Herkimer Coffee Phinney Ridge

This storefront on Greenwood Avenue North is where Herkimer started in 2003, and the company's own locations page still calls it home: the first cafe, plus the roastery and the wholesale office. The Seattle Times reported in 2023 that the founder started Herkimer after selling his stake in Caffe Vita in 2002, and named the company for Herkimer, New York, the town where his father was born.

The roasting happens here. Herkimer's own site says it roasts daily, and its About page sends anyone who wants a free empty burlap coffee sack to the wholesale shipping and receiving door at this location. A Seattle Unexplored review in April 2020 described seats facing straight into the roastery and warned it can get loud, so ask whether the roaster is running if you want a quiet hour. The company buys green coffee directly from farms it works with and pays above Fair Trade minimums, by its own account. The lineup on its site is an Espresso Blend, a Drip Blend and a Decaf Blend, roasted a little lighter than medium, plus light roasted single origins from Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, Guatemala, Colombia and Brazil.

The Seattle Times guide in 2023 said the cafe serves pastries from Macrina Bakery and has lots of seating. The 2020 review described an L shaped room, window seats, a large community table and a few chairs outside the storefront. The company's own page says mornings are busy and afternoons are calmer.

Hours are 6am to 6pm on weekdays and 6:30am to 6pm on weekends, per the locations page. Herkimer also runs cafes in Ravenna on University Way NE and at 4th and Blanchard in Belltown, both closing at 2pm.