Archive for July, 2009
15th Avenue E Coffee & Tea. Inspired by Starbucks?
15th Avenue Coffee & Tea Sign, originally uploaded by andai. 15th Avenue East Coffee and Tea opened their doors bright and early this morning and I was in the vicinity later that morning. As I drove by the store around 8 AM, and it was interesting to note that there wasn't a huge crowd trying to get into the store to try it out. Yes it looked like there were a few folks in there placing orders, but nothing yet like I would have expected after all the publicity they had been getting of late. But then again, it was still early and the day was young. And there were probably folk out there like me who are not necessarily going to go in on the first day, but will certainly visit the place and give it a try... at the very least to be able to say, "Yeah, I've tried their coffee and I think it's..." Regardless, what I found to be actually more interesting to me was the signage on the door of the 'new' shop. The signage stated the name of the store then included the phrase "Inspired by Starbucks" Now that is [...]
A Starbucks By Any Name Tastes Just As…
15th Avenue Coffee & Tea Remodeling, originally uploaded by andai. Today at 6:00 AM marks a new era in the 'reign' of Starbucks Coffee. At that time, Starbucks will open its first 'I am not a Starbucks' coffee shop up on 15th Avenue in Seattle's Capital Hill neighborhood right next to Smith. Now if you are familiar with this location, you will recognize that this is the exact same location where only a few months ago, there was a Starbucks branded coffee shop. To reinforce the idea that this is not a Starbucks (branded) store, you will not see any Starbucks branding anywhere. Instead, this shop will simply be called, appropriately enough, "15th Avenue Coffee and Tea". This article by the Seattle Times business writer and coffee blogger, Melissa Allison, gives a detailed look at what the new store will look like. It is pretty clear that Starbucks is shedding its familiar corporate style coffeehouse decor and instead going the ‘indie’ look and feel… complete with furniture and fixtures made of [...]
Stella Caffé's Italian Style Espresso
Stella Caffé Flagship, originally uploaded by andai. I really like Stella Caffé. It has to be one of my top five favorite coffeehouses in Seattle. The only problem for me though is that I just don't find myself too often hanging out in the area around the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) which is the next block over, north of Stella Caffé's retail location. But I certainly do make the effort to get there when I happen to be in the area. I first heard about Stella Caffé from a workmate (lets call her A), who had heard about the place from another workmate (lets call him B). Workmate "A", knowing that I am always looking for new and interesting coffee shops to try out told me how workmate "B" just wouldn't stop raving about the Roman coffee that he would always get at the shop. The only thing here was they workmate "A" could not remember the name of the shop and exactly where it was located. I did talk to "B" and though he told me the general area where the store was located, he could not remember the actual [...]
LOC.18 Cafe in Thailand
Our guest blogger Michael Wu tends to travel extensively in the Asia region and sent us this brief post from his recent visit to Thailand Suwat de ka. That's the proper greeting in Thai. Thailand is known for many things but I was pleasantly surprise to see that coffeehouses and cafes are very much part of the daily culture. And I'm not talking about traditional Thai coffee - all of the cafes you'll be reading from me are western influenced. First up is a little cafe run by the Niphanphaisal family, who own and operate the Sathorn Place boutique hotel. Situated just outside of the hotel lobby, it provides easy access and proverbial view of who's coming in and out of the hotel. Comfortable seating is casually set out - given a very homely feeling. Patrons are sheltered from the heat under shades and open air. It opens daily from 7AM to 4pm - serving both western and Thai breakfasts and lunch. Now on with the coffee - menu is limited but enough to cover your basics with a coupe of specialties of [...]
Porchlight Coffee, Cafe Char and that Other Coffee Company
Porchlight Coffee Sign, originally uploaded by andai. In the last month or so, two new coffee shops have opened up on the upper Capital hill and Madison areas. These are Porchlight Coffee and Cafe Char. But now there is a third coffee shop that will be opening soon. This new, yet to be opened coffee shop will be called "15th Avenue Coffee and Tea". Porchlight Coffee is located up on 14th between Pike and Pine, right round the corner from Old School Frozen Custard. I have been there, but I haven't had the coffee yet. They serve Herkimer coffee and I certainly I do plan on checking the place out. Cafe Char is located on East Madison, just about on the corner of East Madison and 23rd Avenue. The serve beans from Caffe Vita. I have also been there, but just like Porchlight Coffee, I haven't tried the coffee yet. I also plan on checking this place out shortly. Now "15th Avenue Coffee and Tea" is going to be located on 15th Avenue where the old Starbucks coffee shop on 15th was located. And there is a good [...]
Mioposto Caffè e Pizzeria and Caffè Vita Espresso?
Mioposto Latte, originally uploaded by andai. I happened upon Mioposto Caffè e Pizzeria totally by chance while I was up and about and passing through the neighborhood of Mount Baker. It all started while I was driving along the Lake Washington Blvd just to the south of I-5. After a bit of driving I decided I had gone far enough south and it was time to turn and go back the way I had originally come. There was this turn off just ahead and to my right that looked perfect for this so I made a right and immediately started looking for a good turn around spot. Now to the left were some really nice houses while to my right was a really nice park... and just ahead was a small clump of shops and restaurants. The area looked very pleasant... a sign welcomed me to the Mount Baker neighborhood. This is where I found Mioposto Caffè e Pizzeria(i.e caffè & Pizzeria). right at the corner. What initially made me sit up and take notice was that the signage of Mioposto looked more like what I would expect of [...]
Blue Saucer Cafe for Stumptown Coffee and Fine Teas
Blue Saucer Cafe, originally uploaded by andai. I usually drive by the Blue Saucer Cafe on most Sundays and I have always wanted to stop and try it out. The reason I didn't do so until recently is if you were to take a casual glance at the place as you pass by, looked more like some small restaurant then a coffee shop... In other words the place just did not look very "coffeeish" to me. Well this one Sunday I decided that I might as well stop by and check it out and if I didn't like it, then I simply wouldn't go back again. And so I did. The inside was much different than I had expected... it actually looked coffee shop'ish to me... not Capital Hill coffee shop style, and certainly not the Capital Hill type of customer but nonetheless the place was inviting. The baristas on duty were really nice and told me a bit about their coffee.They pride themselves in serving Stumptown coffee in addition to having a fine selection of great teas. Like most of the coffee shops here in Seattle that use Stumptown [...]