Seattle Espresso Bars Gather Steam

This is one of those stories of big-city addiction. Seattle is high on caffeine.

Thirty espresso bars thrive in the two-block-square heart of the downtown area. Espresso carts greet the Puget Sound ferries carrying commuters to work. And more carts are stationed at the entrances to the glistening skyscrapers where they’re headed.

The aroma of fresh roasted coffee permeates the air in all seven acres of the Pike Place Market--at least a dozen espresso counters beckon from the storefronts nearby. Coffee carts dot shopping malls, hover near banks and post offices, stand sentry at hospitals and hardware stores.

Surveys show that Seattle has become the unofficial coffee capital of the United States, its citizenry gulping down more rich, flavorful, aromatic brew than anywhere else in the country.

The streets leading to the suburbs seem to have as many coffee shops as traffic lights. There’s even a drive-through espresso bar (called Espresso Junction) at the Ballinger Village Shopping Center.

“You don’t get dressed up to meet friends in a fancy bar in Seattle,” reports a recent transplant from Houston. “You wear college sweat shirts and jeans and hang out at an espresso counter sipping lattes. “

Seattleites are so laid-back, fashion-wise, that it takes stops at three in-store espresso bars just to get them through a serious shopping trip at Nordstrom. Last month, I saw everybody from cops directing traffic at the Kingdome stadium to truck drivers in gridlock on I-5, patients awaiting the drill in a dentist’s office (Espresso Dental Service) to BMW owners in line at the Elephant Car Wash (the Phoenix Espresso Cart) clutching coffee cups like security blankets.

The outsider faces a language barrier called “coffeespeak.” If you order “just a cup of coffee,” the natives smirk and think “tourist” as they hold their cups tighter to their chests. Caffeine junkies have little tolerance for the yet-to-be-hooked. It’s the person who concocts the heady brew a cup at a time, who will lead you down the path to addiction.

Seattle coffee isn’t the run-of-the-mill lukewarm, weak and watery stuff most Americans imbibe. It’s serious caffeine. The fix starts with a one- to two-ounce shot of thick, black-as-sin, bitter-tasting essence of the bean extracted by steam pressure. Many Seattleites order double doses, then the barista (Italian for barkeeper) performs variations on the theme. Stand in the vicinity of an espresso counter and you’ll hear gibberish like: “One mondo double skinny latte no foam slammer, one cafe Americano and one espresso macchiato, please.”

That order, for three coffee fanatics, translates to one 16-ounce cup filled with four ounces of espresso mixed with 10 to 12 ounces of steamed nonfat milk served cool enough for immediate consumption; one shot of espresso diluted with hot water to the strength of conventional American coffee, and one shot of espresso with a splash of milk.

Chuck Beek, owner of the 11-year-old Monorail Espresso cart in the heart of the downtown area, specializes in heavy-duty ristretto for the espresso aficionado. “All of our pours have two shots of espresso,” he explained. “That averages out to two shots of regular espresso to one shot of water. We also sell a lot of skinny lattes. That’s a double shot of espresso in steamed nonfat milk. We’re close to I. Magnum and Nordstrom so we get a lot of their people on the way to work. Everybody wants to keep their figure, but they still want their caffeine to get them started.”

Warming to his subject, Beek offered examples of out-of-control caffeine consumption at his cart. “This woman comes in and orders six shots of espresso--not too hot, skinny, vanilla flavoring. That’s about $3 and some odd cents. Then she comes back and asks for a double shot next time. Now that’s 10 shots of caffeine before noon.

“Another gal comes in here and has four double shots in a tall cup every day. That’s eight shots of caffeine in one drink. I never told her this, but I always make at least one of those shots decaf. I know that eventually we’re going to lose her as a customer anyway. Sooner or later, everybody realizes there is a limit, an area of diminishing returns when you no longer get a boost from the caffeine. Then it just makes you tireder faster. That’s when we don’t see them lining up here any more.”

Even so, it’s common for Seattleites to run out of their office buildings for a cafe latte break four times before quitting time. No wonder the natives have all that energy to burn biking, hiking, sailing and roller-blading around Greenlake. Participating in and attending dance, theater, opera and orchestra productions. Arguing about the merits of their favorite local micro-breweries, wineries and Thai restaurants. The marvel is that, energized by caffeine, they can survive the daily traffic jams that have become the chief peril in paradise. The price of Seattle’s winning all those “best place to live” polls has been too much growth in too short a time.A visitor hears far more complaints about the traffic than the weather. Indeed, the mere mention of rain brings a defensive attitude and the proclamation: “We get less rain than Boston, New York City, Houston or New Orleans. It’s just that we have longer gray periods. And sometimes it drizzles.”

Perhaps it’s those windy, drizzly, dreary days that promote the devotion to coffee. Some say the dependence on caffeine is due to Seattle’s ethnic influence from Northern Europe. Others theorize it came with the new-found pride in Northwest food and wine. Still others claim that it goes along with the city’s historic love of reading.

Indeed, a random check of the coffee shops showed as many sippers with noses in books or newspapers as being convivial with friends at the same table. One bookstore--M. Coy Books and Espresso--has a coffee bar in back of the store.

Seattle’s fascination with caffeine dates to the early ‘70s when three young, media-connected entrepreneurs opened the first Starbucks Coffee Company in Pike Place Market. The fresh roasted coffee beans sold so well that they added a stand-up coffee bar in 1984. It’s still a busy spot, with demonstrations on how to make espresso at home, street musicians playing classical music, and heavy traffic at a wall display of Starbucks logo items--from T-shirts to commuter cups. Now Starbucks has more than 45 espresso bars in Seattle, with an overflow in neighboring Oregon and distant Chicago.

SBC (originally Stewart Brothers Coffee, now Seattle’s Best Coffee) opened its gourmet coffee bar in Pike Place Market in 1984 after a decade or so as the Wet Whisker Ice Cream and Coffee Shop. SBC now has four coffee shops, the biggest, brightest and busiest of the lot on the plaza at the Westlake Center. Specialty is the cafe mocha, made with a glorious Ethemere sauce from Dilettante, Seattle’s leading chocolatier. A triple mocha will set you back $3.50, but for a chocoholic, it’s worth it.

While the rivalry between Starbucks and SBC fanatics is akin to that of college football teams, Jim Stewart, founder of SBC, says it’s unnecessary. “We look at ourselves as an alternative to Starbucks. They use the Southern European darker roasts. We promote the Northern European German style, which is somewhat lighter.”

For the potent black espresso that is authentically Italian, Seattleites head for the Torrefazione Italiacoffee shop in the Pioneer Square area. Sitting at tiny tables on Torrefazione’s brick terrace, sipping rich brews from ornate, hand-painted ceramic cups while studying newspaper headlines, is the next-best thing to a trip to Bologna.

Cost of a cup of standard espresso ranges from 75 cents to $1.25; for latte , $1.25 to $2.25, depending on what’s added. Coffee by the pound at specialty markets runs from $8 to $10. About 20% of the orders are for decaffeinated. Those who want to make it themselves at home invest in espresso/cappuccino machines that sell from $60 to $1,000.

“Seattle is known for having two sailboats and two espresso pots per person,” Stewart says. “Now there’s also a lot of interest in micro-breweries by the same audience. We like things to be special. We’d rather have a small amount and enjoy it instead of over-consuming.”

Beek sings the same song, different verse. “Seattle’s into beer and coffee. Both alcohol and caffeine are drugs, but at least coffee has an automatic cutoff point. (Coffee jitters) tell you when to stop. With alcohol there’s a certain percentage of the public that doesn’t know when to stop and they make fools of themselves. Coffee doesn’t do that to you.”

As for the “wired” reaction from caffeine, Beek says: “We’re selling more and more double decafs. I used to wonder what the point was and then I realized what people were after was the flavor, not the buzz. Now I’m even drinking a little decaf myself.”

GUIDEBOOK

Finding Espresso in Seattle

Recommended for coffee breaks:

M. Coy Books and Espresso: 117 Pine St. A bookstore with coffee pastries in back. Open Monday through Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; telephone (206) 623-5354.

Monorail Espresso: Fifth and Pike streets, under the marquee of the Coliseum Theater. Claims to be first espresso cart in Seattle. Open daily, 6:15 a.m. to 6:15 p.m.; no telephone.

SBC on the Plaza, Westlake Center Park: 400 Pine St. Bright red umbrella tables and mall steps make for a favorite gathering spot for shoppers and professionals on coffee breaks. Specialty: cafe mocha. Open daily, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; (206) 682-7182.

Starbucks: 1912 Pike Place (original location). Stand-up coffee bar across from market. Good observation point for the action. Variety of coffee beans, espresso machines and other coffee paraphernalia for sale. Sometimes classical music by street musicians at the door. Open Monday through Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; (206) 448-8762.

Torrefazione Italia: 320 Occidental Ave. Southern Italian setting, Italian mugs for espresso, Italian style. Open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; (206) 624-5773.

Also: Espresso Junction, Ballinger Village Shopping Center, (206) 361-7977; Elephant Car Wash, 616 Battery St., (206) 441-6776 (home of the Phoenix Espresso Cart); Espresso Dental Service, 6725 Greenwood North, (206) 284-2483.