Tully's Wants Your Ideas, Too

It's not quite the same as the Starbucks customer suggestion site, but Tully's wants to hear your wackiest, most high-maintenance drink orders. If, despite being obnoxiously long, it also tastes surprisingly good they'll kick you a $100 gift certificate.

Seattleite Dan Godfrey won with this doozy: "Veinte, iced, two percent, quad ristretto, split-shot 'Cookies and Creme' mint mocha. Go easy on the ice with 1 3/4 packets of Equal, no whip, topped with velvety, bone-dry foam and a dash of cinnamon." Hope this guy tips well.

Winners are selected once a week through June at which point PEMCO, an insurance company, will donate $10,000 to Children's Hospital in the names of all the winners. I'm not sure how PEMCO and Tully's got hooked up for this, but you can enter here.

Topics: Coffee

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Starbucks Update: The Promise of a Sweeter Finish, Every Day

Photo by Peter Mumford

Stopping by the shop on First and Marion, there was a line out the door for free (short) cups of Starbucks new coffee. Something old, too: their former logo, with the split-leg mermaid in brown.

My barista was happy to tell me why this coffee is special, saying: "It's intended for everyday drinking, with a sweeter finish."

Where is it from, I wondered? "It's a Latin American blend, but they haven't told me exactly what's in it. They're being pretty hush hush about it."

I have to say, this cup was smoother than their usual brew.

Topics: Coffee

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Stickman: Artisan Coffee to Galumph About

It can sometimes seem like a game of Risk up on Capitol Hill, with the coffee houses and roasters battling it out for who knows what. Kinda like trying to dominate Asia, everyone knows you win at Risk by controlling South America. Duh.

There are plenty of smaller, less combative roasters and cafes, out of the fray and worth your attention. They will never rule the world, and smartly so. Case in point, Stickman Coffee in Fremont (3516 Fremont Place North). The owner, Dismas Smith, is the last North American Barista Champion (as in, before they switched to calling the award the US Barista champion in 2003) and partner (along with Tim McCormack) in one coffee roaster you need to know. The coffee is Borogove, and if you have not experienced the crema of this coffee, advance yourself to Fremont and soon. Points for the literary reference aside, their espresso is one of wonderful depth, walking the line between the the sweeter style espresso shot and that great slightly bitter hit of a more Italian style roast.

Set at the alley entrance to the right of Deluxe Junk, Stickman's space feels like it's still in transition. It's the opening foyer(?) to a space that has played back and forth to art and fashion interests for years. A brisk space for now, but with their courtyard patio and just off the street entrance, they are sure to be busy come summer. One minor detail to fix, I'd recommend a communal table or some more seating for the space. If Stickman had seats for butts, they'd have no problem putting butts in seats.

Topics: Coffee

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Howie Luvs Donuts!

(Image: Twentieth Century Fox)

Hours after returning Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced that smelly, unhealthy, egg-laden cooked sandwiches would soon be banned from his struggling empire, he's apparently found a replacement item for the Starbucks menu. The new (in some markets) goodies will come from local donut entrepreneurs Mark and Michael Klebeck, whose Homer-licious Top Pot Donuts have been available in Seattle stores since 2004. We've been fans of their tasty baked goods and design sense since featuring them in our 2003 Best of Seattle issue (sorry, no link). Now the Klebecks' wares will be available nationwide, expanding from 25 to 50 states, which we think is a good thing for both local companies. Although those grease-fried treats—with no trans-fats!--aren't substantially healthier than the Egg McMuffin-style sandwiches they're replacing.

Perhaps this represents another move by Schultz to reclaim the company's roots and passion. Or, as other company founders have discovered in a changing marketplace, those young whippersnappers with their newfangled ideas, fancy eyeglasses, and Bauhaus design cues may soon be kicking him out of the executive suite. Top Pot seems very much a brand on the rise (unlike the SBUX share price), with savvy leadership at the top rank, which disgruntled Starbucks investors may also notice.

Now if only the Klebecks could do something about those awful chairs and atrocious drapes. And that music has got to go!

Topics: Coffee

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There's a Twig in My Scone!

Good evening, Voracious readers!

I just can't help myself from commenting on something that's been bugging me. This is going to sound completely silly...an only-in-Seattle type of complaint...but here it is:

Whoever makes the gruyere-and-thyme scones that Online Coffee Co. sells needs to get the thyme twigs out of the recipe! I get these two or three times a week- they're so delicious warmed up- but right around Christmastime they started having a different texture. Now if this little luxury would make me hallucinate, that'd be one thing, but it's no pot brownie, and should therefore contain no roughage.

Whatever. I'll keep buying them...I'm just saying. Twigs + scone = annoying.

Topics: Coffee

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An Open Letter from Delridge to Capitol Hill

Dear Capitol Hill: Hi. Delridge here. If you've never heard of us, you should have by now: We're Seattle Magazine's #1 neighborhood. Granted, this is an honor that even our most enthusiastic residents consider a bit bizarre and premature, but we'll take it. With this distinction should come restaurants, bars, cute little boutiques, salons, coffeehouses, galleries and an artsy movie theater. Y'know, like they have in Ballard, Wallingford, Fremont, Columbia City, Queen Anne, and especially Capitol Hill. Let's just take coffeehouses. You've got Vita, Bauhaus, Fuel, Faire, Ladro, Joe Bar, Pettirosso, B&O, Kaladi Bros, Tully's, Top Pot, Extas, two Starbucks, two Vivaces, two Victrolas, two Onlines and two Stumptowns.

What have we got on Delridge? Almost none of what we're entitled to. And as for coffee, on the northend, there's Uptown, whch is spacious and wonderful. Mid-Delridge, there's a tiny new place called Bubbles. A few blocks south of there sits a place called Pacino's, which was open for like a day in late summer before mysteriously closing. South of that? Heavy fuel: namely, Shell and AM/PM. Oh, and on the city's southern boundary, there's Cafe Rozella, but now we're creeping into White Center. Coffee seems to have infiltrated the rest of West Seattle — why not Seattle's #1 barrio?

Obviously, this isn't fair. Clearly, we should have one of the Stumptowns, Victrolas, Vivaces, and Onlines (you can keep Starbucks). In return, we've got a greenbelt that runs along Pigeon Ridge we'd be willing to part with (we're keeping the one along Longfellow Creek). We'll also give you half of Home Depot, including the parking, and the Lam-Bow apartments. A deal can be struck here, Capitol Hill. Give us your coffee, and we'll give you wide open spaces, be they leafy or concrete. We want what you've got, and you need what we take for granted. Stop hoarding all the fucking beans!...Yours, Delridge

Topics: Coffee

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