VINCENZO’S BRINGS YOU SEATTLE’S BEST!

Seattle's Best Coffee Story
A Family of Great Coffee and Great People
Seattle's Best Coffee has had many names, but only one founder Since 1968; Seattle's Best Coffee has been roasting coffee under the direction of founder and chairman Jim Stewart. Jim opened his first store, the Wet Whisker, in 1968 in Coupeville on Whidbey Island, Washington. The combination ice cream and coffee shop was a welcome addition to the sleepy little town. In the summer of 1969, Jim purchased his first 12-pound roaster from a peanut vendor on a beach in Southern California (this roaster is on display in our Vashon Island café) The roaster made the trip from Southern California and was fired up in Coupeville for the first time that summer. It was there that Jim learned to roast coffee under the watchful eye of expert roaster Alan McKay. By the end of the second summer, Jim had roasted and sold nearly 500 pounds of Wet Whisker coffee with the help of his brother and new partner Dave.
A footprint in Seattle The Coupeville store was sold in 1970 to a local family. Not quite a year later, Jim opened another store featuring ice cream and coffee on Pier 70 on Seattle's waterfront. Stewart Brothers Coffee was born and all of the company's coffee was roasted on the pier until 1983. Tourists flocked in — never had they imagined someone would spend so much time and energy for a simple cup of coffee. But there was something different about the coffee at Stewart Brothers — this coffee was good. Really good. In 1971, Jim opened a retail store in Seattle's famed downtown market, serving as a significant milestone in the foundation of Seattle's coffee boom. Early on, Jim chose and preferred the Northern European style of roasting for his coffees. To him and many locals who had developed a discriminating taste, this roasting style left the subtle nuances and characteristics of the coffee intact and noticeable in each cup. As Jim's love for coffee grew, he began traveling directly to the coffee-producing counties to investigate the coffee industry firsthand. Jim still travels widely to countries of origin to maintain the relationships he has developed over the years with individual coffee farmers. To help keep up with the demand his coffees generated, Seattle's Best Coffee moved its roasting facilities to Vashon Island in 1983, and they remain there to this day! Jim Stewart still travels the globe collecting the best beans the world has to offer to Seattle's Best Coffee. And our commitment to providing you with the best cup of coffee is still just as strong as it was when Jim drove his 12-pound roaster back from California. Today, Seattle's Best Coffee has cafes nationally and internationally and is the coffee of choice for thousands of restaurants, hotels, colleges, and many other venues.

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