With my in-laws in town for Thanksgiving, it had been too damn long since I've been to a coffee shop, so yesterday we loaded up the zoo and headed over to Caffe Vita in Capitol Hill. This was the shop that got it all started for me. This was the first place where I had top end coffee. It was an eye opening experience. So, I decided it was time to get back over there and give it a proper review. They are located at 1005 E. Pike St in Seattle's Capitol Hill area.
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Caffe Vita is also a coffee roaster, which is apparent as soon as you walk in the door. Behind a glass wall lies a massive coffee roaster. They supply roasted coffee beans to quite a few of the local coffee houses, such as Firehouse in Ballard.
Walking into Caffe Vita gives me the sense of what Seattle was like during the height of the grunge music scene. The barista as well as 2 other men had dreadlocks and they were all white. The clientele here is definitely not your soccer mom eastside sanitized coffee shop. That being said, it didn't feel weird to have my wife and 2 kids along with me. For some reason, in Seattle, I've never got a weird vibe from the people here that are much different than I am.
In the end, does it matter if the Barista is a cute UW student or some dreadlocked dude? Nope. For me, its all about the coffee. I ordered the latte as usual. This was a seriously full flavored latte. The espresso flavor is nice & intense, but not bitter. The only minor complaint I had about this coffee is that something was slightly off with the steamed milk. I'm not sure if the milk was too hot or cold, but the thin layer of foamed espresso and milk that sits on top didn't have that thick creaminess that I've come to expect. Regardless of this nitpicking, this was still a really good latte. One of these days, I'll need to come back, go moo-free and have an espresso here.Based on the taste of the latte, I'd wager that the espresso is top notch.
If you are in town, and happen to be 40ish like me, and want to reminisce over coffee about the grunge days, check out Caffe Vita.
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2 comments:
I'd add that the place is usually packed when I hit them on Friday's around 11. After lunch the music can be a bit odd, but eclectic is good. Their hot chocolate is good, but not the best I've had.
I can't comment on the hot chocolate. I might get a craving for some hot chocolate once a year. When I do, I take some Mexican Chocolate and some hot milk and blend it up. It's hard to beat.
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