There’s a new video series touring Western and Central states covering the coffee scene in various cities. Brandon Davenport and his video-maker, Jesse Meeker recently set out to check out Seattle.
Here’s my interview with him:
Tell us what the CaffeiNation series about?
-CaffeiNation is a 5,000 mile road trip that I took with my friend and Video-Maker, Jesse Meeker. The goal in mind was to stop at as many coffee roasters, cafes, machine manufacturers or any other relevant destination along the way, to really suss out and get a taste for current coffee culture in the Central and Western U.S. I was on a mission to drink 100 cups of coffee and execute the trip in under 14 days. It’s quite challenging, but I’m sure we can do it.
What inspired you to create this series?
– As the Coffee Specialist here at TPE I was asked to formulate a plan to generate consistent relevant content to use through our social media outlets. We are looking to curate an environment and coffee culture of our own here. We are the most exclusive cafe in L.A., closed to the public and serving L.A.’s taste making community on an invite only basis. We see the position that we are in as an opportunity to enlighten folks, who have considered coffee just a caffeine kick, to the fact that it can truly be a complex, artisan beverage.
How does the Seattle coffee scene compare to other cities you explored?
-Seattle’s coffee scene had one big thing going for it that I didn’t find anywhere else. It was unavoidable! How could a place like Seattle exist without becoming a coffee mecca? It is gloomy, rainy and beautiful with a sense of mundaneness you generally don’t find in a city of that size. That mellow, foggy vibe had me constantly itching for a cup of coffee. And the coffee I had there was great.
What was something that you learned or surprised you about Seattle’s coffee scene?
-Well I probably could have guessed, but the ‘artisan’ coffee scene has been blooming in Seattle for coming up on 20 years. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see more, as we were moving through the trip so fast, but the few places I saw had been around since the mid 90’s which was impressive. Also, I was amazed to find out that the La Marzocco HQ team consists of only 13 people! I see Marzocco’s EVERYWHERE and I’m blown away that such a small team handles the business that they get. They were quite an amazing team though.
How/When can people check out your video series?
– New Episodes go up every Monday on The Pancake Epidemic Youtube channel. You can also find them on ThePancakeEpidemic.com – So far there is SanFran, Portland, Seattle and Spokane and soon you will find episodes featuring Missoula, Idaho Falls, Cheyenne, Boulder, Zion and more.
Here’s the video episode on Seattle:
Photo Courtesy of Brandon Davenport.
