A brief, considered list of my coffeeshop heuristics
- A strong diversity of seating options. The ideal is a 50/50 mix of tables (for working) and big chairs (for reading.)
- An extant but quiet ambient noise level. Pindrop-quiet coffeeshops are way too stressful; ones where everyone's talking all the time inhibit concentration and relaxation. I don't think these establishments are bad -- viva la third place! -- but they're not for me.
- Consistent WiFi quality. Note that I did not say consistently good. I am perfectly content with a coffeeshop having poor internet or no internet at all -- I can file those places away in my brain as areas where I should go when I need to concentrate. But volatility is unconscionable -- if each time you go you play the roulette of whether or not the internet is going to be streaming-level or even email-level, that's a disqualifier.
- Good hours. Despite Seattle's (correct) stereotype of being a coffee mecca and Seattle's (correct) stereotype of being flush with hipsters spending entire days in coffeeshops, a couple places here will close at unreasonably early hours. There's a place two blocks away from my apartment that serves beer and wine but closes at 6pm. Why? It fills me with primordial rage.
(You might note that completely absent from this list is coffee quality. If you measured everyone in Seattle and graphed 'coffee palate' on one axis and 'amount of time spent in coffeeshops' on the other, I would perhaps be the shocking outlier -- it is extraordinarily difficult for me to tell the difference between roasts and beans unless I'm doing flights or something, where I get a lot of different data points proximal to one another.)
This isn't (and shouldn't be) everyone's list of coffeeshop priorities. But they're mine, and I've tried enough coffeeshops to know what I like about them and what I dislike about them. Everything else -- outlet availability, fancy Scandinavian aesthetic, food options, customer service -- is a nice to have, but never really influences my decision making.
Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that I'm writing this from the Starbucks on 15th. I didn't want to write this at the Starbucks on 15th. First I tried Victrola, the place with great coffee and no wifi, but it was full -- then I tried Ada's, and it was full, too -- and Ladro, a block down, was full.
It's a rainy Sunday: I don't begrudge the lack of vacancies.
So I'm at a Starbucks, which doesn't have the best coffee (or even good coffee, depending on who you ask). But I've got a table to myself, they're playing Ornette Coleman, and the internet is strong. I'm a happy customer.
Happy Sunday. I hope you find a great new coffeeshop.