Met Kuma Coffee Roaster, Bellevue WA

This morning a group of us from the Coffee Club of Seattle meetup (www.meetup.com/seattle-coffee-club/) met with Mark Barany, the proprieter/roast of Kuma Coffee. The roasting location is in a little industrial area off of 520 in Bellevue. Mark started home roasting coffee and selling to co-workers back in 2006. At that time he was roasting 5 pounds a month. When the holidays hit, the need grew to 40 pounds a month. But now he's selling to a variety of markets and cafes in the Seattle and roasting more than 1000 pounds a month.

The roaster he uses is a roaster formally used by both Cafe Appassionato and Zoka, when they started their roasting business.

Kuma Coffee specializes in sourcing high end coffees and prefers coffee beans roasted medium roasted, before they produce oil, resulting in a more complex flavored, more acidic, higher caffeinated coffee than a darker roasted coffee.

We sampled various coffees, including Kuma's popular Guatamalen Elinjerto coffee and our favorite, Kenyan roast as well as their new Holiday roast, soon to hit the market.

Kuma Coffee can be found at various coffee places and markets throughout the Seattle area as well as Kuma Coffee Cafe in Wallingford. Additionally, it can be purchased directly through their website- http://www.kumacoffee.com/, which also lists locations where Kuma Coffee can be found.

The Teacup on Queen Anne hill in Seattle

It was a misty Sunday morning when I got to the top of Queen Anne hill to the Teacup. Ironically, the Teacup sits at an intersection with Starbucks on one corner and Peets Coffee on another. Inside the Teacup has an inviting atmosphere with a fireplace and two levels of seating. Behind the counter are shelves of canisters filled with loose teas to drink there or purchase to take home. I was impressed by the tea knowlege of the folks helping me. While there is a great selection of teas to choose from, the food was pretty minimal. Additionally, the Teacup offers tea tasting classes. In general, I found it a comfortable place to hang out and enjoy some good tea. http://seattleteacup.com

Three Cups of Tea in downtown Bothell, WA

Saturday, I joined a couple of girlfriends in downtown Bothell, WA for lunch and tea at Three Cups of Tea. The name was inspired by Greg Mortensen's book, Three Cups of Tea. On the outside the place looked like any cafe. When you enter in, however, you are greeted by a bright and cheery environment. (This is duly noted since we experience a lot of cloudy days around here.) In addition to dining, the guest is surrounded by a variety of retail items-books, tea items, cups, etc... There is a dessert counter to the left when you enter and in addition to the public seating area, there are two private rooms for parties. The menu was a mix of lunch items and tea-type meals as well as a good selection of loose teas. The prices varied, but overall were reasonable. While women would most likely be drawn to this place, it wasn't so feminized that men wouldn't feel comfortable. I would definitely go back and bring some friends with me. http://www.threecupsoftea.biz/