Narrative Coffee

Narrative began as a cart in Wetmore Plaza on the fourth of July 2016. The espresso machine was rebuilt by hand and the cart itself was a donation from a local church, which kept the start cheap. Everett voted it the city's best coffee shop that December, before it had a building at all. The shop opened in June 2017 and took Best New Cafe at that year's Sprudgie Awards.

The room dates to about 1921 and kept its brick, its rafters and four skylights. The stated ambition was a living room for Everett. Coffee is single origin only and comes from several roasters at once, with Gloom, Velton's and Elm holding the standing places and a fourth seat that turns over.

That fourth seat is the interesting part. Roasters send samples every two months and are cupped blind against a house scoring form, under an ID that changes each round, and any marketing material sent with the beans goes in the recycling unopened. If nobody clears the bar, nobody wins.