Seattle Coffee Works

Ok, I’ll admit it. We were really excited that our Space Needle was named the winning blend of the 2008 Seattle Coffee Works Taste Off. But we’re equally excited to announce the winner of the Taste Off Sweepstakes.
Yoon Lee of Seattle will be taking home a year’s supply of our coffee…that’s a lot of coffee! Like all of our tasters, Lee cast his vote for the best blend last month and entered to win a free bag of our coffee every month, for twelve months. Lee was randomly chosen from all the contestants who entered.
Last week, Lee came by the café to pick up his first months’ coffee. A wide grin spread across his face as I handed him the bag of our Mellow Seattle blend.  Despite the cold, rainy drizzle outside, Lee’s lighthearted and calm mood seemed to brighten that cloudy, grey afternoon. We sat at the front window and he told me about his journey to Seattle; how his life’s path led him first to a South Korean monastery where he spent a decade learning meditation and yoga. He spoke with a soft, yet determined voice about compassion and peace and how he enjoys teaching yoga to others. He left the monastery in the early 90s, married, and in 2006, he and his wife moved to Seattle. Lee now teaches yoga to employees at area businesses and at Soul Ease in Kirkland.
Before wiggling his hat over his head, preparing to brave the rain again, Lee told me he never expected to win the contest.  Like his path to the monastery, sometimes you’ll never know where life will lead you. Perhaps to a coffeeshop downtown with delicious coffee…

Thank so much, Yoon! We hope you enjoy the coffee.

First: a HUGE thank you to everyone who tasted coffee at our Taste Off event this past month! We had so much fun sharing our coffee and listening to your opinions on the best coffee in town. We’re really excited to announce the favorite blend and the lucky winner of our Sweepstakes, who will be receiving a year’s supply of coffee from us.
Throughout August and September we brewed up a number of our own blends and single origins, tasting them alongside each other and, for good measure, alongside corporate Starbucks to see if we could offer a more flavorful cup of Seattle’s favorite morning brew.
And, drum roll please…
Our Space Needle blend emerged as the contest’s favorite!
We heard quite a chorus of support about our blend’s full-bodied complexity that really satisfied their coffee cravings. It’s rich in body and full on the tongue, but doesn’t leave that bitter aftertaste.
While we’re thrilled about our winner, we also want to share a few things we learned from this incredible experience. Namely we learned about the palate and what people are looking for in a really good cup of coffee. Okay, ready to take some notes?
1. We discovered that medium to big-bodied coffee varietals trumped light and bright coffees. When compared side by side, the coffees from Central and South America were bigger hits than those from East Africa and Indonesia. Let’s rephrase this: Central and South Americans were the favorites; Indonesians were liked by fewer people, and the East Africans appealed the smallest crowd.
2. Although our sweet and fruity Africans appealed to fewer tasters, those who did like Africans, LOVED them. The fabulous fruity notes found in our Tanzanian, Yirgacheffe and Kenyan intrigued many of the taste-off participants and seemed to convince even the staunchest coffee agnostics that there’s more flavor in a cup of coffee than just BLACK. (And we’ll admit, there are some folks out there who just can’t stand those African varietals!)
3. Our blends’ full flavor beat single origins. While our single origins create delicious drinks, people like a full spectrum of citrusy, earthy and fruity flavors.
4. And lastly, everyone’s palate is different. Okay, so it’s not news. But when it comes to everyone’s favorite cup of coffee, it’s a big deal.

So why are we sharing all this? We’d just like everyone to know that we’re so excited about the varied responses we received about their favorites. Sure, we all like to try new coffees, but at the end of the day, everyone just wants a good cup of coffee, something consistent and delicious. All of our coffees have their own brilliant characteristics and appeal to a wide range of palates and the individual preferences of our coffee drinkers lets us do what we do best: serve up that favorite cup. Whether it’s berry Tanzania, smoky Sumatra, nutty Brazil or our light caramelly Mellow Seattle and sultry sweet Space Needle blends, we love to satisfy everyone’s coffee cravings.
So, let’s drink some coffee!
P.S.: Look for another post sometime later this week announcing the winner of the sweepstakes…