Coffee in Seattle facts for kids
Seattle is a very important city for coffee. It's known around the world for its coffee roasting and how coffee gets from farms to your cup. Because of this, many people who live in Seattle really love coffee! The city is famous for its strong coffee culture and has tons of coffee shops.
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Seattle's Coffee Culture
People in Seattle drink more coffee than in any other city in America. Imagine, there are about 35 coffee shops for every 100,000 people! It's almost impossible to walk down a street in a busy part of Seattle without seeing at least one coffee shop. You can find coffee almost anywhere: at small stands on the sidewalk, in parking lots, tiny cafes, big coffee houses, drive-throughs, and you can even get it delivered!
Some Ethiopian restaurants in Seattle also keep alive the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony. This includes roasting their own coffee beans right there. Places like Jebena Cafe and Kaffa Coffee & Wine Bar are examples of this.
Coffee Roasters in Seattle
Many companies that roast coffee beans have their main offices in Seattle. Some of these include Conduit Coffee Roasters, Fonté Coffee Roasters, Caffè Umbria, Herkimer Coffee, Seattle Coffee Works, and Victrola Coffee Roasters.
Starbucks: A Coffee Giant
Starbucks is the biggest coffee company that started in Seattle. It began in 1971 in a famous market called Pike Place Market. At first, it only roasted coffee beans. Later, it became a place where you could buy espresso drinks. In 1984, a new owner named Howard Schultz helped Starbucks grow hugely all over the world. In 2003, Starbucks bought another well-known Seattle coffee company called Seattle's Best Coffee.
Tully's Coffee: A Past Rival
Tully's Coffee used to be Seattle's second-largest coffee company. It was started in 1992 by Tom Tully O'Keefe to compete with Starbucks. However, as of 2018, there are no longer any Tully's coffee shops open in the United States.
Caffé Vita Coffee Roasting Company
Caffé Vita Coffee Roasting Company started in 1995. Their goal was to make excellent, special coffee. They also wanted to make sure their coffee was produced in a fair way. Instead of using a general "fair trade" system, they buy their coffee beans directly from the farmers who grow them.
Espresso Vivace: A Unique Blend
Espresso Vivace is a group of coffee shops and a roaster. It was founded in 1988 by an engineer. They make their coffee very carefully to match the owner's specific taste, and many customers love this unique blend.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Stumptown Coffee Roasters is based in Portland, but they opened a roasting place in Seattle in 2010. Later, in 2015, another coffee company called Peet's Coffee bought Stumptown.
Seattle's Coffee Shops
Seattle's coffee shop scene includes big chains like Starbucks and Seattle's Best Coffee, but also many coffee shops that are owned independently. Some of these independent shops include Café Allegro, Caffè Umbria, Caffe Ladro, Caffé Vita, Espresso Vivace, and Top Pot Doughnuts.
Café Allegro: A Pioneer
Café Allegro is a coffee shop located near the University of Washington. Its founder worked with Starbucks roasters to create the original Starbucks espresso roast. This roast is darker than many others but not the darkest. It's still the standard espresso coffee that Starbucks uses today, but it was first made for Café Allegro.
Last Exit on Brooklyn: A Historic Spot
The Last Exit on Brooklyn was a coffee house that was open from 1967 to 2000. It was a popular meeting place for chess players and thinkers. The owner wanted to create a welcoming place where everyone felt equal.
Top Pot Doughnuts: Coffee and Treats
Top Pot Doughnuts started in 2002 on Capitol Hill. It began as a bakery that also roasted and sold coffee. Since then, it has grown and now has locations in many places, including the Seattle area and even in Dallas, Texas.
Bauhaus Coffee and Books
Before Top Pot Doughnuts, there was a coffee shop called Bauhaus. It opened in 1993 and was known for its interesting design. The people who started Top Pot Doughnuts later used some of these design ideas for their own shops. The original Bauhaus closed in 2013, but new locations opened. However, all of these new locations closed suddenly in 2015.
Coffee Technology
In 2007, a company called Coffee Equipment Company created a machine called the Clover. This machine could brew one cup of coffee at a time, making each cup fresh. Starbucks later bought this company and now produces the Clover machine.
Coffee Events in Seattle
Coffee: World in your Cup was a special exhibition and series of events held at the Burke Museum in Seattle during 2009. It showed different coffee equipment and had talks where experts shared information about the coffee industry.
Seattle also hosted the World Barista Championship in April 2015. This is a competition where the best coffee makers from around the world show off their skills. The winner of that year, Sasa Sestic, was even featured in a documentary film called The Coffee Man.
Seattle Coffee in Pop Culture
In the TV show Frasier, which is set in Seattle, the characters often drink coffee at a fictional place called Café Nervosa. This coffee shop was inspired by a real-life Seattle cafe called Elliott Bay Café.
Images for kids
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Latte art
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Coffee cupping at Stumptown
