Civic Roasters Coffee

Civic is a mission built business rather than a volume one, and the short week follows from that. Benita Ki has roasted Civic since 2018, working through pop ups, subscriptions and wholesale for roughly seven years and spending about two and a half years looking for the right room. The cafe is built to provide training and employment to formerly incarcerated women and to others shut out of the workforce, which is the reason it exists rather than a line on an about page.

The roasting is third wave, single origin, hand roasted in small batches, with fair trade and organic prioritized and origins running to Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru. One thing this entry will not claim: whether the roasting happens at this address. The reporting on the opening said on site roasting was still to come, so ask at the counter if that matters to you.

The drink to order is the iced cafe de olla, cold brew with oat milk and a house spice blend of cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, black peppercorn, orange zest and brown sugar. An iced raspberry matcha and an iced hojicha with coconut also turn up on the board. The bar runs a La Marzocco Linea PB with Mythos grinders.

It is a small storefront on South 11th between Ninth Tentacle Tattoo and Buzzerd's Barbershop, built mostly for grab and go with a few tables and lounge chairs for anyone staying. Hours are 7:30am to 2pm Tuesday through Saturday and it is closed Sunday and Monday, a short week even by Tacoma standards and consistent with a small crew. Retail bags and subscriptions sit alongside the drinks.