SlayerEspresso Senior Member Joined: 5 Aug 2007 Posts: 74 Location: Calgary Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Slayer Espresso Machine -... Grinder: Mazzer Kony & Mahlkonig... Vac Pot: Clover 1S Drip: Eva Solo Roaster: Fratello Coffee
Posted Tue Dec 18, 2007, 10:05am Subject: Seattle - 14 Cafe Tour
I spend a lot of time visiting cafes, specifically what I would refer to as 3rd Wave cafes - paying attention to what they're doing & how they do it. I also like to notice what they're specifically NOT doing. To me, there is a vast & noticeable difference between these cafes and the average cafe and its obvious why the 3rd Wave cafes are having so much more success, even if they are right next to a Big Chain.
Recently - we toured 14 cafes in Seattle over a single 10 hour trip:
Victrola Caffe Vita Stumptown (both Seattle locations) Espresso Vivace Trabant (both Seattle locations) Cafe Allegro Starbucks (for a contrast to 3rd Wave) Cafe Solstice Zoka Fiore Zeitgeist Cafe Umbria
I have posted a rather long review on our blog that will be of interested to those of you in the coffee industry - or if you really like reading about cafes ;-).
The new 3rd Wave movement is going to be focused on quality. Quality of everything they do. Sourcing fresh roasted coffees, typically from roasters who source & roast the best coffees they can find. These coffee are very fresh and typically have a “roast date” on the bag. More and more barista’s are familiar with their roaster as well as the types of coffee they are offering. The best barista’s could give you information about the regions, roast profiles and sometimes even the farms that the coffee was sourced – as well as specifics on their espresso equipment (brewing temperatures, mods to steam tips). Many knew and would describe the specific espresso taste profile they were aiming to achieve, knew details on their organic milk and one café (Trabant) goes so far as to make their own chocolate sauce from scratch – which they went into detail about their process.
The equipment used is designed for incredible accuracy in heat stability and steam pressure. This equipment is designed to be used by professional barista’s, not just some kid looking for a job. The equipment is professional and is definitely at the hands of professionals.
The design, look and feel of these cafes is very clean, and simple (less is more). They let the coffee speak for its self. They do not have loud promotions, branding, marketing or POS material of any kind, usually plain brown paper bags for coffee, and plain white paper cups with their logo stamped on the side. They generally aren’t promoting other beverages of any kind if they even offer other drinks. You would need to ask them if they had tea, smoothies, etc….as one is generally not going to 3rd Wave cafes for a smoothie, chai or blended espresso drink, your there for a perfectly made coffee.
Psyd Senior Member Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 881 Location: MON AZ Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Sylvia and Astoria Argenta... Grinder: Rocky and Astoria (Mazzer)...
Posted Tue Dec 18, 2007, 1:59pm Subject: Re: Seattle - 14 Cafe Tour
Ya missed Monorail (hole in the wall, decent espresso, great atmoshere), Lardos, er... Ladro's downtown, bas of the 'Capitol Records' looking building, and on the other side of the five from Vivace, just past the new 'Whole Foods' on the left side of Denny, (what, on Ninth?) there is a great little Italian cafe/deli that has decent coffee and great atmoshere as well. *NOT* third wave, but still great lil places for you to check out next time. How was the new Stumptown on Pike? It was a little internet cafe with decent coffee last time I was there...
SlayerEspresso Senior Member Joined: 5 Aug 2007 Posts: 74 Location: Calgary Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Slayer Espresso Machine -... Grinder: Mazzer Kony & Mahlkonig... Vac Pot: Clover 1S Drip: Eva Solo Roaster: Fratello Coffee
Posted Tue Dec 18, 2007, 3:06pm Subject: Re: Seattle - 14 Cafe Tour
Psyd Said:
Ya missed Monorail (hole in the wall, decent espresso, great atmoshere), Lardos, er... Ladro's downtown How was the new Stumptown on Pike? It was a little internet cafe with decent coffee last time I was there...
I've been to both these places - just didn't have time to do EVERY cafe in one day. Remarkably - by 6:00pm we were physically wiped out. I was expecting to be completely wired...but we were all tired. Drank a few pints and came back to life ;-)
Stumptown (both locations) are great - but I love the location on 12th best...probably because the roasting downstairs and I have been there so many times & know a lot of the staff.
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