Bluebeard Coffee Roasters South Tacoma Way

Bluebeard has two Tacoma rooms and this is the one where the work happens. Kevin McGlocklin founded the company in 2011 after roasting at Lighthouse in Seattle, and the 6th Avenue shop remains the neighborhood cafe. South Tacoma Way is the production plant, the headquarters and a cafe at once, in a restored century old furniture showroom on a corridor with a long history of food, drink and music venues.

Roasting moved here from 6th Avenue and the scale changed with it: from thirty pound batches at the old site to a German built Probat running thirty five to forty five pounds an hour continuously. Staff roughly doubled with the move.

The flagship espresso is the Narrows Blend, named for the Tacoma Narrows. El Capitan comes out of Chiapas, and the single origin list has run to a pink bourbon from Huila, an Idido from Yirgacheffe, a Tanzanian Mandomashe AA and a decaf from Narino. The bar runs a La Marzocco with Nuova Simonelli grinders.

There is an outdoor window counter onto the street for anyone who would rather watch the traffic, plus tables and chairs flanking the coffee bar inside. Hours are 7am to 3pm most days with one trap worth knowing: Monday closes at 1pm. The 6th Avenue shop runs 7am to 5pm daily if you need a longer window. Anais Coffee, which pours Bluebeard, is directly across the street.