Thursday, September 10, 2020

Cafe Red



Subject: Cafe Red
Location: Seattle, WA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

I had never before visited Seattle in the winter, but for a trip in February it was quite beautiful, especially compared to a NJ winter. Aside from the general warmer weather, the green evergreens of the area wonderfully offset the dreary skies, but the likely silver lining to Seattle that had the most effect is the plethora of coffee options.


Travelling north towards Capitol Hill from Tacoma, I had opted to not take the Interstate and just go up through local roads. Fortunately, this bypassed a major traffic delay and allowed me to stop at Cafe Red, a cozy shop on the corner of Othello and Martin Luther King Jr Way. Visiting prior to Covid-19, the interior of the shop was open as well as their spacious patio on 42nd Avenue. Inside, I found a pleasantly arrayed shop with numerous patrons dotted around the space, all drinking in their respective conversations and beverages. 


As for coffee, they serve Fulcrum, a local roaster situated not a ten minute drive from Cafe Red. That cheery morning, I ordered up an espresso of a single origin Chinese coffee from the Yunnan Province, as well as drip coffee of Fulcrum's Discovery blend. The espresso, pulled medium with brown crema, smacked of intense berries, candied watermelon, caramel, hibiscus, orange peel and a little basil, proving bright, fruity and delicious. The drip coffee also made for fanfare, with mellow, sweet notes of caramel, birch beer, pear, vanilla and fresh Italian bread.


While I would have loved to linger, my schedule had me driving east and I had to bid farewell to this spectacular gem of a coffee shop. If you happen to be in the Seattle area, definitely check out Cafe Red (note that as of the publishing of this article, while they're still not back to pre-Covid service, much of their offerings have been restored). 





These wonderful folks made this visit possible in part. Make sure to check them out!

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