Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
COFFEE TALK
Sebastian Simsch, owner of Seattle Coffee Works, a local cafe and coffee roaster
with branches in downtown and Ballard, is better placed than most to talk about
Seattle's trendsetting coffee culture and he has some interesting thoughts about
how it was established and why it is so important to the city's psyche.
Bad weather has long pushed people in Seattle to look for an escape from the
rain, says Simsch, and coffee provides an ideal pick-me-up. Having retreated in-
doors, the coffee culture was shaped by a unique Seattle talent: its tech-minded
workforce. In a city famous for Boeing airplanes, there's a strong engineering cul-
ture. Tech-savvy Seattleites didn't try to just recreate European coffee culture,
they sought to re-invent it - quite literally. Local entrepreneurs, fascinated by the
industry's machinery, started to take apart complex Italian espresso machines to
see how they worked. And so began a process of betterment and refinement.
Look around the coffee world these days, says Simsch, and you'll find that many
of the best espresso machines such as Synesso and Slayer are made in Seattle.
The same goes for grinders, scoops, cups and other coffee paraphernalia. Food
culture is another important influence on coffee, he adds. There has always been
a strong culinary tradition in the Pacific Northwest and this has had a knock-on
effect in the cafes. Customers have refined taste buds and they demand high-
quality products; you can't pull the wool over their eyes.
With this in mind, Simsch's Seattle Coffee Works sources its baked goods from
local bakery Macrina in Belltown, and vegan doughnut producers Mighty O
Doughnuts, who run a popular cafe in Green Lake. This process of sharing and
networking has always been important among Seattle's tight-knit independent
businesses, where many talented coffee entrepreneurs began their careers work-
ing together. Indeed, three of the city's best cafes, Bauhaus, Zeitgeist and Top Pot
Hand-Forged Doughnuts were conceived by the same people, a fact evident in
each establishment's attractive woody decor and hip sense of style.
Simsch thanks the relatively low price of real estate for a lot of his own success,
as well as the role networking has played in drawing in local talent to work for
him. As with many third-wave coffee producers, he maintains direct relations with
farmers in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil, Honduras and El Salvador and he'll of-
ten pay them a visit in order to perfect the quality of his beans, primarily through
the drying process.
Seattle Coffee Works roasts its beans at its downtown premises in Pike St in
regular small batches. The aim is to produce a balanced drink that is both fruity
