I believe Clover coffees taste much better and are roasted lighter than the espresso roast at a traditional Starbucks. However, 15th Ave Coffee And Tea serves espresso that tastes really good, surprisingly good. I went there this morning, its opening day, and it was fairly busy, but not a complete zoo of people. The store is warm, beautiful, comfortable, pleasant…it’s a great cafe to sit in. I don’t like the long skinny space, but they did very well with the space they had. They are serving espresso off of a traditional La Marzocco and therefore its hand-crafted espresso, all of their teas are loose leaf, they do cuppings every morning at 10am, they serve beer and wine, and the internet access is free. So what’s the deal with this store?

This “Starbucks” is basically what a Starbucks should be, so I think this is a step in the right direction for them. The coffee and teas received a significant boost in quality which is a major improvement. ;) However, Starbucks is not doing anything new. If anything, they are getting back to their roots with a greater focus on coffee while staying relevant to today. But, there is no breakthrough in coffee or what the next-gen cafe is going to be. That’s okay though. The bottom line is that it’s a very good cafe.

Outside of the store there were people holding signs that said “You can’t fake local” in an attempt to boycott the new store. I think this is rather amusing. First, if the store wasn’t a threat, it wouldn’t be boycotted. Second, Starbucks was originally local to Seattle way before any of the “local” stores came to the scene, so if anything, they are no more of a fake than Starbucks. When Starbucks started drifting towards automation and what I believe is a reduction in quality, most independents stayed the course, to their credit, but they’re like the pot calling the kettle black. I’m not surprised though, coffee people are a passionate group who get really worked up about coffee, which is totally fine. Okay, so I hesitate to outright call out a store, but it’s been bad enough consistently that I feel strongly compelled to; One thing I hate that happens in some independents, particularly at Victrola, which is just down the street, is that I get major attitude from their baristas. I HATE attitude, I don’t care if you serve awesomeness in a cup, attitude is failure. I never liked their espresso and I never historically liked Starbucks espresso, but at least I wouldn’t get attitude at Starbucks. Now with 15th Ave Coffee opening, I have more reasons to choose “Starbucks”. Victrola has been passionate, to their credit, but hopefully competition motivates change. I wonder if it bothers them that Starbucks is actually competing directly with independents?

But see, I’m the guy who will drink any cup of mystery sitting in a stale pot at a Discount Tire, so maybe my opinion isn’t worth much to the real coffee people. I just blog about coffee, LIKE A BOSS!