This year I drank a lot of espresso. The Coffee Club of Seattle visited 113 different coffee places in 2011. Some of the places we visited multiple times. And that doesn’t count the places I went just by myself.
The 5 Best Espressos of the Year
- Victrola Coffee (February 5) –Sumatra Lintong-Triple Picked SO Espresso. 15th Ave.
- Cortona Cafe (May 24) – Espresso blend by Herkimer Coffee.
- Caffe Vita (October 28) – Caffe Del Sol by Caffe Vita. Pike.
- Victrola Coffee (August 5) – El Salvador SO Espresso by Victrola. Pike.
- Tougo Coffee (July 21) – Malabar espresso by Oslo Coffee.
The Worst Espresso of the Year
(tie) Katy’s Corner Cafe and The Good Coffee Company Espresso Blend #90
The 3 Best Decaf Espressos
For a few weeks this summer I did an #unplugged project where I sampled many decaf espresso options around Seattle.
- Espresso Vivace
- Equal Exchange
- Stumptown Coffee
Highlight of the Year
The 2011 Northwest Coffee Festival and the week of events leading up to it. Wonderful event. I look forward to attending next year.
Becka
Dec 28, 2011 — 2:19 pm
Why do you list Caffe Umbria as “avoid” in the spreadsheet? I went there recently and thought it was good.
MAS
Dec 28, 2011 — 2:23 pm
@Becka – I posted about it in 2009.
https://criticalmas.org/2009/10/espresso-forgiveness/
Also note that I only drink espresso. They may do a great job with other drinks.
Greg
Jan 5, 2012 — 11:25 am
Any list that doesn’t include All City Coffee in Georgetown is either wrong or incomplete. I don’t live or work in Georgetown anymore but visit whenever I can because it is quite simply so much better than anywhere else. I asked the barista why that is, but she just kind of smiled dismissively.
MAS
Jan 5, 2012 — 1:41 pm
@Greg – I didn’t make it to All City in 2011. It was much easier to visit them when they had their Pioneer Square location. Their roaster Caffe Vita did make my top 5 list above.
Greg
Jan 6, 2012 — 9:54 am
Mas- Good to know. Makes me more inclined to trust the rest of your picks if you aren’t comparing to All City. I thought maybe we just had different tastes. I would be very interested to hear what you think. I used to work nearby in Georgetown. I am in Bellevue now and crave All City sometimes! Good vibe in the place most of the time too.
David Holzman
Sep 22, 2013 — 7:24 pm
I’m a Bostonian, and have only been to Seattle once this millennium, and of these, I’ve only been to Vivace. I’ve probably had espresso almost as good (at Lenox Coffee in Lenox Mass. and Barismo in Arlington Mass) but I’ve never had any that was better. I was there twice in early May 2012. It was like a Beethoven symphony going off in my mouth.
Zahid Munir
Mar 14, 2014 — 11:50 pm
Awesome. Your post insisting me to go for good espresso in Lahore Pakistan.