Neat article on MSN (in their City Guides section) looks at Seattle’s coffee culture and discusses barista competitions.
Thanks to Starbucks, coffee is big business in America, where specialty espresso drinks—lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos—have replaced the diner “cup of joe.”
But long before Starbucks was a household name, the coffee revolution was underway in mid-1970s Seattle, where old standbys like B&O Espresso and Café Allegro—Seattle’s first independent coffeehouse—were defining a new culture. Starbucks itself was part of that wave before blowing the lid off the espresso business, opening its very first shop in Seattle in 1971.
Today, try to list the best cafés in Seattle, and you’re in for a fierce debate. Want to start a coffeehouse? Better take cues from the three V’s—Vivace, Caffe Vita, and Victrola—which roast (and sell) their own beans and manage at least one retail location. Think you’d rather be a barista? You’ll need a zeal for coffee and a serious training session because you’re up against baristas who have competed at the national level. So just how did coffee become way of life in Seattle?
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