Where's the Coffee?

There’s usually a weird reason for the things I do so I’ll share with you how this idea even sparked. If you’re an avid coffee drinker, I’m sure you have a go-to drink and coffee shop (even if it is your local Starbucks). I thought I did and then I realized my loyalty depended on wherever was most convenient. A fun little fact about my family is that both of my brothers were baristas. My older brother worked for Tully’s and my younger brother started there but then moved to Starbucks. I usually just went wherever they were or like I said, to wherever was closest to me. So, yes, this post is about coffee and if you know me personally you know I’m weird about my preference but few of you know why. 

            Growing up, my dad was always drinking coffee. Wherever we were, no matter what we were doing, we always ended up somewhere where there was coffee available. For as long as I can remember, he’d constantly try to give me a few sips here and there and I’d try it every time but I always made a face and insisted that it was disgusting. Now, you should know that my dad drank it black basically, I mean two sugars didn’t do much to enhance taste for an 8-year-old. Coffee was such an essential for my dad that one of the first things I remember him teaching me, was how to make coffee. I was so excited about it that I offered it to every guest we ever had. It took me forever to actually start drinking it though. Once my older brother started work is when I was introduced to white chocolate mochas and my mind was blown. I truly didn’t know coffee could be served in any other way than whatever poison my dad tried to give me. White mochas became my go-to for about a year until I became sick of them. Quite literally too, the milk was an overwhelming taste and I hate warm milk. It also turned out that I was lactose intolerant but that’s a story for another time. So finally my brother told me to try drinking just regular coffee and adding sugar or creamer on my own terms. This was another mind blowing discovery at the time. To keep this short, basically I started to use less and less additions to my coffee before preferring to drink it black. It’s definitely an acquired taste and if you don’t like it, well I won’t hold it against you. In case anyone was curious my go-to drinks now are either Americanos or chai tea lattes. Sometimes I’ll ask for shots in my chai tea lattes but if I’m really craving some energy I’ll simply ask for 3 shots of espresso over ice with white chocolate. I’m sure this is not important to any of you but hey if you ever want to surprise me, you can’t go wrong with these, *wink wink. 

          Back to why I need your help! Earlier this week on my personal account I asked my followers to send me their favorite coffee shops in the Seattle/Kirkland/Bellevue/Issaquah/Redmond area. Side note, if you’re not from Washington I apologize for your inability to relate but stick with me. Anyway, I received way more suggestions than I was expecting! I tried two on the list already and I liked one so much that I’ve been back twice within this week. I bring this up because I wanted to share this new idea that I’m sure won’t effect most of you, but I’m pretty excited so I thought I’d brainstorm out loud. (Or online?) Basically my idea is just to share with you all the various coffee shops I go to and my thoughts on them! Not to be confused with a review of them, simply what I enjoyed of each and what they have to offer. I am absolutely no coffee expert but I have been drinking coffee for awhile and can at least tell you what I like. Another reason I think this would be fun is because I do most of my writing and reading in coffee shops. I find it hard to concentrate in silence, I know that’s weird, but that’s just how I function. So libraries don’t usually work for me because I’m not one of those people that can read and listen to music, so I can’t cope with the silence that way. The music distracts me, unless I’m writing. My house and my room are places I like to reserve for relaxing. That usually means netflixing something. So while I can read at home, I prefer not to, again, I’m not sure why but I just focus better in new environments. Coffee shops to me, are perfect. They’re never completely silent and the murmur of people making conversation, music that isn’t directly in my ears or of my choosing, don’t distract me, they help me focus on whatever I’m doing. Now that I’m home for the summer, I’d like to explore while also being productive with answering emails, reading, writing and taking pictures. This is just a fun way for me to stay on top of my tasks and make time for my hobbies! 

            After all that, I would basically just like your help on suggestions for new coffee shops! Maybe even tell me places you’ve never been to but you want me to try. It would also be super awesome if you could tell me what you want each write up to include. (Does this place have a reward program? What’s their most popular drink? Do they have free wifi? etc.)

Please vote in the poll on my story or message me any suggestions!