Java Joints of Jet City: Victrola Coffee

It’s one of those Sunday mornings where the air is very still and heavy, and the dim light is giving you plenty of room to recover from Saturday night. For us, it’s the perfect time to visit the newest Victrola Coffee location on Pike Street.

We enter the spanky-fresh store, a location mostly done up in the very popular, but tepid modern design. Like a Santa Barbara beach, all the tables are blonde-topped. The speakers blare the Feist album that you now hear in every boutique, restaurant and Starbucks. The owners have infused the shop with some of Victrola's signature style, namely a gorgeous vintage red couch with matching chairs. Set against an exposed brick wall, they help soften the rest of the shop's sterility.

We step up to order. The baristas graciously answer multiple questions about pastries and roasting. Only after sitting down do we see the huge sign that tells us "Order Here," and realize that we've ordered everything in the wrong place and in the incorrect order. We appreciate afresh the barista's patience.

Victrola, who roasts their own coffees, brews all of their drip coffee in French presses and the coffee is known for its dirty finish. The espresso also has a dirty finish, as though the espresso has been brewed through a French press. It's not bad, but it's particular. We pair this robust cup with a slice of their not-too-sweet Green Tea Coffee Cake and we're in heaven.

Before we go, we kneel on one of the vintage chairs to peek through the large spotless windows that reveal the on-site roastery. The equipment is shiny, new and exciting. Victrola's newest location mixes the old with the new, and not unsuccessfully.

Victrola Coffee
310 E Pike Street
Seattle, WA 98122