A Brief History of Coffee in Seattle

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/washington/articles/a-brief-history-of-coffee-in-seattle/

It’s really just a combination of the right factors coming together at the right place and the right time. First, the surroundings: there is nothing like regular overcast days in the mid-50s Fahrenheit (13°C) to make you crave a warm beverage that doubles as a pick-me-up. That right there powered the opening of Café Encore in 1958, followed closely by The Place Next Door in 1959 and El Matador in 1960.

Now that you understand the place, you can learn more about the time. The 1960s and ’70s were all about counterculture. Bohemians sought out places where they could gather and discuss changing the world. This demand made room to supply an increase in coffeehouses all around Seattle, notably The Last Exit in 1967 in the U. District (near Hippie Hill). Not long after, a future Starbucks executive opened the still prominent Café Allegro in 1975.

Oh how I miss the Last Exit. Gone so gone.

Of course, Starbucks changed the entire game. Still, as they began to take over the world, Seattle held true to its values which, first associated with hippies, attached themselves to the grunge culture as the city moved into the ’90s. These unaltering values led Seattleites to independent roasters and coffee shops, rejecting the increasingly conformist Starbucks.

Today, nothing has changed much. Seattleites typically hate Starbucks, which doesn’t really faze the company, being loved by the rest of the world as they are. People of the Emerald City flock to the trends that have evolved from once-hippie values: ethically sourced, Fair Trade coffee at shops that practice ecological responsibility. The smaller and more local, the better.

Seattleites may be coffee snobs, but they’re coffee snobs with good intentions who really know their stuff.