when i was away at school, i found that i was hearing about and seeing posts of all these new places to go and eat and explore back home. i started keeping a list so i could  remember them when i was home, but when the list started getting bigger i broke them up based on what they were. so in my journal i have a list of restaurants, shops, coffee shops, etc. therefore, my coffee crawl was born.

now that i’ve moved home for the summer, i’ve started going to some of these places, and i was just recently at one of the coffee shops on my list with a friend. i told him how the place we were at was on my list, and he came up with the idea to write about each and give a sort of review. so today marks the start of my official coffee crawl!

i do believe there is much more that makes a coffee shop than just the coffee they serve, so the things i pay attention to span from (obviously) the coffee to the music the shop plays, the vibe of the shop, the people there, and anything particular special or noteworthy.

my first stop on my coffee crawl (as you may have guessed from the title) was elm coffee roasters in the pioneer square area of seattle. i originally saw the shop on instagram and the clean, minimalist interior immediately appealed to me. the shop was surprisingly empty when we arrived, given we went at around 9:30 on a saturday morning.

the shop was pretty quiet, as were the baristas. not overly friendly, but definitely not rude or pushy. they answered any questions we had, and they took care of us quickly. overall, our experience was calm and peaceful and pleasant.

the music matched the overall experience, playing gentle indie acoustic folk type of songs. i was working on a paper while we were there, and the music wasn’t distracting. but was enough to where it didn’t feel awkward and silent since there was a lack of loud conversations. i need ambient noise to work well and focus, and the shop was perfect for the work i was doing. some of the music we heard was by big thief, chastity belt, kishi bashi, and father john misty. pretty much any playlist on spotify you get when you search “big thief” will get you just about the same music experience.

we both got mochas, mine hot and tyler’s iced. both of us noticed the coffee wasn’t the greatest, but wasn’t the worst. it tasted like the roast was a bit underdeveloped, but it was definitely drinkable. we both agreed that a vanilla latte probably would’ve provided better taste, because the chocolate added for the mocha probably didn’t help with the savory, less sweet taste we both got.

pretty much the main issue we both noticed was the lack of outlets in the place. i know that might make some people roll their eyes, but as someone who does their homework at a coffee shop more often than not, and usually for several hours at a time, not outlets was a big issue. tyler’s laptop died while he was editing pictures and we hadn’t even been there for an hour, and that’s when we figured out this unfortunate issue.

the shop had quite a bit besides coffee for sale. we both ended up getting a sweatshirt, the random deal was too good to pass up, especially since we were able to support a local business. they had quite a bit of equipment for sale, from french presses to branded mugs to small-scale at-home espresso machines. i was quite impressed with the surplus of what they were selling, the unspoken encouragement of customers making the shop seem just that much more positive and pleasant.

the location of elm was definitely less than ideal, pioneer square being not the greatest or safest part of seattle. we walked around in the area a bit after we were done and it wasn’t scary, locals would be perfectly fine. i would just say you’ll want to be aware of your surroundings, nothing to be afraid of.

overall, my first visit to elm was definitely pleasant enough to warrant more in the future, the few hours we spent there definitely starting my day of in a relaxed but productive way. i’ll consider ordering a different drink next time, but when taking everything else into account, i’d give elm a solid 7/10.

if you have any coffee shops in the seattle or portland areas that you think i should visit, please leave a comment! i’d love to add more shops to my list!

also, let me know if there’s any way i can improve these little review posts. anything else you’d like me to talk about, consider, or go more into detail about.

xx.

maren