In This Caffè

With a long time addiction to coffee, it was only a matter of time before I landed up in the alleys of the Pacific Northwest, closer to the dealers of my daily fix. Like the odd old lady down the block with too many cats, I have a litter of coffee presses threatening to crowd out the cupboards of even the heaviest coffee cup. Should that occur, I will only need room for heat resistant straws to keep me from hitting rock bottom. Without those straws, I will have to pick up the phone and place that call to Pat O'Day.

In this caffè, the sign says "Caffe Ladro" which apparently was voted the Best Coffeehouse in the 2007 Seattle Weekly Readers Poll. "100% fair trade" you ask? Check. "Organic" you ponder? You betcha. "Shade grown coffee" you demand?!? What else would it be! Lower the drawbridge and proceed. This particular outlet is in the less than hip Eastside above Issaquah. Since the less-than-pierced must also caffeinate, I thought I would join them in an opportunity to sample an alternative to local café, Starbucks and *gasp* a McDonalds Drive-Thru.

I usually find most of the coffee that come the word "Organic" printed more prominently than the word "coffee" on the label, a bit understated to weak. I don't know the reason for this correlation; but it is frequent, yet not absolute. The bike messengers at Portland's Stumptown try to convince you that since they press their plain ol' coffee, and that they don't need to have bolder roasts available. They lie. Since I was in a hurry, I ordered a grande drip and a quiche to go. When I got to my destination; I warmed the quiche, which was fine food fare. But it was not something that would cause me to travel out of my way, like the Manchego and Mushroom Biscuit at "Crema" in Portland. There was other "stuff" that looked promising, but that will be for another time. The drip coffee (I don't know what blend they were brewing this visit) was fine. Again, not something that will haunt me. While the outside of the building was clearly the planned-community-look, the inside was a regular Seattle coffee shop affair, busy with the non-tattooed, non-pierced-citizens of the Eastside. If this scares you, there are also other locations, including Capitol Hill.