At Seattle’s Craftworks Coffee, Staying Local In A Changing Neighborhood

Has Lower Queen Anne gotten hip?

Craftworks Coffee is one of several new signs in the area that strongly point to yes. Located beneath the Expo Apartments, one of Seattle’s many new residential developments, and just around the corner from the La Marzocco cafe inside KEXP radio’s Seattle Center campus, Craftworks is owner Eric Smith’s first retail business. Smith developed a love for pour-over single-origin coffees while working as an engineer in Seattle and hopes to provide a place for people that feel the same.

Eric Smith, owner of Craftworks Coffee

Immediately upon walking into Craftworks you’ll notice a large menu of single-origins from Olympia Coffee Roasting Company and Kuma Coffee, two of the Pacific Northwest’s best independent roasters. These might be brewed for you on Craftwork’s Poursteady pour-over machine, a device also in use at Olympia Coffee. Smith chose the Poursteady for its ability to deliver consistent cup-to-cup quality, as opposed to manual brewing, which can be of differing quality from person to person, according to Smith. Espresso shots are pulled on a Synesso MVP Hydra, and Craftworks also currently serves Olympia Coffee for espresso drinks.

The Poursteady does its thing at Craftworks.

With a low height to the coffee bar and seating all around, Smith hopes to provide an atmosphere that encourages conversation—which will often likely be about the many single-origin coffees offered, as customers wait and watch while the Poursteady does its thing. “We want to take the mystery out of coffee,” Smith said.

The name of the shop is a nod to the work that goes into every cup of coffee served here, from the sourcing and roasting down to the brewing itself; Craftworks’ memorable logo, an origami rhino, celebrates the regions where coffee originated. Individual pieces of the rhino motif are scattered along the main wall as a massive art piece. Local artists will fill other Craftworks wall space, starting with mixed-media artist Emily McLaughlin.

Craftworks’ menu offers standard espresso drinks along with as many as five rotating single-origin coffees. Cold brew is available on tap, and there is a decent selection of loose-leaf teas. Craftworks also stocks pastries from Macrina Bakery, a local bakery, with a plan to add breakfast sandwiches to the menu in the future.

With all of that, a full slate of unique Northwest coffees, and a bright, relaxing shop atmosphere, Craftworks looks to have a bright future in one of coffee’s global capitals. This is just one more glimpse of a neighborhood—and a city—transformed in 2016 into something at-times unrecognizable, but undeniably cool.

Craftworks Coffee is located at 110 Republican Street, Seattle. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Joey Brantley is a freelance journalist based in Seattle. This is Joey Brantley’s first feature on Sprudge.com. 

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