had a similar experience a few years ago on my first (and only) visit to Seattle. Being there for 7 days I made a point to visit quite a few choice locations, Vivace (Nicely hooked me up with some kick ass drinks), Victrola, Vita (wow all V's) and a few others I can't remember at the moment. While I was happy with the places I sought out before the trip, the times I just stopped at a random shop left me mostly unimpressed.
It's a big city though. I guess there is a lot of room for bad coffee just like anywhere else.
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Permalink Reply by Brett Wayne Barker on
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I just got back from the final leg of my 2010 Coffee tour. Portland and Seattle are both great coffee cities, yet very different. It seemed to me that, after visiting over 20 shops, the appreciation for quality and knowledge is very different between the two cities. Seattle holds to a more "traditional italian" style, while pdx a "third wave" scene. Which is better? In my opinion, good coffee! I had it in Seattle and Portland. I just had a lot more of it in Portland. Not sure if that gets my point across?
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Permalink Reply by Steve on
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Just went this past week and my overall experience was great. Hit many shops and only 1 was a disappointment. I wont say names but the barista was very cool. I will give kudos to the guys at Seattle Coffee Works, great experience and loved the good conversation....Herkimer and Victrola GREAT SPRO!!! I was expecting short conversation and got quite the opposite. So with that said and a coffee shop owner... I'm more into the great conversation with the barista and I'll leave it up to the roasters to explain the coffee....
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Permalink Reply by luke hudek on
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Lack of passion in any industry bothers me, but I am particular upset to see this post as my first trip to Seattle will be at this Years Fest in October.
Hopefully the places I visit will be better off than yours, and where exactly did you have the Hairbender shot so that I may try it myself?
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Permalink Reply by Brady on
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Sorry your trip was a disappointment, Bry.
Not to take anything away from your observations, but I had quite a different experience on my visit this spring. We went to different places, though, so sounds like you were a bit unlucky. Its also possible that your bar is a bit higher than mine... I love CLT and ATL, but they're certainly not PDX :).
Steve, I had similarly great experiences at Seattle Coffee Works and Herkimer (Greenwood), as well as Trabant and a little neighborhood place called Makeda, also in Greenwood... with friendly, talkative, and casually passionate baristas at all of these. That said, almost every place I went was recommended by friends or by a highly-caffeinated barista named Z at Trabant (who were my first stop, by luck). I did go other places with great espresso (Vivace, Vita), but those four really stood out for great coffee and baristas that cared. At each place, the barista talked about something they were experimenting with - a different pressure, a new SO, a new drip, or something else interesting.
FWIW, I deeply regret not stopping to see Mike Sabol, and any bXer would be remiss in missing his place.
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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on
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I had the great shot of Hairbender at their store on Pine.
I have some good friends on the PDX cupping and training teams so we drink a fair amount of Stumptown's stuff around here (in addition to the stuff we roast and produce), but that shot was impressively dynamic.
I don't want to speak negatively about specific stores, so I'll leave the places that I had bad experiences about out of the public forum.
Also, I do want to stress, outside of one store it wasn't that we had bad coffee, it was that there was no link between the beans in the hopper and the beverage in my mouth. I know as much about the coffees I was served now as I did before I went to Seattle.
If nothing else, it made me reset my focus on customer education. I would hate for someone to come into one of our shops and leave with the story of, "They served me a solid cappuccino with their house blend."
-bry
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Permalink Reply by Mike McGinness on
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You'd be hard pressed to find anyone with a bar set higher! Which isn't a bad thing, but can be challenging at times when having to deal with the real day to day world and keeping doors open. Unfortunately every coffee we source and roast can't be a 90+ at this time:( On the other hand Bry's extreme passion for excellence keeps me from compromising too much for the sake of keeping the doors open:) Not that I don't share the same passion for excellence, just beat up from the long constant struggle to actually keep the doors open since the economy crashed two years ago!
Brady said:Its also possible that your bar is a bit higher than mine...
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