6 Reasons I Haven’t Been To Your Coffee Shop

Believe it or not, I haven’t been to every coffee shop in Seattle. Nor do I plan to. Why not? Below are the 6 Reasons I Haven’t Been To Your Coffee Shop.

  1. Coffee Doesn’t Get Top Billing – I am much more likely to visit a coffee shop that serves food than a restaurant or cafe that serves good coffee. I’m here for the bean, not cupcakes or sandwiches.
  2. Not Disclosing Your Roaster – I avoid coffee shops that hide to fall to disclose their coffee roaster. Why hide that information from the customer? Be proud of your roaster. Show the sticker or at least mention them on your website. The coffee fan must assume the coffee is inferior when this information is hidden.
  3. Your Roaster Sucks – There are a few local roasters that I think are terrible. If you open a new cafe using one of these roasters, I will assume you know little about coffee and I will avoid your business. If you need help choosing a roaster for your business, I can provide unbiased assistance.
  4. Stupid Name – Places that use stimulate adjectives in the name (EX: jitter, wired, buzz) almost always are terrible.
  5. Trying to Sell Franchises at the Cafe – There is one upstart coffee shop in Seattle that is doing this. I refuse to name them or try them. They seem sleazy.
  6. Give Me Time, Let Me Know or Invite Me – It may just be a matter of time before I get to a coffee shop. I may not know about the place. You can always invite me. Last year Caffe D’Arte invited me down and shared their different coffees.

How about you? Do you have any rules or red flags when it comes to trying out a new coffee shop?

This place violates rules #1 and #3 and thus I haven’t been there.

11 Comments

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  1. This happened to me when a coffee shop said they were serving intelligentsia coffee, but it turned out that they were serving some generic brand and passing it off.

  2. thought you might like this site, although you probably have heard of it.

    http://newcoffeeupdates.com/

  3. Agree, not disclosing your roaster is a red flag. I would like to compliment the cafe on their choice of roaster if I like it and pass that recommendation on by word of mouth or tweet.

  4. Love! the stupid name option! 🙂

  5. So wait, there are some roasters who suck, and you won’t drink their coffee, but if I want advice on which roaster to use, you’ll provide unbiased assistance? Please click this link: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unbiased

  6. @Jesse – Unbiased in that context means that I do not work, nor have ever been employed by any of the roasters that I would be recommending. Since there are places I dislike, maybe I should have said “Biased but independent”? 🙂

  7. @Jesse – I crossed out the word “unbiased” in the post.

  8. “biased and independent”. I like that.

  9. This inspired me to write a post about my rules on what things to avoid in Korea cafes — http://frshgrnd.com/2010/09/three-rules-of-thumb-for-avoiding-bad-coffee-in-seoul/

  10. Whoever posted that note about the dictionary should please look up douche bag.
    Just want to ensure you know exactly what you are. And yes. It is personal

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