Zeitgeist’s Spirit of the Times
In a city that’s rapidly changing both physically and culturally, a coffee shop from 1997 is an outlier from the era of dial-up internet, affordable rent, and the Seattle Supersonics.
Life in a Wonderland
No matter where you go in the Puget Sound Area, you’re always within a short drive from primeval rain forests.
A Coffee Stand Where the Buffalo Roam
In the beginning, it was little more than a field filled with buffalo. That was about all there was on that stretch of 132nd St SE in unincorporated Snohomish County.
The Mirabelle Plum Queen
Read an Urban City Cold Brew inspired story below, told from the perspective of a young girl living in modern day France.
Hybrid Coffee
We are bringing more hybrid coffees to our customers because hybrids are more sustainable. We sincerely hope this awakens you to what some people call the future of coffee.
Spirit of Seattle
Though Seattle is not the first city to experience hardship, it has its own unique journey that makes it stand out among the rest.
Silver Cup Brand Story
When Silver Cup formed in 1995, Dawnette was the very first barista, slinging espresso at the very first cafe.
A Premium Creation
When you start with premium ingredients, you’re already half-way to a premium creation.
Cruising at Sunset
As America found its footing in the aftermath of World War II, a new generation was coming into its own.
Central Cafe & Juice Bar – Turning Lemons into Lemonade
A lot of luck and a lot of love kept Central Cafe & Juice Bar going
Fuji Bakery – Climbing to the Top
Susien Lee wants Fuji Bakery to be on the tip of your tongue when anyone asks about your can’t miss spots in Seattle.
Queen City Cyclists Unite
It’s no accident that today Seattle is known as a bike-friendly city. An avid breed of bicyclist has been with the city almost since its inception in the mid-1800s. Indeed, much of the infrastructure in the Queen City was built specifically for bicyclists at the insistence of bicycling lobby groups.
The Rise of Hybrid Coffee from Costa Rica: Pura Vida Coffee Collection
Taste and sustainability go hand-in-hand when it comes to our unique coffee experiences.
Pura Vida Coffee Collection: Rio Conejo
Fulcrum’s VP of Coffee, Blas Alfaro, met brothers and coffee producers Ignacio & Martin Ceciliano at the Specialty Coffee Expo five years ago. He had no idea that he was encountering pioneering micro-mill coffee farmers that would lead to a wonderful relationship and long-term partnership.
Pura Vida Coffee Collection: Hacienda Sonora
Sonora Coffee is a mill situated in Hacienda Sonora, nestled at the base of the Poas Volcano in Costa Rica. For more than 50 years, three generations of farmers have worked this land with their staunch belief in conservation and sustainability.
Pura Vida Coffee Collection: Las Lajas
Until Francisca and Oscar Chacon took over, now third generation coffee farmers, the mill operated in the same manner as every other coffee farm at the time did, picking and producing the greatest amount of coffee possible, which they then sold to transnational companies to export and sell.
The Gypsy Queen
Nicknamed Lake Union’s Graveyard, each boat holds a mysterious history that has been kept secret for decades.
Winning a City by Losing a Coin Toss
For Captain Ballard in 1890, one silly little coin granted him 160 acres of land and initiated the development of one of Seattle’s most beloved neighborhoods.
Washington's Snow Bowl Hut
It is no secret that Washington state is home to many of the best hiking and skiing trails in the country.
The Poets of the Mountain Lookouts
Kerouac thought that a summer as a fire lookout away from people, drugs, and alcohol might help his writing.
The Independence Cha-Cha
Though this is a story about one Congolese musician, Tabu Ley Rochereau, it's also more of a story about music itself, about what it means to have a global conversation through the give and take of ideas.
Trio Tailors
Later, Blas was testing coffees in a cupping lab when he met a woman from the Bukonzo Joint wearing an apron covered in bold splashes of color. Blas was attracted to her bright attire and asked where she got her apron.
The Flying Salesman and the Flying Saucer
One fateful June day, 1947, Kenneth Arnold's world changed. It was the kind of clear blue Tuesday where a North-Westerner will stop and say, "the Mountain's out."
Seattle's Caffeinated History
Much of what makes Seattle's coffee scene unusual is the willingness of people here to shun the ordinary. At the head of that group are those willing to work, take a risk, and drag the extraordinary into the light.
Al Hostak
There are no boxing stories without lessons learned the hard way. You can't celebrate the Northwest tenacity that rebuilt an entire city after a devastating fire or the righteous indignation that sparked the Pike Place Market, without a nod toward the hard, dirty (and sometimes bloody) fight.
Of June Hogs
The life cycle of the salmon was something drilled into local children as part of Washington State public schools curriculum. Eggs, alevin, fry, parr, smolt, adult. Spawning adult. Then back to eggs.
Out of Left Field
At Fulcrum we are all about sharing stories that allow our customers and readers to discover and learn something new, like our roasters did with this blend. Read our Southpaw Blend inspired story about the uncommon and ground-breaking guitarists of Seattle.
"A Beautiful Tomorrow"
"When I stepped out of the van, my brain got caught up in some type of ecstasy, because the view of the lake was so surreal," says Blas.
Coffee for the 21st Century
One solution to the environmental threats of coffee production is to invest in new coffee varieties, or so called, "coffee plants for the 21st century."
Stephen Kiptrotich, Champion
Stephen Kiptrotich was born the seventh son of sweet potato farmers in rural Uganda.
On the Wonderland Trail
"We were promptly swallowed up in the surging crowds of ordinary mortals who know not the mountains, the glaciers, the big forests, the roaring cataracts, the thrilling climb, the soul-expanding view, and who never lived for three glorious weeks above the clouds."
Visibility in the Dark
As far back as the 1920s, Seattle was turning a blind eye to the city's growing gay population, then confined to the unruly parts of town with the jazz clubs and other dens of ill repute. There were unfriendly laws on the books, but police in the city were known to be the best friends money could buy.
Pike Place Market - A History
Pike Place Market was born on a damp summer day in 1907. Seattle's most iconic tourist attraction was the battleground for a grassroots revolution, sparked by the price of onions.
The Ladies that Sewed Seattle Back Together
Seattle saw the ashes as a blank canvas for bold moves. The old city still exists, buried beneath the Seattle we know today.
When The Sky Hung Low
When the clouds hang in the sky for too many days, there is a general sense of oppression that settles over even native North-westerners. We move a little slower, then, as though the sky is a literal weight on our shoulders.
Bear and the Steelhead
Read our Ursa Minor Blend inspired story, where we dive into the historic and nostalgic ways of the forests before modern civilization was all the land knew.
D.B. Cooper
It is the rule breakers, the limit pushers, who show us what's possible. We are inspired by those who manage, through cleverness, to rise above ordinary and reach unexpected heights.
Great Coffee on Beacon Hill
"I love my community," says Luis Rodriguez. "I love my employees, I love my sales people and vendors." He says quality is important and doesn't want to serve his customers terrible coffee.
Bertha Climbs To New Heights
The Wonderland Trail, on the slopes of Mount Rainier, was first climbed in 1909 by the Mountaineers. Among the ranks of the first expedition was Bertha Knight Landes, the woman who would become the first female mayor of Seattle.
Jackson Street & Food for the Soul
In the early 1900s, underground jazz clubs dotted Jackson Street, and the whole city, regardless of race, religion, or economic standing, came together through a love of Jazz music.