The Best Coffee in Seattle: A Guide for Coffee Lovers

A quick note on my coffee preferences, because it definitely matters: I’m all about the lightly roasted, fruity, floral, and bright coffees. Both as filter, and also as espresso. I’m an avid home brewer, making several cups of coffee a day either as pour over or as espresso. 

Some might call my tastes “fancy” or “snobby” (that’s Alysha’s word). But over the last few years, I’ve figured out what I like, and that’s what I’m always looking for when I’m out trying new coffee shops. That’s the thing about coffee – it all comes down to personal preferences.

One other thing for the nerds: If you aren’t already familiar with their game, I highly recommend checking out Airworks Coffee who bring in hard-to-find coffees from all over the world and curate them in a subscription.

I’ve traveled all over the world (minus Asia, which is arguably Airworks’ specialty) seeking excellent coffee along the way, and many of the roasters I fall in love with in Europe are roasters that you’ll find on Jacob’s (and the team’s) radar. 

They also do in-person events, like tastings and pop ups, that you should try to make it to if you happen to time it right (schedule here). 

Sound & Fog

Everyone has that first love that they’ll never forget. For me, it’s Sound & Fog in West Seattle. In a coffee context, at least. 

Sound & Fog has consistently been my favorite place to go get coffee when I’m in Seattle visiting family because of their focus on bringing in European roasters. Every time I’m here, I discover a new roaster that I’ve never heard of.

On their shelves, you’ll find a mix of the ones you see more often – Dak and Manhattan – along with an eclectic mix of harder-to-find roasters from around Europe like Fathers (Czech Republic) and Calendar (among plenty of others). 

They have one coffee on drip that rotates (and the drip is dialed in!), and they no longer do pour over. 

They also have two coffees on espresso (not including decaf), one that is more straightforward (usually Stereo, a blend by Heart in Portland), and one that is more adventurous (usually from one of the aforementioned European roasters). 

They also have a selection of other things like chocolate, ceramics, wine, and beer to peruse. 

The big challenge with Sound & Fog is the fact that it’s in West Seattle, which is not an easy place to get to from Downtown Seattle. Usually, when I go here, I’m with my family and we have a car. 

If you don’t have a car, I’d recommend taking the scenic ferry ride from downtown over to Alki Beach in West Seattle (getting on a ferry is one of my favorite things to do in Seattle), where you can hop on a bus (or in a Lyft) to finish the journey. 

Analog Coffee

Analog is one of the mainstays of the Seattle coffee scene, and it has been high on this list since I first wrote it half a decade ago. They are focused on the coffee, and the coffees they choose tend to be on the lighter side of roasting, which I’m all about. 

They’re on a corner in Capitol Hill, a few blocks north of the main Pike/Pine corridor, and are my favorite place to get coffee in the downtown core (which West Seattle and Ballard are definitely not a part of). 

When I was there last, the roasters they had on offer were Stamp Act (probably my favorite coffee roaster in Seattle), Heart (from Portland – my favorite roaster in my home city!), and Sey (who I subscribe to and also love).

I’ve also seen plenty of other roasters on past visits, like Herkimer and Camber, so they clearly rotate through coffees fairly often. 

Like many of the shops you’re about to learn about, they have a couple of coffee options available as either drip/pour over or espresso. 

They had one drip coffee (an Ethiopian coffee roasted by Sey, so it was a fairly lightly roasted and adventurous flavor profile), three coffees available as pour over (for $9-12), and two espresso options. 

It’s a popular spot, and every single time I have been here, from 7:30am on a Saturday to midday on a Wednesday, there is a line out the door. 

They clearly do a good job, because there are about 43 other places to get coffee within a ten block radius, and people are willing to wait for the coffee here. 

Day Made Kaffe

Day Made was my favorite discovery on this latest trip from a coffee perspective! They opened relatively recently (July 2025), so they had only been open for a few months when I visited for the first time and were still working out the kinks. 

I learned about this place from following Jacob (of previously mentioned Airworks Coffee) and saw that they were serving a coffee roaster from Europe that I really like, which put it on my radar for my next trip to Seattle. 

They’re down on the border of Pioneer Square, SoDo, and Downtown, a block or two away from the stadiums (or from King St. Station, if you’re arriving by train from Portland or Vancouver like I usually do). 

When I was chatting with the barista (also the owner), she casually dropped that she worked at Coffee Collective in Denmark for years, which explains why the main coffee they brew here is…Coffee Collective (one of my favorites) and the fact that it’s very much a coffee-forward menu, with limited seasonal drinks and just a couple of pastries to enjoy alongside your coffee. 

Worth noting that they do also have another roaster that they use for espresso in milk drinks (when I visited it was Olympia Coffee). 

When I visited, they had a few coffees available as drip, and the most interesting Coffee Collective options were on pour over, which is made with a stainless steel Kalita Wave (and a bloom + one big pour, which is how they brew it at the cafes in Denmark). 

I had a natural Ethiopian coffee that was everything I was hoping for out of a Coffee Collective coffee; light, bright, and fruity. 

I was in there doing some writing for a bit, and I was admiring the layout of the cafe, which is a tiny one and a half story space with high ceilings and big windows at the front with some seating downstairs, and then a big communal table in the compact upstairs space. 

Homage Coffee

Homage Coffee is a great shop up on Ballard Ave (which, as you might guess, is in Balllard) that is clearly in the top tier of shops if you’re looking for light roast coffee from a variety of exciting roasters from around the world. 

It used to be called Root, and I had been there many times, and it was recently taken over by new owners. The concept, however, is roughly the same. 

They do have an Australian twist on their offering now, which is most evident in their dry cappucino, which is dusted with cocoa powder (something I discovered on my trip to Australia years ago that started in Melbourne and set me on this path to seeking coffee nirvana).

We often find ourselves here because Miro Tea down the street is usually Alyshas’s #1 desire when we’re in Seattle (their pink chai is a masterpiece). 

When I was here last, they were brewing roasters like Ilse (from Connecticut) and Flower Child (from the Bay Area), and I had a lovely shot of espresso with a natural process Ethiopian coffee roasted by Poem, a roaster I had never heard of before. 

They have a menu with a familiar structure (if you’re familiar with the specialty coffee scene in west coast cities, anyway); basic espresso-based drinks, drip coffee (both batch brew and fancy pour over options), and specialty seasonal drinks (like a shakerato). 

The coffee here is really good, and I also love Ballard as a place to visit (it should probably be on your Seattle itinerary if you’re visiting for more than a day or two), so I would say it is worth making the journey north and including this place on your exploration of Ballard. 

Milstead & Co

In a previous version of this guide, Milstead was fairly close to the top of my picks in Seattle. And I still think they’re a good option if you’re in Fremont. 

As you can tell based on their position now, two simultaneous things have happened; the coffee scene in Seattle has gone through a little post-2020 wave of growth, with new offerings finally entering the market after a few years of uncertainty, and my coffee preferences and knowledge has changed significantly after years of making coffee at home and diving DEEP into the rabbit hole. 

They use a range of coffee roasters, mostly from the Pacific Northwest, like Olympia, Heart, and Stamp Act, and they have the usual set of coffee offerings, from basic espresso-based drinks, rotating seasonal drinks, and even pour over. 

They make their pour over here with an Aeropress, which I enjoy because it’s a little different and it’s usually more consistent in a busy cafe environment than something like a V60. 

One note here: They do not serve decaf coffee. Which is fine, but it’s something you should know ahead of time in case you’re either avoiding caffeine or it’s too late in the day for a full caffeine drink when you find your way here. 

Hood Famous

Hood Famous is, perhaps, my second favorite discovery on my latest exploration of Seattle’s coffee scene because it is the most unique take on coffee I came across on that trip. 

If you’ll allow me, let me take you on a quick meta detour about specialty coffee that will help me explain why I really like this place. 

One of the things I’ve been enjoying in specialty coffee recently is that we’ve begun to move along from a lot of the “sameness” you saw during the “third wave” of coffee. 

You know what I mean. A similar aesthetic with lots of white walls and exposed wood, a barista that could not care less about the questions you have about the coffee, and coffee that is roasted to a medium profile that strives to satisfy everyone’s need for that morning caffeine boost. 

Over the past five or so years, that wave has stagnated a little bit (driven at least partially by the acquisition of some of those legacy brands by multinational conglomerates), and the “third wave” of coffee has passed us by.

We are hurtling into a fourth wave where people are pushing out of the narrow definition of specialty coffee and bringing their whole selves – cultural backgrounds, experience in other industries, etc – to the table to share with others. 

In a world where coffee is seen as more functional – a way to get more done at work or stay awake – this new approach to coffee is something I love exploring and experiencing, and Hood Famous is the peak of that trend (though Cafe Bonito is in that conversation too, more on them below). 

Putting aside the food here, which is part of the reason they have gotten really popular recently (which I can’t eat and thus have no opinions on other than being jealous of the people next to me), the coffee menu is really interesting. 

All of the coffees they use here are from origins in Asia (though not necessarily roasted there), with options from Laos and China (I tried both). 

I was very curious about these coffees, which are a different style than what I usually drink at home, and ended up with a batch brew coffee from Laos and a shot of espresso from China. 

Is it the exact style of coffee that I would usually choose for myself given the choice? Probably not – the profiles of the coffees they use are a little darker than I would like – but I am absolutely glad I tried the coffee from Laos, which is an origin I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. 

The specialty drinks that they make lean heavily on flavor profiles inspired by their Filipino heritage, and they are FUN AF. 

Some examples for you: The Calamansi Espresso Tonic (espresso tonic with their housemade Philippine lime syrup), the Manila Fog (a twist on a London Fog with jasmine tea and housemade sampanguita syrup), and the iced matcha lillikoi (passionfruit syrup and matcha over sparkling water). 

Slow Day Coffee

This unassuming little shop in the heart of Belltown was a surprise discovery. It was on my list, but in the “if you have time” category. 

Turns out, I did have time – it was my first stop on my latest trip to Seattle because I walked right by it on the way to catch the bus – and that stop elevated it to a “definitely stop” status. 

They have a really fun selection of coffee roasters here that rotates fairly regularly, and I was excited to see Prodigal Coffee from Boulder, Colorado, which has been one of my favorite roasters in the U.S. over the past few years.

They also had coffees roasted by Ilse and September, two other great North American roasters. 

The focus here is very much on the coffee, and they do not have fancy syrups or flavored drinks (they do have milk drinks). They have some fun options for coffee nerds, split into single origin espresso, regular pour over, and fancy pour over. 

I had a coffee on espresso that I know well – -Buttercream roasted by September in Ottawa (the same coffee as Milky Cake from Dak) – and the shot had that sweetness and cake-y essence that makes that coffee fun. Said another way, it was pulled perfectly. 

One thing I appreciated is that on the cards that show the coffees available, they also have the brewing parameters (like the input and output of a shot of espresso), which is something I enjoy seeing as a nerd. 

If you find yourself in and around downtown Seattle, I think Slow Day is probably my top pick if you’re looking for fun, lightly roasted single origin coffees. 

URL Coffee

The single best coffee drink I had in Seattle on this past foray where I spent a few days actually staying in the city was tied between the Muy Bonito at Bonito (mentioned above and more below) and the espresso with cream top here.

URL Coffee opened in 2021, and is a small operation on Broadway in First Hill.

The first thing you’ll notice when you walk in is the fact that someone involved has an eye for design. It’s all white walls, light wood tones, and pops of color in the form of stools and flowers. 

The reason this place was on my list is the fact that I have become a bit obsessed with any drink with a cream top ever since I had a cream top made from fromage blanc at PDX Coffee Club in Portland (my top pick for the best coffee shop in Portland). 

They have exactly two signature drinks on the menu: the Walk to Work (latte with housemade sweet cream on top) and the Mischief (a shot of espresso with a dollop of sweet cream). 

I visited here with my mom, and we got one of each of the specialty drinks. She was absolutely convinced that she wasn’t going to like the Walk to Work (she’s more of a fan of flavored drinks – like a two pump extra hot half caff gingerbread house latte), and I convinced her to try it (though it should be noted it was with a “okay I’ll do it but you have to drink it if I don’t like it”). 

Now when I talk to her, she asks me when we’re going to take my brothers to URL Coffee to try that drink. 

The Mischief was also absolutely a 10/10, and I would say it was my favorite flavored drink I had while I was in Seattle this last time. 

They use Maru Coffee from L.A. (I think this is the only place I’ve ever seen Maru outside of Southern California), and they have a couple of options on drip (they had a Kenyan coffee when I was there that I would have gotten if I wasn’t deadset on the cream top espresso) along with two espresso options – one blend, and one single origin. 

Bonito Café y Mercadito

On a sunny corner in Capitol Hill, you’ll find one of the best examples I found in Seattle of the collision between specialty coffee and coffee informed by personal experience and cultural background. 

Bonito is an unapologetically latino space, from the drinks on the menu (cafe de olla syrup and horchata chai!), to the art they’re selling and displaying, to the music playing.

Similar to Hood Famous, I was endlessly intrigued by the unique drink offerings on the menu, and had a difficult time choosing between them. 

The three that stood out to me were the “Muy Bien” (espresso, coke, bitters), the espresso tonica (with lavender syrup), and the “Que Bonito” (cafe de olla syrup, espresso, milk, horchata cold foam). 

I debated with myself on which to choose and eventually decided that, if I’m going to go for it, I should just dive in and get the Que Bonito, which had all of the various aspects that I wanted to try in one drink. 

As you might imagine, it was delicious, and it was served like a cocktail, which I very much appreciated. 

For what it’s worth, this is a place that is high on my list to bring Alysha to next time we’re in Seattle together (they also have fun matcha drinks), which is about as good an indication that it’s good as I can think of. 

Honorable Mentions

This guide used to be a LOT longer (because there are a truly mind blowing number of great coffee spots in Seattle). 

In order to streamline it and capture some new options and concepts that I think are worth keeping track of, I added this “honorable mentions” category. 

While the places above are the best places to find more forward-thinking specialty coffee, with roasters that have become famous in the dark corners of the coffee internet spaces and discord servers, there are a bunch of other roasters in Seattle that have been around for a decade or two and were very much the catalysts for earlier waves of innovation in coffee. 

Fast forward to today and two things are true. 

First, my preferences have changed, and I much prefer lighter roasts than any of what I’m dubbing the “legacy roasters” in Seattle offer. 

Second, most of these roasters haven’t really evolved in a meaningful way (or pushed the envelope in their roasting or sourcing) and are still offering the same blends they did five years ago.

Which is completely fine, it just means that they’ve largely fallen out of my “best of” list. 

All that being said, if you’re looking for a well executed latte or something like that and you don’t really care what the coffee is that went into the drink, then you’ll find that at all of these places. 

Espresso Vivace: One of the OG coffee spots in the city, every time I’m here I’m reminded of Seattle in the early 2000’s with the cozy wood tones and the bold, chocolatey coffee.

I come here for one reason: the Cafe Nico, their signature drink, which is a delightful combination of espresso, half and half, vanilla, cinnamon, and orange.

They used to have a very charming sidewalk bar (they’re inspired by coffee in northern Italy, which is very much focused on espresso at the bar), but it closed and now they have shops in Cap Hill and South Lake Union. 

Olympia Coffee: A good example of my evolving palate, Olympia used to be my absolute favorite spot in the city for coffee.

However, over the years, they haven’t innovated in a way that has kept up with the evolution of my own preferences.

They have a couple of cafes in Seattle, but you should go to the one downtown (here on Google Maps), which is a cool indoor/outdoor space taking up the first floor of the building that reminds me of a train station or a fancy British library (or just Suzalo Library at UW). 

Caffe Vita KEXP: While Caffe Vita is good, the real reason to come to their space at Seattle Center (near Climate Pledge Arena and the Space Needle) is the space that they’re in.

It’s adjacent to the space where KEXP – Seattle’s original alternative rock radio station (my words, not theirs) operates.

They usually have a live broadcast going in the booth adjacent to the coffee bar! It’s a very cool space, and they have photos of a bunch of the biggest Seattle bands performing along the walls. 

Victrola Coffee: When I originally put together this guide years ago and we went to a bunch of different places and scored their coffee, Victrola came out near the top of our favorite cups of coffee in Seattle.

They have two very convenient locations in the downtown core – one near Pike Place Market, one up in the Pike/Pine corridor – and will make you a well executed cup of coffee (with coffee roasted a little darker than my preferences). 

The Best Coffee in Seattle, Mapped

To help you visualize where all of these shops are located, we’ve put together this handy map with all of our favorites!

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