Cappuccino in Seattle
Friday, May 19th, 2006
I wandered around Capitol Hill in Seattle and tried out several wi-fi-enabled cafés reputed to serve good espresso drinks. Here are my thoughts, with the caveat that I visited each place only once and had one or two cappuccinos at each. (Except the one I liked best, which I revisited to have about eight more.)
I am no connoisseur. What I consider the ideal cappuccino is a very smooth-textured uniform mix of a shot of espresso and steam-frothed milk, with a brown-white leaf picture at the top; the beans are high-quality, freshly-roasted, and not ground until the moment you order; the milk is likewise frothed on-demand, not a several-minutes old frothing used for several consecutive cups. This ideal is what I know from Kaffitár and Te & Kaffi and Segafredo in Reykjavík, the cafés where I first got into drinking cappuccino; I don’t know if their style is an aberration from some established “norm” — I just know that for me it’s the holy grail of cappuccino.
Many places simply serve coffee with milk in it and some milky or creamy foam at the top, sometimes garnished with chocolate sprinkles. Thankfully none of these places tried to serve me such an abomination today.
- Bauhaus Books & Coffee
- Cappuccino was okay but no more than that. The milk was shovelled in with a spoon, never seen that before; I wonder if this causes sub-optimal mixing of coffee and milk? No latte art, just a solid white top. Ambiance fine, baristas okay though not too cordial, pastries blah. Wi-fi was flaky for me; it may have been my laptop since other computing patrons seemed unperturbed, but mine was fine in all other cafés that day. Crowd was a blend of normal folks and try-too-hard hipsters.
- Fuel
- Cappuccino was good, though not the best. No latte art; almost solid white top. Barista (a very friendly, pleasant guy, bearded beyond his age) said latte art didn’t really work on cappuccinos because of the foam on top. Hm. Ambiance was good, music good (Magnetic Fields and other good picks). The café is in a residential neighborhood away from the busier streets of Capitol Hill. Crowd was agreeable normal folks, and a pug.
- Victrola
- Cappuccino was just the way I like it! This was the first time I got that anywhere outside Reykjavík. It had modest latte art on top. Crowd was normal folks. Area is residential-ish, near Broadway.
- Vivace
- Cappuccino even better than at Victrola — perfect for me! And really nice latte art on top (see picture above). Mellow, soft texture. Baristas were nice and jovial. Crowd was fine, mostly college-ish young people, agreeably retro decor (see picture below), laid-back atmosphere and music.
With the possible (but not certain) exception of Bauhaus, the free wi-fi access was fine at all places. None of them was bad, but Vivace is where I would (and did) go again for a really great cappuccino.
