Willy Wonka's Coffee Factory
Seattle more than 30 years on
My first ever trip to the US was in 1986 as a guest of an up and coming software company called Microsoft. Along with 11 others from the UK, I was flown to Seattle as a European guest at the first of Microsoft's international developer conferences
1986 was 15 years after Starbucks was started by Zev Siegl, Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker as a coffee shop down by Pike Place Market close to the waterfront in Seattle. By that time, they were well on their way to convincing the world that it was OK to pay $5 or more for a cup of designer coffee
By the 2000's Starbucks had truly revolutionized the global market for coffee, with even McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts capitulating. We now routinely see Mac Cafes and buy flavored lattes to go with our morning donut
So, in December 2018, I find myself back in Seattle with my son Louis on our Great Pacific Northwest Road Trip. Lou lived in San Francisco at the time and wanted to see Northern California's Lost Coast, Portland and Seattle. That seemed like an ambitious itinerary to squeeze in between my flight in from Palm Beach on Tuesday and the Saturday return trip from Seattle. But, since that was the kind of crazy stuff I did when I was younger, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I embraced the suggestion
Lou loves his coffee, choosing to drink it cold – and often iced. Before we reached Seattle we had stopped a couple of times on the road at hipster West Coast coffee shop chains. He wanted to visit a coffee roaster in Seattle, and I was happy to go along with that. Despite not drinking the stuff much these days, I still love the smell and the whole coffee culture
Pike Place Market is a Seattle landmark, and the original Starbucks at 200 Pike St is now closed. Pilgrims of the bean now have to be content with the 10 block hike up to 1124 Pike St in order to worship at a new Starbucks shrine. It was a typically grey Seattle afternoon and in light rain we trudged up the hill from an excellent lunch down at the Market. Lou was on a mission, so I had to keep up.
Earlier in our trip, Lou was explaining the regional coffee vendors, including Dutch Brothers on the West Coast. I even succumbed and had a small latte with oat milk at La Luna cafe on SE Ash St in Portland with an amazing New American cuisine breakfast. But more of the Irish Benny and Smashed Roasted Red Potatoes some other time
I stopped drinking lattes regularly about 10 years ago, having been seduced by Starbucks during my days in London in the 1980s. Discovering my lactose intolerance as I reached my 50s and recognizing the adverse effects of acidic coffee mean I have forgone at least 6 daily expresso shots for the healing qualities of herb teas
As we climbed Pike St, the cover of the Seattle Convention Center over the road gave welcome shelter from the persistent rain
“Its just up there, on the left, the red building” I was told, which looked to be the Victoria Coffee Roasters becoming visible through the damp, grey mist of the afternoon
I trudge over the high bridge across the I-5 interstate as it snakes its way through the downtown core as we continued in the rain. For someone with mild agoraphobia, this Saturday afternoon stroll was proving to be more of a challenge that I had bargained for
Lou became more animated and I was shocked to see a less conspicuous location on the left side of the street
“We've walked all this way for Starbucks?” I thought.
Greeters at the door like Walmart? What is going on here?
The helpful “you can order coffee to my right” was met with derisory thoughts in my mind. Its only Starbucks, after all, and I've been in hundreds of these stores around the world over the last 30 years
“I know how your shops work, young lady”, my antagonized mind continued in an unspoken response
Then we entered Pandora's Box...my eyes opened wide...
The Light – warm
The Wood – reddish hues, and lots of it
The Copper – highly polished
The Industry – staff scurrying around like worker bees in this 21st century coffee hive
The Customers – hundreds of them worshipping at this shrine of the bean
The Product – coffee-related concoctions I have never seen nor heard of before
The Bakery – wafting the smell of freshly baked bread and pastries
The Cocktail Bar – the intersection of liquor and coffee where barista meets mixologist
The Staff – hip, confident and all wearing identical signature aprons
This was clearly no ordinary Starbucks
Lou made his way to place an order and soon found himself in deep conversation with a hipster guy behind the counter after asking “what would you recommend?”
The order was placed and as we wait I notice customers carrying their drinks on funky-looking wooden trays. I suppose they don't break when they get dropped on the polished concrete floor, I thought
The order arrives and the desperate search for a place to set down the tray and savor the concoction in the crowded space begins
We notice an area with a stool open up at one of the many bars and make a beeline for it. The wooden tray finds its place on the bar and I examine its contents:
A large, heavy whisky glass containing one large square ice cube
A small wine carafe filled with a dark brown liquid
A brightly colored card describing the Knob Creek Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Aged Guatemala Roast Coffee
Lou pours a small amount of coffee over the ice cube. Wait a few minutes while the ice chills it - but doesn't dilute it as more regular-sized ice cubes would
This is how high end Scotch is served, I think
With the panache of a seasoned taster, Lou smells it, then takes a sip
“Dad – you've got to try this”
So I did. Wow! Coffee-flavored whiskey assaulted my palette....
My attention moves away from the liquid and I see the library area up the stairs, with some tourist-types taking selfies in front of the rows of books. We move towards an enclosed area with Heath Robinson-like pipes and machinery which is huffing and puffing and vibrating. Disneyworld comes to mind before I realized that this contraption is a working coffee roaster churning over the beans as they are roasting
Two worker bees oversee the machine, dressed identically in hats and leather aprons straight out of a European artisan's workshop. Their hands uniformly in their apron pockets, Perhaps the safety glasses mitigate the threat of a stray hot coffee bean hurtling through the air. I wonder is this potential danger to optic nerves an insurance requirement or has it been triggered by the attention of the Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration...
Highly polished copper tanks, pipes and machinery...”This is Wily Wonka's Coffee Factory” exclaimed Lou
We move slowly by what is clearly the working production area to see a different roaster compete its work as it disgorges its hot beans. They cascade into an industrial-strength wheelbarrow to be whisked away for cooling and eventual consumption.
Overhead, signs like we used to see in airports and railway stations before the advent of video monitors announce the origin of the bean being subjected to the heat treatment. Brazil, Jamaica and Guatemala are on today's menu
Moving along, we find a perch on a counter by the cocktail bar and marvel at the spiraled copper pipes cascading into glass carafes where cold brew is waiting to be dispensed with hard liquor
I see an aggressive man dressed all in white challenge a young-looking Chinese guy who had stopped to speak with his friend on the bar side of the counter where we were stood
“You can only stand there if you are over 21” he barked
The target of this Gestapo-like order meekly replied that he was only going to the restroom and hurriedly moved along. My 6ft something, 26-year old bearded son was asked for his ID at lunch earlier as we waited at the bar for our table at the Atheneum Restaurant overlooking the water at Pike Street Market. Apparently, despite the liberal attitudes of the Western States, they're clearly pretty hot on enforcing licensing laws
I observed the aggressive man completely in white, with shirt, pants, hat and apron and realized he was a baker – and clearly in charge of the 20 or so bakery workers at the artisanal bakery close by. Real baking on show –with breads, pastries and savory pizza-like delicacies wafting their infectious smell over all of us in the vicinity
Lou leaves me to make a purchase. He returns with a small paper bag containing 2 packets of coffee
“How much for this?” he asks, holding one of the packets up for my inspection
Realizing this place is a far cry from the Dollar store and figuring that there was perhaps 8 oz of coffee being presented to me, I reply:
“$20?”
“No”
“$30??”
“No”
“$40????”
“Yep – this is the whiskey blend”
He produced the other packet and with a broad grin said that he never thought he would spend $60 on 2 bags of coffee
Perhaps he was expecting some admonishment from his dad, but I replied “Good for you”!. This seemed just the same as that $100 bottle of White Burgundy wine I have bought – a liquid delicacy to be enjoyed on special occasions with good friends
So, we pack up and stroll out, picking up a booklet on the way out. On the red-eye flight back home later that night I learned he official story of the Starbucks Reserve Roasting and Tasting Room
I prefer to remember it as Willy Wonka's Coffee factory with my mind stuck on an image of a grinning Gene Wilder as the protagonist in the wonderful 1971 film of Roald Dahl’s delightful children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
