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As promised, here is my Seattle SCAA 2015 Coffee Travelogue. Enjoy.

I visited several coffee shop each day I was in town. I only had one rule: they had to offer single-origin, brewed-to-order coffee. This actually weeds out a lot of the less serious shops and helps cut down on the number of bad cups I buy. To help me organize the shops I visited for myself, I developed a four star system.

One star: This describes the bulk of indie coffee shops that generally make pretty good espresso, but the brewed coffee rarely rates better than inoffensive. I think of these as CNS (Closest Not-Starbucks) Coffee Shops.

Two Stars: These are either roast-their-own operations or they feature multiple roasters. Generally these took more care in how they prepared their coffee and there was some attention to freshness, but generally still produced only mildly interesting brews.

Three Stars: This rating is reserved for shops that consistently offer a selection of fresh roasted coffee and produced better than average cups of coffee.

Four Stars: These shops produce consistently good, sometimes great cups of coffee with depth and complexity.

Broadcast Coffee Roasters (two locations, off-site roasting) One Star

Cup: Rwanda, Colombia

Stopped at the 20th Street location our first morning as it was the closest coffee shop to where we were staying. They roast coffee off site and also appear to source some beans from other roasters. They received a coffee delivery while we were there, but the beans were already four days off roast, so I suspect they don't roast daily. I also stopped into their Capitol Hill location. Both cups of coffee I had a broadcast were more like tea than coffee with little body and pretty flat in terms of flavor.

Vita Coffee (on site roasting) One Star

Cup: Ethiopia

Stopped at their main roasting location in Capitol Hill. Vita is pretty old school, one person described as their own local version of Starbucks. We didn't find it to be quite as burnt as that, but they still seem to lean on dark roasting to carry the cup flavor. Pretense levels is fairly high here.

Victrola Coffee (on-site roasting) Two Stars

Cup: Kenya

Also located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and probably the most iconic of new wave roasters in Seattle, the emphasis here is pretty heavy on espresso-based drinks. They generally offer a couple of single-origin, brew-to-order coffee, but this is clearly not a focus for them. The cups I had here on this and previous visits were very light and floral and seemed to be brewed very weak.

Stumptown (on site roasting) One Star

Cup: Colombia

There location and aesthetic is spot on indie and they roast in the basement, but the cup quality was relatively poor.

Starbuck Reserve Roastery (on site roasting) One Star

Cup: Ethiopia, Brazil

This is Starbucks flagship high-end store directly targeting indie coffee. It is pretty much a tourist trap and the aesthetic is still very corporate, more like coffee Disneyland than coffee CBGB. The coffee is really, really expensive (over $20 for two cups), just as poorly roasted as other Starbucks coffee, but significantly fresher. This means it will still taste pretty toasty, but won't have that cardboard off-flavor I usually experience with Starbucks coffee.

Tougo (multi roaster) Three Star

Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia

This place was a standout for the lack of pretension and the consistent quality of their offerings. It was a 100%, but they source from a number of different roasters and generally offer two or three brewed-to-order options, although they seem to stick mostly to the high acidity, light body roasts.

Fuel Coffee (single roaster) One Star

Cup: Ethiopia

This place squeaked on to the list. They do offer brewed-to-order, theoretically, but may not want to make it if they don't have an extra barista on duty. The coffee was definitely not worth going out of the way for.

Slate Coffee Roasters (roast off-site) Three Star

Cup: Ethiopia, Kenya

If you can cut through the thick layer of pretension of this place, it's kind of a fun experience. They offer "innovative" menu items like a deconstructed latte. We stopped by on Sunday and it was full, although the place is a tiny box so that is not hard. We ordered two cups of coffee and waited maybe 15 to 20 minutes for our cups. They were fairly tepid when we got them, but I suspect that was by design. They were slightly better than other cups we had at some of the better shops, but lacked body or real complexity.

Ballard Coffee Works (roast off site) One Star

Cup: Panama

This is the Ballard location of Seattle Coffee Works which roasts downtown, which was on the cutting edge of the third wave, but now feels a little outdated. They seem to be trying to update their aesthetic and offerings, but mostly as a reaction to their competition. Coffee was pretty average.

Caffe Umbria (roast off site) One Star

I didn't actually get a cup of coffee here, although it met my criteria. Helpfully, they had beans on display and it was clear that the roasts were dark and poor quality.

While I believe good coffee shouldn't be cheap, many of these shops charged in the range of $4 to $6 for a brewed-to-order cup of coffee (a few even more). This appeared to be more an inconvenience charge for the extra barista time, than a recognition of the hard work of farmers. Philosophically, I found the pricing unjustified, especially in many cases where the cup quality fell short.

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Joel, Wow, what a great guide to Seattle Coffee Shops. On behalf of any readers, now and in the future, Thank You! I'm curious whether you noted which roasters better rated shops (maybe just Tougo falls into that category) represented? And, on a related topic, do you even have preferences for certain national and regional roasters (i.e., CounterCulture, Intelligentsia, Ritual, PTs, Heart, Coava, Novo, etc.) or is the roaster less important a determinant given the primacy of freshness?

Don, is it possible to put a copy (not move) of Joel's travelogue in the Seattle topic and as a new "Seattle Coffee Shops" topic for the coffee SubForum?

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Hello Everyone,

Just a quick post to let you know that we're going to close down this chat with Joel on Monday, the 17th so this is LAST CALL to get any unasked questions in about coffee, roasting coffee, coffee shops, the coffee business, beans, the countries that produce those beans and all that goes with that, and whatever else related to this historic and fascinating beverage. Did you know coffee dates back to "at least the 10th century" and has figured prominently in so much of the human experience since on nearly all continents?

Joel is a rare type of coffee professional in that he shifted from a well established career driven majorly by his intellectual and emotional interest to perfect something that can't ever be truly perfected. But, he has clearly made huge progress toward that aim.

In any event, please ask away and Joel will field whatever final questions before we close up shop on Monday.

Enjoy the weekend!

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Hi  Jasonc, Thanks for joining the chat.

This is a great question and it is something I think about more these days. Of course, the purist in me would say good coffee should be enjoyed byt itself without competing flavors, but we sell some really great bagels from Georgetown Bagelry and at this point in my life, I can't imaging eating a bagel and cream cheese without washing it down with a good cup of coffee. Also not so bad with a pastry, but I actually find that the sweetness of the pastry emphasizes the bitterness of the coffee, which a touch of milk can ameliorate.

Here was one that surprised me though: coffee goes really well with tart apples, go figure.

If you want to talk about pairings, it is really going to depend on the coffee. We did a pairing a couple of years ago with doughnuts and we discovered some really intriguing flavor combinations. Chefgunshow and I are in the process of planning a dessert and coffee pairing, coming very soon to Boundary Rd.

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We were going to shut this chat down Monday but have extended it a bit since it wasn't available over the weekend. So, this is the REAL LAST CALL for questions for Joel as we'll be closing this first-ever coffee chat, "A Chat with Joel Finklestein..." down on Friday.

I'll thank Joel more properly then but, for now, wow!  This chat now has an insane amount of great advice, knowledge and useful information about coffee.  From the coffee growing regions of the world, food pairings and thoughts on bean quality to terroir, brewing methods, satirical coffee-themed t-shirts and the best shops for some joe in Seattle, there's some great stuff here.

We'll close down Friday afternoon.  Any final questions on any coffee-related topic? Bring 'em on!  And, for Don, Joel and myself, thank you!

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We were going to shut this chat down Monday but have extended it a bit since it wasn't available over the weekend. So, this is the REAL LAST CALL for questions for Joel as we'll be closing this first-ever coffee chat, "A Chat with Joel Finklestein..." down on Friday.

I'll thank Joel more properly then but, for now, wow!  This chat now has an insane amount of great advice, knowledge and useful information about coffee.  From the coffee growing regions of the world, food pairings and thoughts on bean quality to terroir, brewing methods, satirical coffee-themed t-shirts and the best shops for some joe in Seattle, there's some great stuff here.

We'll close down Friday afternoon.  Any final questions on any coffee-related topic? Bring 'em on!  And, for Don, Joel and myself, thank you!

And thank you in advance as well, Darkstar, for all you do to promote real coffeehouses in DC. I'm typing this from one right now, enjoying a cup of Counter Culture right next to me.

Joel, you have been amazing, and I truly believe this chat will bear itself out as one of the most important and helpful we've ever had. Thank you for all you do!

Don

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 OK, I'll play!  Northside Social?  Guessing more likely than Peregrine thought could be others too.  :)

Village Sweet. Granted, more pastry shop than coffee shop, but has good drip Counter Culture (only) and better baked goods than perhaps any coffee shop in town - baked right there in the back room, all morning long: I saw Dawn hand-mixing a bowl of batter about an hour ago.

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Twas the night before end-of-chat

And all through the site

Not a poster was stirring

After all, late at night

With that first verse done

and tomorrow the end of this fest

Just one more query from me

Which satiric coffee-themed coffee t-shirt best?

And, in your opinion, Joel, why?

Oh, and what's the most interesting coffee for any visitors to order at Qualia over this coming weekend?

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Darkstar, I am fond of many of the t-shirts in my collection, but I tend to prefer the iconic ones and this one is classic:

Inspired by GI Joe

It's always difficult for me to pick one coffee to point people to, because I think taste is so personal, so I will give you three instead.

Ethiopia Harrar Mesela. This is NOT the blueberry bomb we have had in past years. It is a far more delicate and complex brew that still has a distinct fruit note. Slight sweet with a big body and what I might describe as precision fruitiness.

Sumatra Ketiara Adsenia. This is a single-varietal coffee from a small group of women growers high in the Bener Meriah mountains. It is some of the finest Sumatra coffee I have ever tasted. Mildly earthy and peppery, medium bodied, with some sweet tobacco notes.

Colombia Porvenir/Placer. This was one of several small lots we sourced from a new importer this year that represents some of the best and most distinctive beans coming out of that region. This has all the rounded, balanced flavor you would expect from a good Colombian coffee along with some really pleasant acidity and floral components making it a little more interesting.

But, of course, I love all my beans equally.

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Don, I want to come back to the question you asked me earlier in the chat about being focused on producing a quality product when the marketplace really doesn't demand it. When I started out in this business, I had the naivety to think that all I had to do was produce a good quality product and the customers would come. I mean I started down this road because I wasn't happy with the quality of coffee that was (and still largely is) available in the market. But the longer I do this, the more I have had to accept the fact that, for most people, coffee is a matter of convenience, not taste, ie the exploding percentage of the market moving to k-cups and other pods systems.

In my most cynical moments, I think I have expended far too much energy in sourcing good coffee and honing my craft, rather than marketing myself. But, on reflection, I got into this business because I like making good coffee, not because I enjoy selling myself. What makes it worthwhile to continue on isn't because I want to get rich (although making a living at it might be nice) but because I hope to produce something meaningful. So, basically, I do what I do for purely selfish reason with the hope that enough people appreciate it that I can sustain it financially.

That said, I do see a lot of room to improve the public understanding of what good coffee is and why they should demand it. I hope that is a conversation that I can have here and elsewhere. While it is tempting to castigate Todd Kliman for focusing attention on the most cartoonish aspects of the specialty coffee market, I often see the specialty coffee community lending itself to such characterizations, especially in DC where the coffee scene seems to be perennially behind the curve. Case in point, the recent announcement that Dolcezza's new location will be featuring nitro-driven cold brew, a national trend (we had cold brew on tap all last Summer) that hardly seems worthy of a headline. The piece also contains the claims that nitrogen changes the flavor of the coffee and that it adds creaminess to the body, both silly assertions that go completely unquestioned.

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Don, I want to come back to the question you asked me earlier in the chat about being focused on producing a quality product when the marketplace really doesn't demand it. When I started out in this business, I had the naivety to think that all I had to do was produce a good quality product and the customers would come. I mean I started down this road because I wasn't happy with the quality of coffee that was (and still largely is) available in the market. But the longer I do this, the more I have had to accept the fact that, for most people, coffee is a matter of convenience, not taste, ie the exploding percentage of the market moving to k-cups and other pods systems.

In my most cynical moments, I think I have expended far too much energy in sourcing good coffee and honing my craft, rather than marketing myself. But, on reflection, I got into this business because I like making good coffee, not because I enjoy selling myself. What makes it worthwhile to continue on isn't because I want to get rich (although making a living at it might be nice) but because I hope to produce something meaningful. So, basically, I do what I do for purely selfish reason with the hope that enough people appreciate it that I can sustain it financially.

I had nearly this *exact* conversation about six months ago with Edan Macquaid. The three of us are more alike than first meets the eye - maybe we should get together and form a pizzeria and coffee house, and I'll start a website about it. :) Edan, are you out there?

If you had any idea of the number and magnitude of things that this website pioneered, and then others took and mass-marketed, you wouldn't believe it.

Unfortunately, I can tell you that you're going to have to market yourself - Ed McMahon is not going to come knocking at your door. But, if you do market yourself (or, much more preferably, get someone to do it for you), doors will open up quickly. How many cases have there been in this world of quality products being snapped up by companies, and converted into mass-accepted, financially successful crap-o-la? Then you take that money and begin another quality product (or retire).

For whatever it's worth, you have *my* total respect.

   

But, of course, I love all my beans equally.

It's too bad they don't grow coffee beans locally near the Chesapeake Bay.

Then, you could love all your baybeans equally.

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Joel,

Cannot thank you enough for sharing your knowledge, experience and passion for all things coffee with us on this chat over the past couple of weeks.  From DC to Seattle and in response to questions basic and more complex, you handled them all with remarkable thought, grace and perspective.  As donrockwell.com has been a leading restaurant/food site since its founding, coffee has been less covered here as with other food media.  Over the past few years, we've built up a good collection of new threads for shops around town, but this chat and its fantastic advice and educational content up the coffee quotient here immeasurably more.

I'll leave to Don to lock the thread when he sees fit since I'm sure he'll want to add his own thanks.

This just to express my own appreciation and deep respect for you and for Qualia as a small business doing things the right way for the most admirable of reasons.  And, all with exceptional results.

For everyone, just a reminder that Qualia, the area's leading, small, independent and integrated roaster/coffee shop is at 3917 Georgia Ave NW in Petworth, just two blocks from the Georgia Avenue/Petworth metro station and online here and here.  Joel's amazingly delicious coffees can be ordered for home use by mail, online or in the shop, always "fresh off the roast."

As is so evident from this thread, Joel cares about perfecting coffee in a way that very few, even in the business, do. And, that's why his coffees taste so damn good!

Thanks again, Joel. And, see you soon!

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Well as usual I am late to the game. Often I am only getting time to do in depth reading on the weekends! So I will put this out there, in hopes that it may not be too late.

Thank you for taking your time to do this Joel. Your passion truly comes across the screen. Though a lot (frankly, most) of this conversation is well over my head.

I know that I have always like strong, bold and balanced flavor of my coffee. However, I have become extremely sensitive to caffeine and can no longer drink caffeinated coffee. I've even now found that decaf, as I do like it flavorful and thus strong, can sometimes be too much for me as well. What I've found is that organic decaf seems to be my best solution. I'm glad that decaf has come out of the bane of existence and is being given some attention, but still feel like it is the bad stepchild that will never get the attention it deserves.

I'm sure there are many others out there who drink decaf for other reasons, so I would like to know your opinion on the lack of offerings and attention to the decaf drinking public. Are we just a niche that no one wants to address? Or to follow Don's wine analogy, are we decaf drinkers looked upon as the boxed wine drinkers of the coffee world and I should just go bury my head in the sand?

Additionally, I appreciate the must to have just roasted beans, but in reality, I don't drink enough coffee to be able to drink it fast enough. (In my defense, I am NOT a fan of the k-cups) So I resort to freezing, and drinking a coffee that could taste much better. Most independent coffee shops are not near my home or work. I did try Filter, but must have ordered wrong as I was not a fan of the decaf I had. And would have appreciated more assistance in trying to order correctly to find the coffee and method of brew that would work best for me. I'm not encouraged to go back and try again, as that was an experience where I felt looked down upon. Bourbon Coffee has much better customer service, but the decaf offered has just not been strong enough in flavor for me. (I tried it several times there.) Swings, when I went there, was also not offering anything of substance in the decaf variety. Maybe that has changed but again I was not inclined to go back after a few visits. Mayorga was the first roaster I found to offer a really good strong and flavorful decaf, and is how I found that organic was a better product for me. Unfortunately, I don't get out to Rockville that often when they are open, and even when I purchase their smallest bag, it has to be frozen and lasts us a very long time. I own an AeroPress, a few French Press pots, and a stovetop Espresso maker, but frankly our Braun drip coffee maker (which must be at least 20 yrs old by now!) I find gives us the best results.

What's a gal to do?

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Hey squidsdc,

Thanks for your questions. I can assure you that you are not the only one who struggles with the lack of good decaf on the market. There are a number of problems I face as a roaster in dealing with decaf beans. For one, it's expensive. We are paying not only for good beans, but also for the cost of the decaffeination process, which we generally do not pass on to the customer (seems like that would just be adding insult to injury). On top of that, our decaf sales are unpredictable, sometimes a batch sells out in a day and other times it sits on the shelf half the week. Decaf is the one offering we consistently end up throwing away. Put all that together and we lose money by even stocking decaf coffee. So my feeling about decaf isn't one of disdain, just frustration.

I talk a lot about freshness because I think this is paramount to a good coffee experience. I have a lot of people tell me they prefer dark roasts to light roasts because they like a strong or bold coffee. However, a light or medium roast can taste just as strong or bold as a dark roast if it is roasted properly and if it's fresh. Unfortunately, because the process of decaffeinating coffee unavoidably breaks down some of the physical structure of the beans, decaf loses flavor faster and thus has a smaller freshness window than regular coffee (see earlier discussion about freezing, because it is not helping your coffee).

Coming back to the importance of freshness, we always encourage our customers to buy just enough coffee to get them through a week or two. If you bring your own container (preferably something air tight), we can sell you any quantity of coffee you want, no matter how small. Another option, if you are DIY-inclined, is to roast your own coffee at home. In its unroasted state, coffee has far more shelf life. Decaf is particularly easy to roast at home because it roasts at a slightly lower temperature than regular coffee and sheds almost no chaff, a papery skin that usually sloughs off during the roasting process.

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I really appreciate everyone who has tuned into this thread and hope you have learned something new about coffee that can help you appreciate your next cup a little bit more. I really want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Don and Darkstar for hosting this thread and keeping it rolling with their insightful inquiries and observations.

I invite you all to say "hi" next time you come into Qualia.

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Thank you, Joel, and I hope you don't mind if I keep this up for awhile so others can continue to read it.

Cheers!

Don

---

PS - Here's a link to "The Don Rockwell Idiot Kit," which allows you to go from complete novice to knowledgeable connoisseur very rapidly (there is absolutely no kickback or commission involved here - I'm just trying to help out Joel. As of Jan, 2016, I remain a satisfied customer who receives coffee beans twice a month in the mail, and I don't receive any type of discount). I cannot recommend this subscription program strongly enough.

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