Coffee, food, drinks, repeat. Did I not warn you that my entire trip to Seattle and Portland was exactly that?! Nonetheless, it was so much fun for me. Our coffee and café experiences in Portland were nothing short of amazing, and I was excited to see what Seattle had to offer. Every morning I’d wake up and scroll on Yelp and Instagram to see what coffee shops were in our area. Thankfully, we were surrounded by so many during our stay at The Sound. We tried Top Pot Donuts, Moore Coffee, the Starbucks Reserve at Capitol Hill. All were excellent. Let’s get to it!
Top Pot Doughnuts
This first coffee stop was a donut shop and café located one block from The Sound called Top Pot Doughnuts. We walked in and the ambiance resembled a bookstore café vibe. We walked up to the case of colorful cake donuts and I felt like I was feasting with my eyes. There were so many different flavors of cake donuts and pastries. Then as you look up at the coffee menu they offered an array of lattés, freshly roasted coffee drinks, and cold brews.
I decided to go for a strawberry sprinkle cake donut (not chocolate, surprising right?!) and a mocha latté with oat milk. The donut itself had a nice fried crunch on the outside and was pillowy soft on the inside. The frosting was a little too sweet for my liking, but how can I deny a pretty pink donut – that one was on me. My boyfriend ordered a cold brew and a savory bacon and egg breakfast pocket pastry. Very basic, but equally delicious. The two coffee drinks were very smooth and nice to drink. There was no acidity to the coffee taste, and as a sweet-coffee drinker I could drink these coffees black. There was a nice balance of boldness with subtle notes within the coffee roast.
*I checked their Yelp page, and they reportedly closed. But they have other locations around Seattle!
Moore Coffee
This place is a definite must try for anyone in the area. Moore Coffee is located about 3 blocks from The Sound, and 1-2 blocks from Pike Place Market. They are a small coffee and waffle café with three locations in Seattle (what I learned from their Yelp). The small shop was no bigger than the size of a bedroom, but somehow managed to fit in a dining space, cooking area for the waffle chef, and a couple baristas behind the coffee counter. The line was about 5 parties deep, and it’s hard to snake the line throughout the café because the space is so small, and I didn’t want to be all up in someone’s face as they sat in the dining area to eat.
We were meeting up with family for breakfast, so we couldn’t try their waffles, but the main reason I came here was for the latté art I saw on Yelp. HOW CUTE IS THIS!!! These women are so talented. Not only was the latté art so intricately done, the balance of milk to espresso was perfect. My mocha latté was lightly sweetened, and the coffee flavor was still able to shine. Check out their Yelp photos for more unique latté art.
Starbucks Coffee Reserve Roastery – Capitol Hill
The Starbucks Coffee Roastery Reserve was one of the places that I wanted to stop by no matter what. I heard that they have an espresso martini flight and I was dying to try it out. If you know me, espresso martinis are my favorite cocktail and I was stoked to have 3 different ones in a drink flight.
We arrived at Capitol Hill after our 3-hour drive from Portland, so we were pretty tired. I just wanted to try a pastry and the espresso flight to save room for our dinner reservation at a local steakhouse. Let me just say, the parking situation at Capitol Hill is horrendous. We found a parking lot a couple blocks away and walked over to the roastery.
As we walked in, we were greeted by the friendly staff who took the time to explain the whole layout to us. We glanced through the Starbucks Roastery merchandise and made our way to the bar section on the right side of the roastery. The bartender was very helpful and we were served our espresso martini flights quickly. The espresso martinis were flavored with global liquers that pair with coffee. There was the original, orange cacao, and cherry limone. To be honest, I wasn’t a fan of any of the flavored ones. I don’t really care for a deep flavor + fruit unless it’s a chocolate covered fresh fruit, but something like a chocolate truffle with a fruit jam/filling is not appealing to me. If that’s your cup of tea, you’ll like the flavored espresso martinis. I should’ve just ordered one large size of the original.
For my snack I ordered a chocolate cornetto (like a chocolate croissant). My boyfriend ordered their Salame Milano on Focaccia, a pile of thinly cut salame on their freshly made focaccia bread. Both were very delicious! It was cool to see all the drinks and food being made from scratch, right in front of us. The roastery was packed, but we were able to walk around and explore the reading nooks, fireplace area, peer into the roasting area, and watch the baristas do their thing. Overall, a very cool experience!
Our trip to Seattle fed us well and kept us perfectly caffeinated. It was such a treat to enter a new world of coffee outside of O’ahu, and makes me want to learn more about the various flavors and what coffee can do. I wonder what café on O’ahu I should try next!
Until next time…
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