The Pacific Northwest Coffee Vibe Continues with

Anchorhead Coffee

Continuing with the Pacific Northwest Coffee Vibe, I check into Anchorhead Coffee in Bellevue,WA.

Anchorhead opened their first café in October2016 in the atrium of Seattle’s Bell Tower. The high-rise building is home to corporate offices of Nordstrom and Century Link, and a renovation of the building’s outdoor patio space provided the perfect opportunity to jump start the retail coffee journey for Co-Founders Jake Paulson and Mike Steiner.

Jake and Mike are former audio engineers and toured extensively for about eight years before shifting careers and starting their first café. The duo initially started small, selling their bottled cold brews at farmer’s markets, then distributing to local retailers. Their engineering mindset kept them curious about coffee, and they eventually converted half of Mike’s garage to launch a coffee roastery. They’ve only kept growing ever since.

Cafe Design:

Anchorhead intentionally stayed away from the clean-white, minimalist aesthetic which is most common in third-wave cafés. The cafe is full of dark tones (especially black), yet an abundance of natural lighting and blue accents keep the shop feeling warm. This is probably also related to Jake and Mike’s backgrounds in alt metal bands, sound engineering, and audio production.

Seattle Cafes are known for their fast service and Jake invested in the right coffee equipment and layout to facilitate quick turnaround while maintaining the highest quality.

The shop’s five-station Poursteady is key for efficiency and consistency; the machine’s automation allows baristas to spin out dozens of pour-overs each day. This gear looks gorgeous and enhances the visual appeal of the café.

Poursteady: When Slow is Fast

While waiting for coffee at a San Francisco Blue Bottle in late 2012, two robotics engineers observed a problem they knew they could solve. They saw a barista making pour-over after pour-over, repeating the same recipe over and over while the line grew. They believed they could apply the same engineering and technology they used for test rovers for NASA and laboratory equipment for the pharmaceutical industry to busy coffee shops.

Mark Sibenac and Stuart Heys went about building the first automatic pour-over coffee maker prototype. Along with Stephan von Muehlen, they brought it to the NYC Maker Faire in 2013, where it made over 800 cups of coffee in the first weekend.

The team brought home a bunch of ribbons, and the machine was featured on the Tested blog. They realized then there might be more to this than just a science fair project.

Poursteady and the Steady Equipment Corporation were born.

Elegant Design, Great Coffee

Poursteady automatic pour-over coffee machines have since been installed in cafes and coffee shops around the globe. The unique and thoughtful style, the engineered precision of the pour, and the ability to program recipes, drips, and more with an easy-to-use app have made pour-over coffee in a cafe fast, efficient, and delicious.

Anchorhead uses V60’s on their Poursteady to better control flow rate. A line of Hario carafes catches each brew as it drips through to the other side. When continuously running, a barista can make around 1 cup per minute when all stations are in use. Pour-over orders are a simple button press instead of a time intensive task.

Poursteady just helps you make better coffee faster.

The Coffee: Wolicho Wachu, Ethiopia

This exquisite coffee boasts notes of apricot, strawberry syrup, and hints of Italian cream soda. What truly sets it apart is the subtle yet unforgettable finish of strawberry cream soda, which is a super unique flavour.

• Grower: Farmers delivering to Wolicho Wachu washing station

• Variety: JARC varieties

• Region: Guji

• Altitude: 1900-2210 Meters Above Sea Level

• Process: Natural, dried on raised beds