Seattle's Social Coffee Scene

When it comes to meeting places in Seattle, cafes and coffee houses outnumber bars by a factor of 5 to one. Rumored to have more cafes per capita than any other city in North America, Seattle is home to large chains and small independent coffee houses alike. Each cafe has a distinctly different vibe and its own loyal coffeephiles.

Amid the clatter of china and the soothing hum of coffee machines, Seattle residents tend to gather for a communal cup of java or a reprieve. As one barista puts it, coffee drinkers fall into two distinct groups: solitary sippers and your social sippers. Among the solitary drinkers, a large proportion come for the free wireless internet. The non-solitary come for everything else.

Unlike New York City, where some cafes have banned laptops, there are cafes and even chains that cater to those in search of 24-hour wireless internet service like Short Stop Coffee. At many cafes, internet service is a key part of the operation where even small kiosks are designed with power plugs in the floor.

The social life of a typical Seattle cafe changes from hour to hour starting with the hung-over or the early-to-work crowd (depending on whether the cafe opens at dawn or is an all-nighter) followed by moms pushing strollers.

The mid-morning crowd is a motley collection of civic workers in dungarees on a coffee break to entrepreneurs and Lululemon-clad yoga enthusiasts. Later in the morning and throughout the day, you get retirees, office and retail employees on coffee breaks, and the ubiquitous laptop users. In trendy neigborhoods like Belltown, there are groups of poets, knitters, language learners and book club enthusiasts.

Even dog owners can find cafes which cater to canines such as the Stumptown Coffee in Capitol Hill, which offers free dog biscuits.

If Seattle is the coffee capital, two of the essential neighbourhoods for coffee are Fremont and Capitol Hill. Freemont is hip and eclectic, and welcomes visitors with a sign that says “Welcome to the Center of the Universe”. Capitol Hill has an interesting mix of shops, art-house theatres and trendy restaurants. Both neighbourhods are friendly and full of interesting local coffee shops.

While Seattle has an established reputation as a coffee capital, particularly thanks to Starbucks Coffee, many other cities in the Pacific Northwest also offer vibrant coffee scenes. Portland, San Francisco and Vancouver all offer great coffee scenes and the same kind of temperate, cloudy weather that makes sipping a coffee in a warm, friendly cafe so enjoyable.

Photo Credit: Benson Kua

Coffee producers, exporters, importers, roasters, retailers and coffee enthusiasts from over 40 countries recently gathered for the Specialty Coffee Association Annual Exposition in Anaheim, California.

From April 15 to 18, 2010, over 8000 people roamed the aisles perusing 750 booths showcasing innovative and never-seen-before products. All the big names were present, including Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya, Diedrich, Green Mountain, & Intelligentsia. It was even rumored that Starbucks visionary and CEO Howard Shultz was roaming the aisles, perhaps looking for the coffee giant’s next inspiration.

Pleasantly surprising was the considerable focus and presence of single-cup coffee applications for Home and Office which is now making a strong push into retail. In the single-cup symposium that took place prior to the show, the presidents of both Green Mountain and Keurig shared their vision, opportunities and concerns around the growing single-cup movement. Keurig, Tassimo and Coffee Pod systems continue to grow in both Offices and Homes; however, new and innovative systems were unveiled at the show with the purpose of providing the single-cup experience for cafes.

Bunnomatic, a 100 year old manufacturer of coffee equipment unveiled its top secret commercial retail single-cup system, the 'Trifecta" (see picture below). The Trifecta not only delivers a great cup of coffee but also a great show as it bubbles, agitates and pulls the perfect temperature water through the fresh coffee ground of your choice.

The high-tech Trifecta was not the only new commercial single-cup brewer on display. The Newco Freshcup, which uses coffee pods and hits the Specialty Coffee Gold Cup standard, was featured in silver and racing red.

I would have to say that the honorable mention goes to this brewer (see picture below). I have no idea what this system is called, but I have to believe that the inspiration comes from someone’s banjo-playing, great-uncle Jed (from the hills) who purveyed dubious alcoholic refreshments (err... rheumatoid medicine) whilst trying to avoid unnecessary entanglements with the local authorities!

Another highlight of the SCAA expo is the talent competing in the Barista Championship. Congratulations to this year’s champion, Michael Phillips of Intelligentsia Coffee, Chicago and second place winner, Chris Baca of Verve Coffee Roasters, Santa Cruz, California.

Finally, since SCAA is about COFFEE, plantations from around the world entered their crops to be considered for Best of Origin competition. Since Guatemala was this year's portrait country, I will start with their impressive placement. The coffee sample sent by the Puerta Verde plantation scored an impressive 89.625 (less than 1% off our winner this year). In fact, plantations from Honduras, Kenya, Panama and Peru all broke the 89-point barrier. I should mention that the good ol’ US of A also had a respectable ranking of 87.56 with a submission from the Rising Sun plantation of Hawaii.

However, this year’s overall winner was a coffee submitted by the Buenavista Estate located in the San Agustin, Huila region of Colombia. With all of Colombia's coffee problems this past year, it was nice to see them take this prize home.

Whether you are a coffee professional that has not yet reveled in the excitement of a Specialty Coffee Association Expo or a novice that would like to immerse yourself in an industry that never disappoints, I can say with all honesty that it is three days well worth spending.

Jackie Robinson's son, David, making the rounds.

"Since its establishment in 1973, this organization has provided educational and professional opportunities to more than 1,400 disadvantaged students of color throughout the country. The Foundation's sterling reputation is well-deserved: 97% of Foundation scholars graduate from college - while the value of the experiences, mentorship, personal development, and practical training that the Foundation provides to its scholars has proven immeasurable." So says New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a letter welcoming all those attending the Jackie Robinson Foundation's Annual Awards Dinner.

So, needless to say, I was quite excited to attend this highly anticipated star-studded black-tie evening at NYC's famous Waldorf Astoria hotel, and I wasn't disappointed.

The evening began with access to the VIP cocktail party where Major League Baseball commissioner Allan (Bud) Selig and Grammy award winning opera singer Jessye Norman were joined by a plethora of captains of industry that hobnobbed prior to dinner.

During dinner, Bill Cosby hosted the formal event and introduced the award recipients:

With a compelling story, Allan (Bud) Selig was given a Lifetime Achievement award for his contribution to MLB's organizational structure dating back to 1992.

Next, a ROBIE achievement in industry award was given to Joseph Plumeri, Chairman and CEO of Willis Group, one the world's leading insurance brokers.  On a side note, Willis Group recently purchased the tallest building in the western hemisphere - the former Sears tower in Chicago.

Another ROBIE achievement in industry award was given to Paul Polman, CEO of mega-company Unilever. It was interesting to hear how this company has been expanding its sales force using women in third world countries; in effect, helping them create their own employment and improve their standard of living.
Finally a Robie humanitarian award was given to Jessye Norman, performing artist. Norman has received many esteemed awards in the United States in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the arts.

These joined a long list of award winners, which includes notables such as Robert Redford '09, George Lucas '08, Spike Lee '07, and Hillary Clinton '06.

At this point you’re all probably wondering what the coffee angle is to this story?  As you may know, Carson (c'est moi) is a coffee guy. You are probably aware that Jackie Robinson, on top of being a world-class baseball player, also broke the MLB's color barrier in 1946 by being the first African American professional baseball player in the Major Leagues.  He was also quoted as saying 'the value of a man is determined by one thing: the size of his contribution to the world.'

Jackie Robinson's son, David, must have heard that mantra many times.  Believing in this too, he gave up the comforts to which he was accustomed and moved to Tanzania and entered the world of coffee farming. David has formed a coffee cooperative of approximately 650 small coffee farms which, rather than selling its raw coffee to multinational buyers in Tanzania, is marketing it's product directly in North America. The name for this venture: Sweet Unity Farms - touted as the 'Cabernet of Coffee' by the New York Times.

David is spearheading a new model for progressive economic development that transforms poverty into equality. In the shadow of his father's legend, David Robinson's Sweet Unity Coffee is a great story and a great cup.

The entrance to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel where the Annual Awards Dinner was held.

The excellent line-up of speakers for the evening.

To view more photos from the Jackie Robinson Foundation Awards Dinner, please visit the new CoffeeMarvel flickr stream.