What Are The Best Specialty Coffee Roasters in Seattle?

Seattle is famed for its prominent coffee culture, with many of the city’s inhabitants being hardened coffee enthusiasts. In fact, the people of Seattle consume more coffee than in any other American city. With so much choice, it’s difficult to know just who the best Seattle specialty coffee roasters are.

The best specialty coffee roasters in Seattle include Elm, Herkimer, Victrola, Lighthouse, Caffe Ladro, and Espresso Vivace.

In no particular order, we’ve put together a list of our seven favorite coffee roasters roasting the best coffee beans in Seattle. We provide you with a little background on each roaster along with what they have to offer this year.

Elm

Elm Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roaster and café located in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. Brendan Mullally and Drew Fitchette founded the company in 2013.

Mullally, the owner and manager, is a Seattle native who spent seven years in New York, where he gained significant experience in the coffee industry and developed his passion for the trade.

Fitchette serves as Elm’s head coffee roaster and buyer, previously working with Stumptown Coffee in Seattle and Onyx, a coffee importer from Bellingham.

The founders established Elm in 2013 to bring light-roasted specialty coffee to Seattle, a style they felt was underrepresented. While Elm emphasizes importing and roasting the highest quality coffee, they also prioritize exceptional customer service.

Aiming to counter Seattle’s reputation for less-than-warm service, Elm creates a friendly and welcoming atmosphere at their cafés. You can visit them at 240 2nd Ave S and 230 9th Ave N.

Herkimer

Despite its New York name (the founder’s family originates from Herkimer, NY), Herkimer Coffee is a Seattle-based coffee roasters, retailer, and wholesaler.

Founder and owner Mike Prins and Head Roaster Scott Richardson lead the company.

Herkimer sources most of its coffee directly from farmers and co-ops around the world, fostering healthy and mutually beneficial trade relationships. These enable the importation of only the best quality green coffee, which Herkimer roasts meticulously.

They have three locations in Seattle, including the flagship cafe, retail store, and roastery. There, at 7320 Greenwood Ave N, roasting takes place on a large Probat machine, fully visible from the seating area.

Victrola

Victrola Coffee Roasters founded in 2000, has become a well-established player in Seattle’s specialty coffee industry.That said, their mission has always been about more than just coffee.

Taking their name from a 1920’s home phonograph, Victrola takes inspiration from the Roaring Twenties in the design of their cafes, as well as in the frequent Jazz and other shows they host. This community-oriented approach proved successful, and today Victrola operates four cafes around Seattle.

After roasting out of the back of their first cafe for a couple of years, Victrola moved their roasting facility to their second location, at 310 E Pike Street.

There, patrons can watch the roasting process or attend free public cuppings with coffee experts (although these might be temporarily suspended—call ahead).

Lighthouse

Lighthouse Roasters is a specialty coffee roasters and boutique cafe from Seattle. Founded back in 1993, Lighthouse is one of the oldest specialty coffee roasters in Seattle and beyond.

The owner and Head Roaster, Ed Leebrick, has become a legend in the coffee industry. He has trained some of the leading roasters in Seattle and Portland, including the founders of Stumptown Coffee and Blue Beard, among others.

Lighthouse roasts their coffee on a large, vintage, cast-iron roaster, which is on full display in the cafe (at 400 N 43rd Street). Embracing their Fremont neighborhood’s love of art, Lighthouse often holds art exhibitions.

Friendly, welcoming, and warm, the Lighthouse cafe is a place where excellent service and art meet premium, hand-roasted coffee.

Caffe Ladro

Caffe Ladro, which means Coffee Thief in Italian, is a roastery and cafe chain based in Seattle. Founded in 1994, Caffe Ladro is one of Seattle’s oldest specialty coffee roasters.

They opened their first location next to Starbucks, aiming to whisk patrons away. Thanks to Ladro’s great coffee and friendly vibe, they succeeded, and today Caffe Ladro is a Seattle coffee institution with 16 locations in the area.

Sustainability and responsibility have always been important to Caffe Ladro. In 2000, they were the largest US coffee chain serving only Fair Trade coffee.

In 2011, they began roasting their own coffee, and owner Jack Kelly personally met with producers to source 70% of their imports directly. Thus they ensure not only the quality of their coffee, but also its positive impact on coffee farmers and their communities.

Espresso Vivace

Founded in 1988, Espresso Vivace is one of the longest-running specialty coffee roasters in the country. However, it didn’t start as a coffee roaster; it began as a coffee cart opened by engineer David Schomer and his wife, Geneva Sullivan, a mainframe technician.

The two then opened a coffee stand, and subsequently a roastery and flagship cafe, at 532 Broadway Ave E. Today, they operate three locations around Seattle.

David Schomer, the founder of Espresso Vivace, brings decades of coffee expertise and is recognized as a pioneer in the industry. He introduced innovative techniques for coffee importation, storage, and roasting, and he has popularized latte art in America.

In 1996, he published Espresso Coffee, which is considered a coffee bible. Although he and Sullivan divorced in 2008, they remain business partners, with her managing the finance and operations.

Espresso Vivace’s roasting, which takes place on-site, has been in the Northern Italian style – a medium roast – since 1992. They serve rich and flavorful espresso drinks (no drip coffee), made in a classical style, with meticulously hand-roasted beans.