Herkimer Coffee

Description on  Herkimer Coffee website : At Herkimer Coffee our purpose is to create a coffee experience of the highest possible quality. Whether it’s your double espresso, latte to go, or the bag of beans you brew at home, we want your experience to be the best it can be.

Neighborhood:  Ravenna / University District

Address: 5611 University Way NE,  Seattle, Washington 98105

Music playing: Didn’t I -Darondo

What we ate/drank:  Macchiato

Comments:   Herkimer Coffee is our go-to spot  when our family walks over to Cowen Park or going to the Saturday University Farmer’s Market. We normally get our coffee to go and can only recollect one time where we met up with friends and actually stayed to enjoy our coffees.  On this particular day, I decided to stay and enjoy.

Plus points for having “Didn’t I” by Darondo playing when I walked in. One of my favorites. Then some Vampire Weekend. Then some Shins.  I asked the barista if this was his playlist and was about to compliment him, but alas, it was Spotify.

I got a Macchiato. Because it was late afternoon, their pastry selection at that point was pretty bare, but there pasties are from Café Besalu in Ballard.  Note: As I delved deeper, I found out that Herkimer now owns Café Besalu as of last year! I had no idea.

One thing you’ll notice for some of their drinks is the strange pricing. For example, the Macchiato and Cortado are both $2.72.  You may ask, why? That’s because with the tax, it comes out to an even $3.00, which I appreaciate. Keep it simple

The space is small like most places on The Ave, but I feel it maximizes the space with a long wooden bench that runs the entirety of the inside with 7 small tables . There are 4 stools running along the front of the space with a counter and one community table for 8. There are two tables out side on the side walk to look out on the northern part of The Ave. In the front it’s nice and bright, but towards the back it’s warm and dark with soft lighting

They had about some 3 tea selections.  There’s local art on the wall for sale. And they got AC, yo!

Surprisingly, Herkimer only has 3 locations-Dexter, Ravenna and the flagship Greenwood location. It seems like there’s more locations, but I guess I drive down Greenwood and The Ave a lot.  I don’t drive on Dexter much.

Like some other Seattle coffee roasters(Elm, Slate, Vita, Ladro), I was curious about where the name “Herkimer” and logo originated. Apparently it’s named after a town in New York, where the founder’s dad was born. Another fun fact: The founder of Herkimer also founded Caffe Vita. The bridge in the logo is an iconic bridge in Herkimer.

Ratings(1-5)

Favorite Thing:  I love the fact that there’s a quality coffee shop very near Cowen/Ravenna Park.

Atmosphere:   4

Service:  5

Food Options:   3.75

Overall:  4.25

Eavedropping  Convo:  Guy and a gal having a coffee. They seem to be UW students,  It was right around end of the first quarter, so they were talking about plans for the summer and when they were leaving campus for home.  They’d been there before I got there and were still there for the 45 minutes I was there, so they were there a while.

Gal) If you’re free, I was thinking about going……

Guy) Yes, let’s go!

Gal) You don’t know where I was going to suggest.

Guy) I don’t care. Let’s go!

Gal) It’s a place really close to here…….. Both walk out the door together.

 Dude was super eager to hang out more I guess.