Honeymoon Bay Coffee Roasters

Honeymoon Bay Coffee Roasters opened on SW Bowmer Street on August 9, 2008. Founder and roast master Mike Donohoe served in the Navy with VAQ-141 in Oak Harbor, and the company describes its craft as small batch European style roasting. Every source from the 2008 opening on places the business in Oak Harbor.

The roaster is the reason to stop. When the shop opened, the Whidbey News-Times described a 1979 German machine imported from London and set in the center of the store so customers could watch, and the company's own opening release, still posted on its site, said all 21 of its coffees were roasted at this suite. A 2012 profile in the same paper still put the roasting here, at about 1,500 pounds a week on the rebuilt 1979 roaster, and photos on the cafe's Google listing show a large red drum roaster on the shop floor among the chairs.

The blend list runs to Buzz Bomb, Dead Man Walking, Admiral Joe's Blend, Reveille Reveille, Cascade Rush and the Honeymoon Bay Signature Blend, plus French Roast and two decafs, Moonlite and Oak Town. The cafe side is an espresso bar, and the company's online ordering lists cold brew, biscuits and baked goods. It also sells wholesale, with private label bags and free barista training for accounts.

Google lists the cafe at 6am to 6pm Monday through Friday, 7am to 5pm Saturday and 8am to 4pm Sunday; the company's own contact page gives a longer Sunday, so check before a Sunday afternoon visit. Find it at 1100 SW Bowmer Street, Suite A101, which the island's visitor guide places near the Walmart.