by Jenn Ngeth
Seattle is known worldwide for coffee (no shocker there) and is almost synonymous with Starbucks. But in the last decade, we’ve seen an increase in BIPOC-owned specialty cafes proudly reclaiming their unique, intimate ties to the beverage. Coffee culture isn’t just the stereotypical “tattooed hipster white guy who drinks a breve” anymore.
Continue reading The Emerald’s Guide to South End Coffee Shopsby Kevin Schofield
This weekend’s read is a research study on the effects of drinking coffee — potentially a lot of coffee — on your health. Specifically it looks at whether people who drink coffee were more likely to die over a ten-year period from any cause (called a “mortality hazard ratio”).
The researchers from the National Cancer Institute and Northwestern University studied a sample of 490,000 persons from the United Kingdom whose medical records from 2006 to 2016 are in a research “biobank” along with data about their demographics and lifestyle. Biobanks like this one are essential resources for looking for connections with health and medical outcomes.
The results they found were surprising. According to the researchers, drinking coffee is inversely associated with mortality: that is, people who drank coffee were less likely to die over the ten-year study period. Even more surprising: even people who drank six or more cups of coffee per day — which, let’s be honest, sounds scary — had a lower mortality rate than those who drank fewer cups.
Continue reading Weekend Reads: Is Drinking Coffee Good or Bad For You?by Amanda Ong
After almost seven months of in-person closure, Cafe Red in Othello reopened its doors for service in April. The return of the beloved neighborhood café comes with a new all-vegan menu, plenty of goods from local companies, and a renewed commitment to community.
Continue reading Community-Minded Cafe Red Reopens With New Vegan Goodsby Elizabeth Turnbull
Efrem Fesaha had an ambitious dream — to bring a unique coffee experience to Seattle, one of the coffee capitals of the world. And now, in 2022, he’s been recognized for it, receiving the title of both Washington Small-Business Person of the Year and Pacific Northwest Small-Business Person of the Year.
Continue reading South End Coffee Entrepreneur Wins WA Small-Business Person of the Yearby Mark Van Streefkerk
If you search for Seattle Ethiopian restaurants on a map, something you’ll notice first is where they are. While there are a few restaurants in North Seattle, the overwhelming concentration is in the Central and South End, especially from Columbia City to the Rainier Beach area. It’s a clear indicator of where the Ethiopian community has settled.
“You’ll definitely see more Ethiopian restaurants on the South End than on the North End because our population is greater around those areas,” said a customer at Delish Ethiopian Cuisine who requested to not be named. Ordering from an Ethiopian restaurant offers a glimpse into the rich culture and artistry of these communities.
Continue reading South End Ethiopian Restaurants Paint a Picture of a Vibrant Communityby Jax Kiel
Intentionalist is built on one simple idea: where we spend our money matters. We make it easy to find, learn about, and support small businesses and the diverse people behind them through everyday decisions about where we eat, drink, and shop. #SpendLikeItMatters
There’s nothing not to love about small businesses in Seattle, but this August let’s explore the rest of King County and the small businesses that are just a bus or car ride away.
King County has a population of approximately 2.2 million people — and tens of thousands of businesses — but only about a third of County residents live in Seattle. While the vibrant small businesses in Seattle bring light to lives and communities, it’s important not to forget about those beyond the city.
As in Seattle, the small businesses in wider King County are the lifelines, backbones, and safe spaces of their individual communities. This August, explore King County and these Black-owned businesses in Kent, Renton, and Federal Way.
by Alexa Peters
In 2016, Black coffee professional Michelle Johnson in an article titled, “The Black Cup of Excellence: Being Black in Specialty Coffee,” wrote the following:
“Specialty coffee is a progressive industry, but being Black in a community majority of [w]hites still lends itself to the same oppression felt across multiple industries in our country and around the world.”
The article, which has since been taken down, shook the coffee industry to its core, and it began an industry-wide conversation that has intensified since the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and has prompted more industry experts to speak out against what coffee writer Umeko Motoyoshi calls “anti-blackness in specialty coffee.” From her perspective, the industry’s persistent racism is born largely from its reluctance to acknowledge and learn about the African roots of coffee itself.
That’s where Efrem Fesaha, the owner of Seattle’s Boon Boona Coffee, comes in. Raised in West Seattle as the son of two Eritrean immigrants, Fesaha has spent the last three years establishing his Renton and Capitol Hill coffee shops dedicated to spreading the rich African coffee history to local java aficionados.
Continue reading Boon Boona Brings Coffee’s African Roots to Capitol Hillby Alexa Peters
To say that Black Coffee Northwest, a new Shoreline-based Black-owned coffee shop, has had a tumultuous first six months would be an understatement.
Last October, right before their grand opening in the middle of a pandemic, Black Coffee Northwest was the victim of a racially motivated Molotov cocktail attack. Only a month ago, their property was defaced with swastikas. At the same time, the line for their drive-thru consistently wraps around the block, and concerned community members are actively donating money, supplies, and even volunteering to keep watch in the shop’s parking lot to prevent future attacks.
“We have people that are supporting us, people that are showing up. It’s also showing that there are people that … want this community to be better,” said Black Coffee Northwest co-owner Darnesha Weary. “And that pisses [our opponents] off even more.”
Continue reading Black Coffee Launches Youth Internship Programs for Resume Development and Social Justiceby Mark Van Streefkerk
Vietnam is the world’s second largest coffee-producing country, a fact largely unknown to most consumers, though that is changing for those who visit Hello Em Viet Coffee & Roastery. Hello Em is Seattle’s first Vietnamese coffee roastery. Co-owners Yenvy Pham and Nghia Bui carefully oversee every part of the process from sourcing and importing beans from Kon Tum and Buôn Ma Thuột to roasting in house on a Neuhaus Neotec air roaster. The roasted beans make up their signature coffees: the anh roast, a single origin robusta, and em roast, an arabica blend of coffees from Vietnam, Oaxaca, and Ethiopia.
Continue reading Hello Em Viet Coffee & Roastery Serves Coffee, Pastries, and Bánh Mì in Little Saigonby Kristina Rivera
Intentionalist is built on one simple idea: where we spend our money matters. We make it easy to find, learn about, and support small businesses and the diverse people behind them through everyday decisions about where we eat, drink, and shop. #SpendLikeItMatters
As we enter the new year, there’s one thing that’s already clear: We’re going to need our energy to get through it. And what could be more energizing than a carefully crafted cup of coffee from a local South Seattle coffee shop?
Independent coffee shops are so much more than the coffee they serve. Pre-pandemic, they were our go-to meeting spots when we wanted to catch up with a loved one, community organizing spaces, and where we set up our office for the day. It may be awhile until we can fully embrace everything these special neighborhood spaces have to offer, but for now, we can still enjoy a delicious drink made by people who genuinely care.
