14 Essential Seattle Coffee Shops

A while back we were chatting with someone in the coffee world who told us how dumb and bad this map is. You can’t really make a single list of Seattle’s best or most important coffee shops because “coffee shop” can mean so many different things. Do you want someplace to chill on a laptop? Do you want drip or pour-over, or high-quality espresso? Dark roast or light roast? Do you want the Italian-influenced coffee popularized by places like Capitol Hill’s Espresso Vivace, or Vietnamese-style coffee, or Turkish coffee, or…

At some point you have to just throw up your hands. So this isn’t a definitive list. It’s more of a way to celebrate the variety of coffee experiences you can have all over the Seattle area, and this means more than just the quality of the espresso. Places like the Station in Beacon Hill have carved out neighborhood spaces for art, mutual aid, and activism. No matter what corner of Seattle you’re in, you’re usually just a short walk away from delicious coffee in a welcoming space.

We are going to make one final qualifying note: We’re more focused on shops rather than roasters here, though some of the places here do roast their own beans. If you’re interested, we also have a list of standout small-batch roasters (with or without cafes attached). As usual, this list is organized geographically, not ranked.

Know of a spot that should be on our radar? Send us a tip by emailing seattle@eater.com.

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