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This space - opened in 2007 - is for coffee nerds, no question. It's part vacant art space, part café, and part retail coffee lab. They have a few cheap sidewalk chairs out front along 2nd Ave. But inside it is a sparse, stark space with a tall ceiling and a lot of echoes. The tables and benches are excessively wobbly. Contrast this ambiance with the coffee investments on display, and it comes off a little like dope house for coffee addicts. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as the staff here are regularly sampling and experimenting with the goods - always a positive sign. They were testing out a new Brazilian roast in their Clover machine when we visited. They also use Anfim grinders, 49th Parallel Coffee, and a three-group Synesso for espresso. They're pretty much pedigreed. They pull shots with a mottled medium and darker brown crema in white Nuova Point cups. It has good brightness without being a sour brightness bomb, and it carries a potent herbal to tobacco flavor. Maybe not the best espresso in Seattle, and it's definitely not the best environment. But it's a good place to test and sample coffee from a great Canadian roaster on this side of the Maple Curtain.
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