Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Coffee Shop Review: Seattle Coffee Works




Visited a friend in Seattle earlier this spring, and he directed my daughter and me here, while he entertained my husband (the coffee-hater).  I'm so glad I got to do it - I told the barista to make me two different coffees, and to use the brewing methods he thought best for each one (Chemex for one, Hario V60 for the other).  The barista was great, the coffee was great, and the ambiance was great.

Kivi and I sat back and watched. It's a weird experience watching someone make coffee for me, using the methods that I myself might use.  He did encourage us to take our coffee black, to really experience the flavors, without the masks of cream and sugar (I know, I know). I did as he suggested (well I did doctor one of the cups, toward the end) though Kivi did go ahead and add it to hers.  There was a LOT of coffee - enough for both Kivi and I to have about 4 cups (8-ish) ounces each.  We got done at 4pm, which is an hour AFTER my daily coffee deadline.  Both of us were wired, and I resigned myself to sleeping poorly that night.

I do call bullshit on one thing though - one of the other baristas suggested that their coffee was so lightly roasted and hence so acidic, that it would likely curdle any cream/milk added to it.  I brew with almost nothing BUT light roasts, and it's never curdled (except when the cream was a bit off, but that's a different issue).  And, their coffee didn't curdle the cream we added.  I can only wonder at the acidity she's experienced, that her claim could be so.

While I was there, I picked up some new toys and some beans:  An Aeropress (finally!), a cool airtight storage can with a 1-way valve on the bottom (kind of a brilliant design actually, as CO2 is heavier than air), and an 8-ounce bag of Panama Suarez Geisha beans.

The "E" refers to storage - I vacuum pack my extra beans in 4-ish ounce increments, and label them with a letter. Then the label from the original packaging goes in the top of the Airscape canisters, so I know which beans are which.

Damn... I really wish they'd been packaged in a 12- or 16-ounce bag. I ran out WAY too fast.
Anyway, we had an absolutely LOVELY time.  


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